It's every gardener's wall of confusion: the shelves and shelves of plant fertilizers, available at the local nursery. Which one should you use? The granular, the liquid, the box, the bottle or the bag? And do you really need separate fertilizers for each kind of fruit or vegetable you're growing? And what do all those numbers on the fertilizer label mean? Do you really need to use fertilizers, at all? Our favorite college horticulture professor (retired) Debbie Flower joins us in the studio to talk garden fertilizers.
She points out that two of the tell-tale signs that your plant needs nitrogen: the older leaves are turning yellow, and the newer leaves are smaller than normal.  Also, using more fertilizer - or fertilizers with high levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) - can poison plants. More is NOT better. Flower recommends using fertilizers with "single digit" levels of N, P, and K.

This episode is brought to you by Smart Pots. Visit smartpots.com/fredfor a money-saving offer on the original, award-winning fabric planter, USA-made. Listen to learn how to win a free, Smart Pots 6-foot long bed! (By the way, if the podcast service you listen to doesn't have a ratings/comment section, you can send your ratings/comment here to enter this contest.)

Plus, we answer one listener's question that may also be vexing you and your garden right now: how do I get rid of all those gosh darn squash bugs that are sucking on the zucchini, melons, cucumbers and pumpkin leaves? One prong of Flower's three-pronged approach to controlling squash bugs: encourage populations of beneficial insects that prey on squash bugs, especially the mini-wasps and tachinid flies. Planting the right flowers nearby can encourage these garden good guys to take up permanent residence in your garden. More details about that here.

It’s all part of Episode 23 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. Grab a magnifying glass (for the fertilizer labels) and a bucket of soapy water (for the squash bugs) and give us a listen. We will do it all in under 30 minutes.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.