Uncover the Secrets of Plant Food: What is NPK?

[@rmedwards8312]

What a brilliant breakdown Lee,another fab video 👌🏼💚🌻

[@Gardenninja]

Glad you think so! Always great to hear from you and here's to more videos to follow! 🌿🌿🥷🥰

[@funkychicken49]

Thanks Lee, that is really helpful. Nice to see Barry looking after the tomoatoes too.xx

[@Gardenninja]

Thanks Lynn. I’m glad it’s helpful. The world of garden fertiliser can be so confusing. Especially if you don’t know what NPK actually means! No one ever explains it! 🥷🌿🤘💐

[@donaldauguston9740]

Thank you, Lee. I've never looked at fertilizer labels before. I guess it's time. Take care, DA

[@petpilgrimgoose]

Hi Lee! LOVE your hair. The grey is very attractive!!~Mary in New Hampshire, USA

[@Gardenninja]

Awww thanks my New England Sista! 😉🥷 Quite loving it to be honest. Why not be a bit more wild and free like the New England vibe! 🤘🌿

[@ThePinkfluf]

Brilliant Lee ! A big thnku. ! I am no longer confused about plant feed ! 👍🙏🤗😊🥳🥬🌸🌺💐

[@Gardenninja]

So nice of you! I'm glad my guide to plant feed has helped clear up the confusion! May your plants be healthy and well fed! 🥰 🥷🌿

[@RuinedObelisk]

Just watched all of season 7 of garden rescue on iplayer, loved every episode of it and i adore your gardens! Cant wait for the next series. Packing a punch !

[@Gardenninja]

Thanks so much! What a great compliment to receive. There’s plenty more coming out. I love working on the show and delivering my innovative and sometimes out there designs! 🥷🌿🥰🪴👌

[@bethellingworth7814]

Brilliant, thank you - good explanation. We’re going into Autumn/Winter here in Tasmania, but it’s good to know.

[@Gardenninja]

Hello in Tasmania! It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit for the flora. I’m glad you like my video guides! Make sure you check out my blog www.gardenninja.co.uk/ for hundreds more free gardening guides! 🥷🌿🤘

[@thedave7029]

As always many thanks... Watched some of the old videos this past week. Sunny but windy in Liverpool... Still gardening though 🙂🤟 to the metal play list... Alpine garden next

[@Gardenninja]

Good to hear from you fellow Liverpool Bay rocker! 😉🤘 It’s been so bloody windy. Need to inspect my bees but it’s too cold that Mersey air giving me the chills. Haha thanks for commenting and watching mate! 🥷🌿👌

[@MyFocusVaries]

Thanks for the summary!

[@Gardenninja]

You're welcome Candace! Hope its helpful for you in the garden!

[@glonkaga]

❤🎉❤🎉❤

[@Gardenninja]

Thanks! 🥷🌿🤘

[@nicolasbertin8552]

Since the NPK model has now been disproven, you don't need plant feed. Ever. Especially since all mineral fertilizers prevent plants from forming mycorhizae (it makes them lazy, they don't form mycorhizae which is where they get most of their nutrients). It's not a trivial result, but has been discovered in the last few years. So if your soil is poor and you need fertilizer, either use compost and mulch, or buy ORGANIC fertilizer such as fish hydrolysate or beet wine (so not fertilizers that contain nitric nitrogen like the one you're showing in the video). If you can't find organic, at least go for ureic nitrogen, which is ammonium, instead of nitric nitrogen, coz plants can use ammonium more easily than nitrates (but it's still worse than the organic stuff). People for decades have been claiming that plants take minerals from the soil to grow. We now know that most do not. They take the organic version of NPK, in the form of amino acids, either from bacteria or mushrooms. They CAN take minerals from the soil as a secondary form of nutrition, but it's less efficient and they get more fragile to pests and diseases. Which is why it's bad to add minerals to your soil. In my case, I have clay soil and have never fertilized a single ornamental plant, ever. In pots yeah, coz you're missing that soil life and mycorhizae, but in a normal soil no you don't need anything, really. It's even worse for fertilizers that now we realized that the methods for measuring potassium levels in soils underestimate the content by a factor 3... There's ALWAYS enough K in the soil, unless you have a special very degraded soil. So in the next few years potassium fertilizers should completely disappear.

[@Gardenninja]

Hi Nicolas. You must have read my mind and beat me to it. My next videos all about the types of plant feed and basically why organic matter is the only thing that’s worth while. Because it improves soil structure more than anything. Everything else is just sold so gardeners can buy stuff sadly but I feel that explaining this should help us all consume less and do more good in the garden. I rarely feed anything and when I do it’s home made for the reasons above. Thanks for sharing so much knowledge to my Garden Ninja Community It’s much appreciated. Make sure you subscribe so you can help out with more additional info! All the best. Lee 🌿🤘🥷

[@laurabaden-powell1484]

Tomato feed all the plants then

[@Gardenninja]

Well not unless they’re fruit heavy or it’s just a waste. A balanced 7:7:7 fertiliser is best for most plants. Saving tomato feed for crop heavy plants. 🥷🌿🤘