Liquid feed for free

Nourishing plants with liquid feed is one area where you’ll save a fortune by growing your own treatments, says Bob

- Bob Flowerdew

LIQUID feeds are soluble fertilisers – mixtures of nutrients that we add to the water we are giving our plants, which then help to feed them. Such feeding is most valuable for plants growing rapidly while confined in pots and containers. In the open ground, plant roots can grow unrestrained, so need feeding far less.

Even so, really hungry crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, sweetcorn and squashes benefit from liquid feeding. Indeed, if you wish to show exhibits of almost anything, you have to feed, and heavily. Theoretically, each plant needs different amounts of many different nutrients, but in practice we use general-purpose rather than specific feeds.

Thus, it’s sensible to use several in rotation to cover any over-or under supply. Also, it’s far safer to add a little and often, rather than all at once, as too strong will kill, so always dilute well.