Tui Autumn Times Magazine Tui Autumn Times 2018 | Page 8

GARDEN NUTRITION GUIDE
Feed your garden and it will feed you! For continuous delicious harvests
and beautiful blooms in your backyard, a feeding regime with quality
products are the key to success. We’ve put together our top nutrition
tips to keep your garden growing its best.
Reap the rewards with regular feeding…
Plants use nutrients from the soil as they grow, so replenishing
the nutrients ensures your plants grow to their full potential and
you get maximum yields and long lasting crops. A well nourished
garden will also have a better chance of keeping insects and
diseases at bay.
All you need to feed your garden…
With a range of fertilisers available it can be hard to know where
to start, so we’ve covered the main types of fertiliser to help you
on your way to garden success.
For optimum garden growth a combination of soil conditioners,
fertiliser and plant tonic should be used.
SHEEP PELLETS
Benefits: Sheep pellets benefit both your soil and plants,
conditioning your soil and providing nutrients for your growing
plants. They break down over time to add organic matter to
improve soil structure, encourage earthworms, and nourish
your plants. Consideration: Sheep pellets take time to break
down and release the nutrients for your soil and plants,
so it’s a good idea to pair with a slow release or speciality
granular fertiliser.
SEAWEED PLANT TONIC
Benefits: Provides a natural source of seaweed to promote
healthy plant and root growth to make plants more resilient
to common problems including: frost, heat, pests and diseases.
Seaweed is also suitable for all areas of your garden and can
be used year-round. As a plant tonic it doesn’t have an NPK,
so you can’t over feed your plants! Tui Organic Seaweed
Plant Tonic is Bio Gro certified so is a great natural option
for feeding your plants. Consideration: Plant tonics don’t
have an NPK so you will need to pair with a fertiliser that has
an NPK for optimum feeding.
WORM FARMS
Benefits: Provides free and natural
fertiliser for your plants. You can make
it yourself at home by recycling your
kitchen scraps into rich fertiliser for your
garden in the form of worm castings
and worm tea. Dilute your worm tea with
water at a 1:10 ratio and feed your whole
garden with your homemade fertiliser.
Remember
to water well
after feeding
your garden!
Consideration: It takes time for food to break down to create
the worm castings and worm tea to feed your garden, and also
time to maintain the worm farm.
SLOW RELEASE FERTILISERS
Benefits: Slow release fertilisers feed your plants for longer
so you don’t have to fertilise as often. You also don’t need to
purchase fertiliser as regularly. Tui NovaTec Premium is a slow
release fertiliser that provides a sustained release of easy-to-
absorb nitrogen, feeding your plants for up to four months. As
a compound fertiliser each granule contains the same available
nutrients - so your plants receive a balanced and even spread
of all essential nutrients. Consideration: Slow release fertilisers
may cost more, however do feed for longer than other fertilisers.
SPECIALITY GRANULAR FERTILISERS
Benefits: Granular fertilisers are blended specifically for the
crop or flower you are growing e.g. veges, citrus, roses. They
therefore contain the specific nutrients the plant needs to
grow, and as they don’t need to break down first, the nutrients
are readily available for the plants to use. They are also a cost
effective fertiliser to purchase. Consideration: Speciality
granular fertilisers need to be applied more regularly than
slow release fertilisers.
GET STARTED WITH A GARDEN FEEDING REGIME
This is a general guide to feeding; note some plants will
have more specific growing requirements - refer to plant
labels and the pack of fertiliser for specific instructions.
• When planting, dig Tui Sheep Pellets in to your soil.
• During the growing season Tui Sheep Pellets
can be added to your garden every eight to ten
weeks to replenish nutrients, condition the soil and
attract worms.
• Apply Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic at least
every two weeks to build a strong root system and
promote healthy plant growth.
• Feed with Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser or a
speciality granular fertiliser e.g. Tui Vegetable Food
during key growing seasons.
For more feeding guides and tips visit tuiproducts.co.nz
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TUI AUTUMN TIMES 2018