The best fertilizer for vegetable garden

Vegetable plants require good light, moisture, nutrients, soil, and water to grow. All things are nature’s gift. But the only thing you have to do is to add a good fertilizer to it.

Making the soil healthy with enough nutrients is the essential element of a healthy harvest that can only be done by adding fertilizer.

Although fertilizer adds the right nutrients to the soil, choosing the right fertilizer and adding the right amount of fertilizer into the soil is an overwhelming task.

You should always choose a fertilizer as per the demand of soil and the plant you are growing.

Types of fertilizer for vegetable garden

Generally, there are two types of fertilizer for vegetable gardens. They include inorganic and organic fertilizers.

Organic fertilizer includes manure, cottonseed, bonemeal, or some other naturally occurring material whereas inorganic fertilizers are generally man-made products that have a higher nutrient content.

Organic fertilizer doesn’t harm the environment as the ingredients in it are derived from plants and animals whereas the excess of inorganic fertilizer may harm the soil and the plant as it contains a lot of chemical substances.

Fertilizer and pH of vegetable

The degree of acidity and alkalinity of the soil plays an important role in the availability of soil nutrients to plants.

At a high pH level, some nutrients become completely or partially locked up in the soil and can’t be used by the plants even though they are present in the soil. Likewise, at low pH levels, some fertilizer can’t show their effectiveness.

Most of the Vegetable grows well between the pH of 6–7. Lime is added to increase the pH level of the soil but it doesn’t ensure the need to add fertilizer to the soil.

Fertilizer selection for vegetable

Most inorganic fertilizer contains an NPK ratio that is nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in a balanced order like 10–10–10. But most gardeners use a complete fertilizer that has twice as much phosphorus as nitrogen or potassium like 10–20–10 order.

Using a complete fertilizer is always beneficial but one must not use lawn fertilizer on vegetable gardens as they have too much nitrogen and chemicals that can injure vegetables.

And also you should focus on the frequency of fertilization which means if the fertilizer is a slow-release one then you should not apply it very often.

Fertilizing vegetable plant

Observing the plant is the best thing to get the idea to fertilize the plant. If the plant is yellowing, wilting, or becoming unhealthy, then it’s lacking nutrients and thus needs fertilizer.

Nitrogen is required for the green and healthy growth of the foliage and is more helpful for green leafy vegetables.

Phosphorus is responsible for the development of roots and improved flowering of the plant. So it is required abundantly for root vegetables.

Potassium is required for the proper shape, size, taste, and color of the plant and plays an important role in the formation of fruits. So it is an essential nutrient for the vegetables that bear fruit.

Perfect time to add fertilizer

Fertilizing regularly keeps the plant productive and vigorous. So you can fertilize the plant regularly.

However, the actual time to fertilize the plant is when you see the plant is reluctant to grow or started turning yellow.

Vegetables that grow in porous, and well-drained soil must be fed with fertilizer regularly. A balanced fertilizer must be given to the plant every 3 to 4 weeks regularly.

Vegetables that grow in clay soil may need less fertilizer than the vegetables that grow in sandy soil.

The garden where the soil is enriched with organic matter may need a little extra fertilizer for the growth and color of foliage, and plants.