It’s May and it is probably time to fertilize our gardens and flower beds again.  It has been really rainy and most of the original fertilizer that you used in the first of the spring has been used up or washed out.  

There is just about a specialty fertilizer for everything that grows.  Some of these specialty fertilizers also contain micronutrients and are slow release.  Most of the Fertilome products have both.  There is a special for blooming plants, garden plants, and shrubs like azaleas and don’t for get the roses.  If you are really trying to push for more blooms you need to try something with more phosphorus.  A superbloom product would be a 10-52-10.  Miracle grow Bloom Booster Flower Food is great for this purpose.  It is a water soluble fertilizer and is easily mixed and sprayed with a water application.  Fertilome has a triple superphosphate(0-45-0) that is also a great product to push for blooms.

Most of the plants that you purchase will have some Osmocote in the pot with the plant.  The Osmocote has probably played out now so you might want to use some more, especially in pots.  Osmocote does not burn the plants like a 13-13-13 would or something else like that.  For indoor plants use the 15-9-12 and for outside plants use the 14-14-14 Osmocote.  Just sprinkle around the bottom of the stem and you are good for a couple of months. Fertilome makes a Garden-Cote that is also slow release.  

You can also use a special Miracle Gro product developed for tomatoes.  It is water soluble and could be used every 7 to 14 days.  The numbers on it are 18-18-21.  

With all of the beautiful rain that we have, our growing season has been really wet.  I am looking forward to some really fresh produce to put on the table.  

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)