While you can’t control the weather, there is much you can do to produce show-level flowers, fruit or veg, and grab your own bit of Chelsea Flower Show glory!
Prize produce is underpinned by fertilisation. Whether you’re an organic grower, an amateur exhibitor, or a seasoned professional, you are unlikely to be able to produce show blooms, fruit or veg, without fertiliser.
Prize veggies need fertiliser.
Fruits and flowers need potassium (potash) to form, and this macro nutrient can be low in sandy or light soils. Whilst nitrogen is key to growth, too much of it will encourage the plants to put on too much foliage.
Nitrogen is important at the initial stages of a plant’s growth, but once buds start to form, boost the potassium content.
The fertilisers of champions
Start with a balanced fertiliser in spring for healthy early-stage plant growth. Our Nutrigrow Triple 18 is ideal, offering perfectly balanced nutrition with a produce-boosting 18% nitrogen, 18% phosphate and 18% potassium - together with other essential micronutrients.
This product was used by Chelsea grower Ben White to produce a whopping 758lb pumpkin – take a look here.
The power of potassium
Once buds start to form, up the potassium content of your fertiliser for maximum results. Our Nutrigrow 15-5-30 offers a good 30% potassium boost, and is water soluble so can be applied direct to the leaf, at two – four week intervals.
Prize blooms benefit from potassium.
If you’re aiming for a display of beautiful roses or you’re growing them to show, try our Nutrigrow Rose Fertiliser – specially formulated to support rose blooms. It contains 5% nitrogen, 5% phosphate and 10% potassium.
This balance ensures that the foliage doesn’t overtake the production of flowers, and despite its name, if you prefer this blend, it is good to use on all flowering plants.
An equally effective organic option is Blood Fish and Bone – a powdered fertiliser with 5% nitrogen, 5% phosphate and 6.5% potassium.
Beautiful rose blooms after treatment with rose fertiliser
Encouraging growth
Once your blooms start to form and you’re underway with a high potassium fertilising regime, remove weak, malformed, or small buds and flowers to help deliver energy to the remaining healthier blooms. This will boost their prize-winning potential.
The same goes for edible produce; remove weak or poorly formed early fruits and vegetables to help achieve stronger growth in the remaining produce.
Flowering perennials that bloom later in the summer can be encouraged to put on more flowers by cutting back new stems in May to promote side shoots. This process is known as the ‘Chelsea Chop’ as it’s usually done around the time of the show!
Pest-free produce
An important aspect of growing flowers and produce for show is the control of pests. Agrigem stocks a huge range of insecticides for ornamentals, all of which are most effective when used at the first sign of infestation.
Watchfulness at early growth stage will help you correctly identify and treat pests, and so prevent damage to blooms and produce.
Fungus can also threaten plant development and deeply affect the final look of flowers or edible produce. Many of our fungicides are safe to use on edible produce, but if you’re unsure about treating your plants, please get in touch with our specialist technical team for free advice.
There are many tricks to growing prize fruit, flowers, and veggies, but the key to robust plant growth is a solid foundation – healthy soil. You can check the state of your soil using a nutrient analysis test. This will show you which fertilisers are needed to help give your plants the best chance of success.
Share your success!
Agrigem has been supporting growers with top quality plant health products for years, and we love to see the results of our customers’ growing efforts.
Share your pictures with us, tell us which products you used, and we’ll give you 10% off your next order. Send images to: marketing@agrigem.co.uk
We hope you enjoy the growing season and produce blooms and edibles worthy of a first-place rosette!
