10 Best fertilizers 2024 in the US

If you have a “green thumb” and like gardening, you'll want your plants to grow as best possible. Over time, the soil will become depleted from the nutrients that plants need. Using a fertilizer is essential to growing healthy plants. You'll also want to eliminate growth of weeds that tend to crowd out the desirable plants. (For example, there are weeds, such as clover, which can grow in nitrogen-depleted soil.) Keeping the lawn fertilized will eliminate those weeds. Here is a guide to some of the best fertilizers on the market.  

Fertilizers can be sorted by the form that they are sold in:

• Liquid fertilizers: These usually contain some ammonia compound, which is rich in nitrogen, which the plants need for leafy growth. It is easier to cover a large area with liquid fertilizer. It also works more quickly than dry fertilizer. (But too much liquid fertilizer may seep into ground water, causing algae blooms and other ecological problems.)

• Dry fertilizers: These can come either in a granular or powder form. They are useful in fertilizing specific areas, like around individual trees and plants. You also don't have to apply dry fertilizer as often as liquid, since it doesn't wash away so quickly over the course of rains and watering. If you want to apply dry fertilizer over a large area, you might need a special device for spreading the fertilizer, so that it is distributed evenly.

• Time Release fertilizers: You don't want to apply too much fertilizer to the plant at once (it might actually kill plants if it's too concentrated). Also, if you apply too much at once, it can be washed away by rain, or simply leach into the ground without being effective. Time release fertilizer gradually supply the plants with their nutrients over time, as the nutrients spread out into the soil. Fertilizer spikes or granules are good examples of time release fertilizer.

• Spray fertilizer: There are fertilizers that are applied by spray, onto the leaves. But make sure that this is the correct method of application: If you apply liquid fertilizer, intended to be sprayed on the ground, on the plant's leaves, it will probably cause leaf rot (the plant essentially overdoses on plant fertilizer).

• Organic fertilizer: These are natural sources of plant nutrients, either derived from decomposing plants or animal matter or waste. Examples include cow manure, fish meal, compost, cottonseed meal, or bone or blood meal.

• Fertilizer spikes: Not everyone has a lot of time to devote to their garden. Also, some can't remember when they last applied plant food or fertilizer. The controlled-release fertilizer, preferably in the spike form, is perfect. You place a spike about 10-12 inches away from the plant's stem One spike is recommended per potted plant, or for within a 2 foot diameter. Replace them once every 2 months.

• Robust growth: The effects of plant fertilizer are sometimes very dramatic: people who say that their plants stopped blossoming say that the fertilizer is what reawakened their plants' ability to bloom.

• Too much fertilizer: If the plant's situation worsened, it can usually be attributed to giving the plant too much fertilizer. If that happens, you might want to try a nutrient rinse—a solution that dilutes the concentration of fertilizer in the soil.

• Acidic soil or Nitrogen-depleted soil?--You will find different fertilizers for different soil and plant needs. For acidic soil (low pH), you'll need a fertilizer that balances out the pH. (Or you can try to grow plants that like acidic soil, like azaleas.) Certain metals (iron, aluminum, phosphorous or manganese) cause the soil to be acidic. Pulverized limestone can neutralize acid.

• Weed killer plus fertilizer: One problem is trying to make sure the fertilizer nourishes the desirable plants, but doesn't feed unwanted weeds as well. There are fertilizers that include a weed killer, that eliminate the common types of weeds: clover, dandelion, crabgrass, etc. (Be sure to note what types of plants can be affected by the weed killer.)

• Fertilizer for different stages: Some fertilizers are developed for young seedlings and transplants, whereas some are for blooming plants and fruits. There are also fertilizers that are formulated for particular plants.

Scotts-- is a division of the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Scotts was founded by O.M. Scott in 1868, who used to sell lawn seed. Their headquarters is located in Marysville, Ohio. Their brands also include Ortho (insect control products), Roundup (weed control products), and Tomcat (rodent control products).

Fox Farm-- is a garden products company with their main office in Arcata, California. They also have facilities on the East Coast of the United States. They produce natural and organic soil mixes, fertilizers, and plant foods. Fox Farm employs ingredients that are without chemicals and animal wastes.

Safer-- is a company based in Lititz, Pennsylvania. They were founded in 1981, and specialize in organic plant treatments: organic insecticides and repellents, weed killers, and fertilizers.

Winchester Gardens—is a manufacturer of lawn and garden products, located in Canal Winchester, Ohio. They make fertilizer in several forms: tablets, spikes, granules. They have specialized fertilizer depending on the type of plant that you are growing.