How to Fertilize Plants

Food is a very normal part of life, even for plants. The food is of a different variety though. The food consumed by plants is called fertilizer. It is waste material from animals and humans that is sometimes used directly or formed into a chemical substance. Plant matter itself are sometimes used as fertilizer

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• • Fertilizer
• • Water
• • Container to pour it from
• • Cloth to wipe hands
• • Some forms of fertilizer require a hose
• • A gardening tool like a an augur
• • Gardening gloves

To Start

1. Wear your gardening gloves before doing anything. Have your plants accessible to you when you get ready to fertilize them. That means if they are in pots get them to a place where you can reach them easily or to a place where it is all right for water to run. If you are fertilizing outside plants disregard this step.

2. Get all the things you need together in one place. Get the Fertilizer opened and the container cleaned. If outside and you are using a hose then get the hose in place.

3. Mix the fertilizer with water in a container and pour as required on the bottom of the plants. If the soil is dry then you might want to loosen it a bit with a gardening tool. Some plants require you to make small holes at the base so the fertilizer goes to the roots fast.

4. Put in the right amount of fertilizer for the right plant. Some require more and some less. The size of plants also dictates the amount of fertilizer you would need in any one plant. Preferably the plants are in the sun when you are fertilizing as it increases absorption. However it is not a requirement.

5. Take the hose and attach the fertilizer bottle to it and then use it on the bottom of the plant where the stems are. Fertilizing on the leaves will sometimes burn the leaves and you do not want to do that. Again if the soil appears a little hard loosen it with your gardening tool.

6. Fertilize your plants with natural fertilizer only if they are outside. You do not want the smell of natural fertilizer inside. Natural fertilizer is better for your plants. It gives the right nutrition that your plants need. However, most people do not use it because of the smell.

7. Fertilizing plants does not take too long and once you are done with that wipe your hands thoroughly after washing them first. Gardening gloves keep a lot of fertilizer from reaching your hands but it is better to err on the side of caution.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear gardening gloves when doing anything with plants. They protect you from dirt and thorns etc.
• When fertilizing plants with thorns like Rose bushes, be very careful not to be stabbed by a thorn. Also do not touch or ingest the fertilizer.