Totally new to fertilizing. How do I do it?

obeychase

obeychase

As the topic title says, I'm totally new to fertilizing my plants. I tried growing last year, however my plants didn't do well because I never fertilized and just left them in average potting soil. How do I go about fertilizing my plants? I currently have some bhut seedlings, Morugas, and Brazilian starfish. Soon to be scotch bonnets as well. How do I o about start these guys with some fertilizer? What are the basics?

I also do not understand soil ratios. What the hell does 2-2-1 and 5-1-1 etc. mean?? Any input it greatly appreciated. Thanks guys
 
people use fertilizer to give nutrients to their plants. n p k and other things are just the elements(see the periodic table of elements from science class) in the fertilizer. Different plants like different ratios so that's why there are lots of different kinds. Also there are organic and synthetic whether it came from nature or someone made it out of chemicals.
People can argue about which ratio and which fertilizer they like/need the best so good luck with that. Maybe just look for someone you know grows good stuff and see what they are using and copy them.
 
Usually you start plants on a diluted (like half strength what it says on the bottle / bag of ferts you got) after they are about 6" tall and have 4+ sets of leaves. Then you increase it until they are big and you give them full strength like once a month or once every couple weeks.This is if you are going to actively fertilize.
 
Some people don't actively fertilize every month or whatever they passively do it. They mix all their fertilizer (or organic material) into the soil and let the soil have all the nutrients already so they don't have to fertilize every so often, just during the off season. 
 
soil ratios are just people making a mix and describing how much of ... to mix. so 5-1-1 means 5 parts pinebark, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite. We use the ratio so you can scale the mix to how much you need, say gallons, cups, tons, etc.
 
Ferts will usually list 3 main numbers, as you have found out. This is the ferts "N.P.K" rating.
 
These 3 numbers indicate the ferts strength or quantity of 3 main nutrients that plants need to grow healthy.
 
These are the N.P.K numbers (usually in that order)
 
N = Nitrogen
P = Phosphorus
K = Potassium
 
So something that is rated 5-1-1 has, 5% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus and 1% Potassium.
Therefore the higher the numbers, the stronger or more concentrated the fert is.
 
There are more nutrients but those are the main ones. 
In vague terms, generally N(nitrogen) promotes green leafy growth. P(phosphorus) promotes healthy rooting. And K promotes flowering and fruiting.
 
Some people use different ferts with different concentrations of "N.P.K" at different stages of the plants life cycle to promote different things.
i.e use more nitrogen when the plants are young to help them grow leaves etc faster. Then switch to something with more K once flowering / fruiting starts to aid with that.
 
Google is your friend!       Seriously though, The most basic three elements your plant will need is the Big three:  NPK
                     
            wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_of_fertilizer          or             wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer
 
 That will get you on track as far as giving your plant or plants what they need for a good start, application rates vary depending on what your growing ( Veggies,  Fruits, Flowers, Trees, Cactus..etc )  
 
    You can get really technical and have your soil tested if your growing in your native area's Dirt!   This will help you adjust for deficiencies in your soil so your Crop will be more productive.   Things like PH ( potential of hydrogen)  are also in question as this will hinder or help your plants uptake of nutrients depending on where your readings are. 
     
Water quality is also of big importance since this is the plants drink of choice and can have alot of minerals and Micro nutrients depending on your local area water source.   Keep in mind that Municipal provided water is treated in a way that strips these desirable traits away.   I prefer ground water.  
 
 Not to cause you countless sleepless nights but like anything else in life if want great results you have to work at it.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, we still haven't covered Organic or Bio-Dynamic or all Natural fertilizer, we may need a few more hours!
 
If you plan on getting some decent results but don't wanna go all garden Nerd go buy some pre packaged soil like Miracle grow or Pro mix and water with some organic Fish Emulsion mixed in.  Just my .02   
 
Seedlings?
 
How old? You may want to hold off on fertilizing till the get a little older.
 Give a seedling too much of something  or something it dont need and you will be starting all over.
 
Lots of good advice here so far. Big question is what size containers are you using or plan on upsizing to? If you gonna just have a handful and keep them in 1 or 3 gallon pots you can get away with buying good quality potting soil with amendments. If you going all out in 15 gallon containers you may have to buy amendments for whatever local soil you got or get quantities of whatever you decide to make your mix with.
Best bet, look in the glogs and do what other people in your area are doing.
 
nzchili said:
So something that is rated 5-1-1 has, 5% nitrogen, 1% phosphorus and 1% Potassium.
Therefore the higher the numbers, the stronger or more concentrated the fert is.
Click to expand...
 
Just to clarify he is asking about soil ratios, not fert here.  At least I think you are using 5-1-1 to answer the bottom portion of his post.  5-1-1 is a specific mix of soil recommended for peppers grown in pots.  (I am parroting btw, I have no first hand xp)  This is a mixture of 5 parts pine fines, 1 part sphagnum peat moss, and 1 part perlite.  Some gardening lime is also recommended, although I do not know the amount.
 
Therefore, if referring to a hybrid of 5-1-1, 2-2-1 would be 2 parts pine, 2 parts moss, and 1 part perlite.  This is of course unless they are referring to a mix other than 5-1-1.  Then the parts could mean anything for all you know...
 
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