Codie, well thats really what fertilizer is , salts!
there is no right fertilizer for every plant or every condition, fertilizer should be purchased with an intent in mind, look at the big 3 nutrients listed on the bag, box and research how each effects a plant.
It is reccomended that if a general purpose fertilizer is needed that a balanced( 20-20-20, 10-10-10, etc.) or close to balanced fertilizer be used, this feeds the needs of the entire plant.
ALL liquid fertilizers are fast acting but do not remain in the plant or soil but from 7 -10 days normally. as well if you will check most are extremely high in nitrogen and this causes loss of fruit production, limp rapid folar growth and tender growth for pest to chew on.
hope this has helped you some.
By the way fertilizer is the most OVERUSED chemical in the United States and probally the world.

When my ex worked at the hospital she would bring blood home for me to feed to my plants. Really! It has all the minerals on earth and my little babies just sucked it right up. Of course this was long ago, before AIDS got to Hollywood in the rear end of an old Hudson.

Rx15 has worked wonderfully well for years-from 1/4 to1/8 strength in the watering bottle (for seedlings under lights) to the container that screws on to the garden hose and gets used every 2 weeks in summer.No I don't work for the company.

As Mike points out, chemical fertilizers are minerals salts, which can build up in the soil.
I will stick a link below to a site what talks about organic fertilizers, which do not. I do almost all of my gardening indoors, and like Pure Blend Pro which is liquid and organic.
I would be cautious though. Many more plants suffer from being over-fertilized than from not being fertilized enough.
russ (I don't work for anybody)

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Plant Care

Hi Katt: Where do you purchase RX15, I live in Rochester, NY, z5? Thanks, debi

I have two favorites, bunny poop and osmocote. Osmocote is a pelleted fertilizer that dissolves slowly so you only need to apply it once a year. I use it on houseplants as well as most outdoor plants.
Nell

Wonder Grow is a liquid found on the internet. I just purchased it at the home show and it is doing wonders for everything. African Violets which hardly bloomed or wimpy flowers now are huge,thick shiny leaves, big very colorful flowers. Citrus, especially the lemon had odd shaped,dry,lemons, now juicy and well formed just from spraying. It has a water holding power that you can see on the leaves, and the water stays moist inside longer.

i use used coffee grounds they love it:)

Compost, it makes the whole garden happy.

Last year I was so unhappy that my Iris beds hardly or/didn't bloom--- that year EITHER! So, I persisted in each garden forum until some kind person told me to apply super-phosphate on the ground (not near the base of the plant) after any of your Irises DID bloom...even a month after is o.k. and water in. I found Bandini had a good mixture (can't remember the exact name of it now..but it was granular)..and the first ingredient was super-phosphate!! A high concentrate of it too. I applied it to all of the Iris beds in my yard..and lo, and behold I have LOTS of Irises blooming in ALL of the beds.It works folks!!
This year I was enlightened by a friend about Osmocote.
I agree with Nell..it is terrific. I had a struggling sprig of pink Phlox and it tripled in size in two days!!
(pink seems to be the color that struggles) I did my whole yard (except Irises) with Osmocote (they also have Multicote and it is terrific also). Home Depot has the large size container of Osmocote for 9.95. I applied it under all my flowering bushes as well, and they really responded. The real 'plus' for Osmocote is that it is time-released. It lasts for the whole growing-blooming season. No messy,heavy bags of fertilizer to spread.

Happy gardening.. &:) Lois

I'm a pretty new gardiner and I always use Miracle Grow. I've got annuals and perennials. Should I be using something else? I do need something easy to use. I don't really want to mix a lot of things together. What's good for Everything!

Compost is good for everything. You can buy it at any garden store if you don't want to make it yourself. You can scratch some in around the plants now, being very careful not to get too close and cause root damage. After the annuals are gone, work in as much as your back can take. I don't know anything that wouldn't benefit from compost.

I have vegetables (well, tomatoes anyway!) and perennial beds and all I ever use is a layer of compost in the spring over the top of the perennials and dug into the vegetable bed, and a combo of fish and seaweed emulsion 4 or 5 times during the season. I use Neptune's Harvest, but any brand fish/seaweed combo is fine. I used to use chemical fertilizers, but since I've switched to the organic my plants are ten times bigger and healthier and I have alot of earthworms in the soil which is always a good sign. Always go organic if you can, especially if you're talking about vegetables.

Has anyone ever used a fertilizer called PlanTea. It's a tea bag that you steep, then mix with water and use it to feed seedlings. It's a 2-2-1 fertilizer I believe.

