Useful and ornamental plants depend on a suitable supply of nutrients in order to develop the desired flowers or fruits. However, correct fertilization not only includes the use of a suitable fertilizer in the optimal amount - not only under-, but also over-supply has serious consequences - but also the form of administration. So you should never fertilize on dry soil, but always water it first.
It is better to water before fertilizing
Do not fertilize on dry soil
If you apply the fertilizer to dry soil, it will not penetrate to the roots and will not do its job. Worse still, the nutrients are not evenly distributed, instead they clump together in a few places. This in turn results in over-fertilization in places, while other parts of the plant remain untreated. The plants fertilized in this way grow irregularly, develop many leaves and shoots in the heavily fertilized areas, but wither away in the less fertilized areas. In addition, especially on hot and sunny days, fertilizing on dry soil can lead to the parts of the plant there practically burning.
Fertilize and water plants properly
For these reasons, watering before fertilizing is immensely important. Loosen the soil a little beforehand, especially with large plants, create a watering rim: otherwise, in very dry soil, the water will run away on the surface before it can penetrate into the depths. Now water thoroughly, but not excessively. Only then is the fertilizer applied and lightly worked into the now moist soil.
mineral fertilizers
If you work with mineral fertilizers, it is advisable to use long-term fertilizers in the garden or liquid fertilizers for potted plants. Apply long-term fertilizers in the spring and then know that your plants will be adequately supplied until the end of the growing season. Incidentally, you can also dissolve some complete fertilizers in the irrigation water and then water the plants with it: This is how you kill two birds with one stone.
Organic Fertilizers
It is also important that organic fertilizers such as compost or manure are not worked into dry soil. The use of self-made plant manure as fertilizer, such as a mixture of nettle and horsetail broth and rock dust, is also ideal for many ornamental and useful plants in the garden. These contain almost all important nutrients and also have a strengthening effect, so that many pests don't even stand a chance. When using such liquid fertilizers, prior watering is not necessary.
tips
However, too much water can also have the opposite effect when fertilizing, since the valuable nutrients can be washed away as a result. For this reason you should never fertilize in rainy weather, only when it is dry and you can control the water supply.