No, there are different strengths and ratios for different plants and purposes-- like fruiting, flowering, etc.

Saood, yes this is for *most* plants most of the time. Of course there are exceptions, but generally speaking plants absorb these nutrients in this approximate ratio - or very close to it. I feed my peppers and my citrus and my succulents all with this same ratio. However, with my succulents, I dilute the fertilizer to 1/4 strength. Same ratio, but a weaker dosage. That's the key.

Josh

Thanks Juliana and Josh for your replies.

Josh, but I do see some fertilizers which are made specifically for fruiting vegetables - especially by the name of Tomato food - High in Phosphorus and they recommend that cucumbers and peppers can also be fed with it. Since these are the three vegetables that I am concentrating right now, what should I do? Stick to the 3-1-2 for now and when the flowers set in change to the high phosphorus type? or should I stick to 3-1-2 through out the life cycle of the plants?

Thanks

Stick with 3:1:2 for the life-cycle of the plants.

Fertilizers with "bloom booster" labels and other ridiculous numbers are nothing more than a gimmick and a waste of money - they also end up adding excess elements to the environment in the run off, all that stuff that the plants aren't absorbing.

Plants use waaaaay more Nitrogen than Phosphorous, so there's really never a reason that middle number (P) should ever be higher than the first number (N).

The only manipulation that is of any real value would be to reduce Nitrogen at some point in the season, while maintaining the P and K respectively. This is especially helpful for folks growing in cold northern environments where the season is short.

Josh

Thanks Josh. So that means in my southern hot climate, I should remain as close to 3-1-2 as possible whether in growth or flowering stage.

Thanks again.

^^ What Josh said-- way more clearly than I did at the time lol. I was thinking about reduction of nitrogen for some plants. Some plants also like a nitrogen-poor soil, and others do not. But yes, the huge numbers that you see are not a good idea. I think most people who fertilize agree it's better to go weaker than stronger. You can always add more of something, but it's harder to correct something with too much.

Oh, I wanted to mention that I don't know what they are called in Saudi Arabic (I only know the Jordanian dialect for it) but since you mentioned vegetables-- there isn't always a one-to-one between the Arabic and English. I know that there are 2 things that translate to cucumbers. Githa/fegoos is more of what we would consider a melon with a culture like Armenian cucumbers. Ghiar is what you would follow our cucumber instructions on. it shouldn't really matter much, but I saw you were growing cucumbers and it may make a difference space-wise.

Juliana,

Actually I am from Pakistan working in KSA. So my Arabic is not that good. I just know that cucumbers are called Ghiar over here as well. Not sure what melons are called in Arabic.

Do Armenian cucumbers require more space than the regular cucumbers?

Saood,

Melon I can't think of at the moment. Bateek is watermelon lol. Some kinds of those other things can take up a lot more space. So it was just for you to keep an eye out in case you were going to plant them. :)

A major difference in fertilizer rates depends on your purpose. I do fertilize my fruit and non-fruit plants differently.
If you go to the tomato forum, they will tell you to limit your fertilizing during the fruiting phase. This stresses the plant a little, and makes it produce more fruit. My potted cherry tomato, a Jasper F1 produced about 500 tomatoes, is still producing but I'm days away from my first frost. Last time I fertilized was in June. The taste is amazing too, one of the best cherry tomato cultivars I ever grew.
I'm often concerned about taste, which can vary by the amount of fertilizer, but mostly by the amount of water you give the plant. Brix is a measurement of sugar content. Dry farming is a method to increase brix. You can do this for tomatoes too, to increase the sweetness, if that is desired.
It works really well with fruit trees but is hard to control unless you have a green house. Fruitnut a member in the orchards forum is an expert at producing high brix fruit. I have learned so much from him not only about fruit trees but about container growing which he does a lot of. He has a green house, and makes me want to put one up!

Thanks Drew

I got hold of Fruitnut on the vegetables forum and he does have answers to a lot of my questions. Thanks for identifying the expert :)

Dry farming and High Brix fruit are subjects that I will leave for a couple of years later. I believe that these cannot be applied to container gardening.

As for your cherry tomatoes, what did you fertlize with (the NPK ratio) and how frequently did you do that and how much did you do each time?

i generally use a 3-1-2 for everything and then if certain plants show a deficiency or have been shown to need more of a particular nutrient I add extra of that. For instance, my citrus shows potassium deficiency if I only use 3-1-2. You can also control the growth of the plants with different ratios. For instance you can keep internode lengths short by resticting phosphorus.