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Ever wondered, when buying plant fertiliser, what the numbers sometimes seen in
a group of 3 mean – for instance, 9 / 2 / 6 ?
They show the breakdown of NPK. |
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This is what I learnt about NPK at Burnley
Horticultural College... Nitrogen (N) is for growing leaves etc, Phosphorus (P) for water translocation – the root system and getting the water to the leaves, and Potassium (K) for flower & fruit growth. If you want plant growth, ensure that the N number is higher than the K ... for example : 9 / 2 / 6. |
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For flowering/fruiting, use fertiliser where the K is higher than the N.
That's what flower growers do for Mother's Day. They 'push' a high K (potassium) NPK exactly 5 weeks before the Day to ensure the plants flower on the Day. So, during the growing season or when a plant has no great display of flowers use a fertiliser that's natural – like Charlie Carp (fish emulsion) which is made from all the blesséd exotic fish that screw up our natural environs. Its NPK is 9 / 2 / 6 (with K lower than N). Then when flowering or setting fruit, you could use plant fertiliser, Thrive (made by Yates) which has an NPK of 15 / 4 / 26. Note the K (potassium) is much higher than the N (Nitrogen). The thing to know, though, is that while Thrive is brilliant stuff, because it is manufactured chemicals (sulphates etc) it is a salt. And overdoing salts will kill your plant. Happy fertilising :D |
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