On my flowers I side dress with horse manure that
has sat around a long time. I also use epsom salts and
walmarts brand miracle grow. On my tomatoes I chop up perch
[fresh] then put them in a blender till liquid and handful epsom salt mix in 5 gal bucket of water. put your tomato plant in hole add 1 qt of this and firm your plants in. I
only fertilize twice and after blooms set on I stop. [only
fertilize with fish when you put them out. Try it

I got a kick out of Shirleys recipe...horse manure and fish.
I used that for 10 years at my old house. Had the most prolific garden around. I also dug chopped leaves in every year, and used dried grass clips between plants for mulch.
DH was an avid fisherman and he buried fish guts about 12 in deep in my veggie bed. Now I use Osmocote and buy bags of organic fertilizer. My advice is to forget plant food. Think soil food.

I've got 3 horses, so GUESS what I have in abundance? ;-)Composted horse bedding has turned my red/brown clay into some terrific soil. I like to turn everything under in the fall, and really pile on about 2 inches, or more.

I like to bed my horses down with woodchips in the winter, then layer over a cover of straw. The winter's used bedding gets tossed into a pile that cooks all winter and is ready to spread by spring. I take what I need and give the rest away to local gardeners.

You should see the bowl gourd I grew this year, looks like a basket ball! My garlic is always firm and fragrant, my cherry tomatoes run 8 feet tall! It's great!

Can anyone tell me where in North West a person can buy Wonder Grow? Email me please

Inside, I like Schultz.
Outside, they get Romeo.
Both are made from urea..

Compost in the beds, osmocote in the containers.

Saucy

Composted manure, composted kitchen waste and leaf mold.

I use all miracle grow.

Tomato Food on everything indoors and outdoor containers.

A newspaper gardening columnist interviewed a couple of nursery owners who apparently had quite spectacular flowering beds in front of their business. They told her that they alternated every two weeks---Miracle-Gro and the next time fish emulsion.

Compost. Didn't know there was anything else.

I like the idea of soil food - as they say, plant a ten dollar plant in a 100 dollar hole.

I use any fertilizer that's on sale. The real secret is to add huge amounts of compost to the soil. I have noticed no real difference among the many fertilizers I've used, but the plants are always in much better condition in the beds I work compost into.

Joel

Something no one mentioned... alfalfa tea. Works on more than just roses!

Horse manure..

Davena

...in the immortal words of Harry Truman: "Horse Manure!"

Compost and Maxsea in the middle of the growing season...just to give things a boost!

The water from my bird baths, or the algae in it seems to have fertilizing properties. The bird baths are actually plastic drip trays intended for use under very large pots but they have a VERY similar size and shape to a traditional bird bath. I empty and refill them every day and use the hose to blast off the algae, then dump that green water onto the plants nearby. These plants are doing so well, it makes me want to buy more bird baths just to grow the algae. Hahaha!

is osmocote organic? I don't care for chemicals... also, what about epsom salts? organic or not?

Martin, the following is the most tasteless thing I've read in a long time and doesn't deserve a place on Gardenweb. You should be ashamed of yourself. You really should.

"When my ex worked at the hospital she would bring blood home for me to feed to my plants. Really! It has all the minerals on earth and my little babies just sucked it right up. Of course this was long ago, before AIDS got to Hollywood in the rear end of an old Hudson."

i dont think osmocote is organic...

i wish we drank more coffee so i would have access to more grounds. i use alfalfa pellets and i am looking forward to using compost as i started my first pile this year...

Compost girl here. Plus fish emulsion and alfalfa meal. I sprinkle a little alfalfa meal in the planting holes, then plant. And DH has been bringing home the coffee grounds from the office, so I add those to the compost bin. The pile seems to be braking down quicker. Makes me almost want to drink coffee (bleh!).

Ditto to what rick30316 said. Tasteless AND ignorant.

Diana

Sheep pellets (made from the dags and formed. Look like rabbit feed and smell sheep-ish...) And cow flops - aged. Absolutely brilliant for polyanthus/primroses and begonias. Horse manure for the strawberries and roses and Hostas.

Seaweed and shell grit for the calcium - for the Dianthus. Comfrey tea for anything.

And as much compost as I can make or scrounge.

Miracle Grow and Spray and Grow

MephedroneNow.net has a superior product. I havent been disappointed yet. My bottle trees have never been fuller.. They have great prices and great customer service. Amazing product.

I like Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed! Its all natural and works really well!!!