I planted 2 dozen seeds and got 3 plants. (YAY!) They are growing well, but I have no flowers yet. I am in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. I am feeding 24-8-16 once a week. Am I just impatient?
You are way over-fertilizing them unless you are diluting that ratio of fertilizer by at least 1/2 when feeding them. Such high nitrogen fertilizer will force bushy, heavily leafed plants, with little blooms or fruit production.
Otherwise we'd need to know how old the plants are, how long since transplanted, and are they in a container or the ground? If container, what size and what growing medium used? Brand name of fertilizer?
Container plants may require weekly feeding of a well diluted fertilizer but in-ground plants can easily go 2-6 weeks between feedings, especially if used full strength.
A fertilizer that high in nutrient numbers isn't really recommended for use on much of anything in the garden except maybe nitrogen-lovers like leafy greens. Even 1/2 strength it is more than most plants need and over-fertilization is one of the easiest ways to cause plants stress.
The seeds were planted directly in the container, (16"deep 20" wide) They are maybe 6 or 8 weeks? I used a potting soil mixed with some composted chicken manure. I was using Miracle grow.
You can use the same brand just dilute it to at least 1/2 strength or maybe even 1/4 strength and cut back on the frequency.
Since your mix is soil-based rather than soil-less it won't drain as well as most containers mixes and the bad mineral the salts will build up over time and harm the plant. You want to slow that down, keep it from happening, as long as possible. So a weaker, less frequent application will help do that.
digdirt2
calik8Original Author
Related Professionals
Garden City Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · New Mexico Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Norton Shores Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Roxbury Crossing Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Waterbury Landscape Contractors · Tempe Landscape Contractors · Cornelius Landscape Contractors · Las Vegas Landscape Contractors · Miller Place Landscape Contractors · Milton Landscape Contractors · Paramount Landscape Contractors · New Carrollton Landscape Contractors · La Vista Driveway Installation & Maintenance · Skokie Driveway Installation & Maintenance · Anaheim Driveway Installation & Maintenancecalik8Original Author
digdirt2