In spring, plants wake up hungry - they need strength to grow.
But if you throw the first fertilizer you come across into the ground, you can get the opposite effect: lush greenery instead of fruit or even root burn.
For example, fresh manure is taboo for spring. It releases ammonia, which kills young shoots.
Use only well-rotted manure or compost that is at least one year old.
Better yet, replace it with a herbal infusion: pour water over nettles, dandelions and mown grass, let it ferment for a week and water the beds, diluting 1:10.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium are the three pillars of spring fertilizers. But their proportions depend on the crop.
Greens and cabbage need nitrogen (urea or ammonium nitrate), root crops need phosphorus (superphosphate), and berries need potassium (wood ash).
However, there is a universal recipe: mix 1 cup of ash, 2 tablespoons of superphosphate and 1 tablespoon of potassium sulfate per square meter.
Spread the mixture evenly over the beds before loosening.
The biggest mistake gardeners make is fertilizing trees. You can't pour granules directly under the trunk - the roots that absorb the nutrients are at the level of the crown perimeter.
Make holes 20 cm deep in a circle, put fertilizer in them and cover them with soil.
And remember: after applying fertilizer, the soil must be watered generously, otherwise the substances will remain in the top layer and will not reach the roots.
One life hack for the lazy: plant green manure. Mustard, lupine or phacelia, sown in early spring, will have time to grow greenery before planting the seedlings.
Dig them up together with the soil - this will provide fertilizer, loosening, and protection from pests.
And if you add a few drops of iodine to the water for irrigation (1 drop per 3 liters), the plants will get sick less often.
The main thing is not to overdo it. In spring, the garden is like a child: it is better to underfeed than to overfeed.
Author: Igor Zur