Autumn in the garden is the time when summer crops disappear. However, this is the perfect time to think about preparing properly for the next growing season and fertilizing our plants accordingly. What should the proper supplementation of our plants look like in the fall? Let’s take a closer look at the topic. Curious? Here we go!
Proper macro and micronutrients for plants in autumn.
A season like autumn is the ideal time to fertilize the soil with potassium and phosphorus. You may also be tempted to liming. You should refrain from fertilizing with nitrogen. Why? Our work will be in vain, it will be washed out of the soil during winter. Moreover, fertilizing plants with nitrogen in autumn will stimulate their growth and make it more difficult for them to enter their winter dormancy. However, there is an exception to the rule presented. And we are talking about urea applied under fruit trees. However, such a dose of nitrogen should be applied when the trees have already finished growing and the purpose of fertilization is mainly to fight scab. So what fertilizers are low in nitrogen and suitable for autumn fertilization? A good example is wood ash, which contains a rich palette of macro and micronutrients needed by plants.
If you are not a fan of wood ash, you can use basalt meal for fall fertilization. This is a mineral fertilizer of natural origin. The advantage of using meal is that there is no risk of overfertilization of plants. Minerals are released very slowly with the needs of the plant. This is not all that basalt meal offers us. It fertilizes, aerates the soil, promotes the development of aerobic microorganisms, and makes our plants immune to diseases thanks to its silicon content.
Fertilizing plants in autumn
Potassium is a particularly important component needed by young plants for growth, and it is worth using potassium salts in autumn. They dissolve easily in water, and should be mixed well with the soil. On heavy soils, apply the entire dose in autumn. On lighter soils, 50% in autumn and 50% of the dose in spring.
If you want to fertilize phosphorus in the autumn season, it is worth choosing superphosphates, and bone meals. The meals are effective for up to several years. They are used on acidic and moist soils. You can mix phosphorus fertilizer with organic fertilizer (manure, compost) to increase the availability of the component.
Liming raises the pH of the soil, so we perform it only on acidic soil. For this purpose, we use fertilizers with magnesium – dolomite or magnesium lime. We spread the fertilizer gradually during windless days. It is necessary to equip ourselves with protective goggles for this purpose.
Benefits of fertilizing plants in autumn
The first key benefit of fertilizing plants in autumn is to avoid plant burnout, which can easily be caused by over-fertilizing in spring. During the plants’ winter dormancy, nutrients undergo beneficial transformations, ballast elements are flushed out and the supplied fertilizer is perfectly distributed in the soil.
Deciding to fertilize plants in autumn, we can use cheaper fertilizers, or even those that would be completely useless or even harmful to our plants if used in spring.
Thirdly, if fertilization is done in autumn, with the arrival of spring, we will be able to use our time and strength devoted to gardening for other equally important activities for the beautiful image of our home gardens.
Autumn work in the garden in the form of fertilization will bring beautiful results with the arrival of spring and summer. See for yourself.
 | Author: This article was prepared in cooperation with the online gardening store Sklep Dla Ogrodu offering many products for the garden. |