Spring Fertilizing Tips

Spring Fertilizer Tips from Laura

Laura walks us through the best ways to fertilize trees, shrubs, perennials in early spring. Always make sure you see some growth on your plants before you give it any fertilizer.

1. When Gardening, always begin with the soil. Organic fertilizer “feeds the soil that feeds the plants”. Organic fertilizers deliver their nutrients in a process that enhances the fertility and structure of the soil. This is extremely important to get right! Organics are digested by soil microorganisms, which then release the nutrients in a form available to plants. This particular process produces humus, a spongy material that improves soil structure. When you improve soil structure, soil is better able to hold the proper balance of water, air, and nutrients until they are required by plants.

   Organics are digested by soil microorganisms, which then release the nutrients in a form available to plants. This process produces humus, a spongy material that improves soil structure. When you improve soil structure, soil is better able to hold the proper balance of water, air and nutrients until they are required by plants.

   The response by the plants is that they develop larger root systems. Larger roots support more vigorous top growth and make plants less susceptible to drought. By stimulating an increasingly healthy population of beneficial microorganisms in the soil, plants naturally become more resistant to insects and diseases.

2. Organic fertilizers provide slow, steady feeding, as the plants need it. he release process is slow and mainly dependent on these three factors: the microbial population in the soil, the soil moisture, and the soil temperature.

   A healthy population of microbes in the soil is necessary for the plant digestion process. Moisture is required to sustain microbial life, as well as to keep nutrients flowing into the plants root zone. Soil temperature is crucial because as temperatures rise, plants require nutrients more rapidly.

   Fortunately, microbial activity mimics these requirements and increases as soil temperatures rise, so that organics feed the needed nutrients as the plants require them.

All products Laura uses in the video are available in our Retail Store and online at rohrerseeds.com