Feed your plants for a great show

When you purchase a bag of compost in the garden centre some composts will contain enough food to keep plants going for up to six weeks, others – mainly the Gro Sure range from Westland – contain a slow-release fertiliser which has the ability to feed any plantup to four months.

Supplementary feeding an be given to plants in a number of ways. Organic fertilisers such as Bone Meal, Fish Blood & Bone and chicken pellets can be added to the soil around your plants. These will be dissolved with the rain and taken up by the plants.

Inorganic foods such as Rose Fertiliser and Growmore can be applied as granules around plants and also dissolve by the rain, and be taken by the plants faster.

You can also use liquid feeds which dissolve in water and then watered onto the plants, which allows the plant to produce more fruit and flowers and increase growth.

Supplementary feeding is needed when plants are grown in containers or hanging baskets. There are two main feeds which I recommend: Miracle Gro, which contains higher levels of nitrogen to make healthly foliage, and Phostrogen which is very high in potash, which is the main plant food for making fruit and flowers, particularly those plants in baskets or containers.

A good tomato feed such as Tomorite or Westland Tomato Feed is also very good.

When feeding plants which are lime hating, use Miracle Gro for azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias and heathers, as it contains extra iron for these plants.

For more information, contact the garden centre.