Plan your season · Feeding

What to feed when.

Plants eat on a schedule. Here's when to feed each family, tuned to your season.

Feeding schedules by plant family. Heavy feeders get two side-dresses during fruit set. Legumes fix their own nitrogen and rarely need more. The family you are planting tells you almost everything.

Amaranthaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Rosaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Asparagaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Lauraceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Ericaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Boraginaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Polygonaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Cleomaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Grossulariaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Adoxaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Moraceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Plantaginaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Vitaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Actinidiaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Malvaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Verbenaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Basellaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Apocynaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Convolvulaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Tropaeolaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Tetragoniaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Annonaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Paeoniaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Polemoniaceae

General feeder

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of finished compost at planting
    Covers the first month for most crops.
  2. Wk 5
    balanced
    Half-strength fish emulsion if leaves are pale or growth has slowed
Brassicaceae

Heavy feeder — cabbage, broccoli, kale, kohlrabi

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of compost + 1 tbsp balanced organic fertilizer per plant
  2. Wk 3
    N
    Side-dress 1 tbsp blood meal or composted manure when heads begin to form
  3. Wk 6
    N
    Repeat side-dress if lower leaves are yellowing
    Especially for long-season varieties like Brussels sprouts and Savoy cabbage.
Poaceae

Heavy feeder — corn, sorghum, grains

  1. At plant
    compost
    2–3 inches of compost worked into the row
  2. Wk 4
    N
    Side-dress 2 tbsp blood meal per plant when knee-high
  3. Wk 7
    N
    Second side-dress at tasseling
    Corn is famously hungry. Skip only if leaves are dark green.
Amaryllidaceae

Heavy feeder — onion, garlic, leek, shallot

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of compost + 2 tbsp bone meal per 10 feet of row at planting
  2. Wk 4
    N
    Side-dress blood meal or fish emulsion every 3 weeks during bulb-swell phase
    Stop all feeding once tops start to fall over.
Cucurbitaceae

Heavy feeder — squash, cucumber, melon, pumpkin

  1. At plant
    compost
    2 inches of finished compost in the planting mound
    Cucurbits want rich soil and even moisture.
  2. Wk 3
    N
    Side-dress 1 tbsp blood meal when vines start to run
    Before flowering.
  3. Wk 7
    balanced
    Fish emulsion foliar spray every 2 weeks once fruit sets
    Supports a continuous set through summer.
Solanaceae

Heavy feeder — tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato

  1. At plant
    compost
    1–2 inches of finished compost worked into the planting hole
    All the nitrogen most plants need for the first month.
  2. Wk 4
    N
    Side-dress 1 tbsp blood meal or fish emulsion per plant
    When the first flowers open. Skip for potatoes — goes to leaf, not tuber.
  3. Wk 8
    K
    Side-dress 1 tbsp kelp meal or greensand per plant
    When fruit is sizing — potassium helps flavor and disease resistance.

Over-feeding tomatoes with nitrogen past flowering gives you a giant green plant and no fruit.

Fabaceae

Legume (fixes its own nitrogen) — bean, pea

  1. At plant
    compost
    Light compost at planting — that is all most years
    Legumes fix nitrogen. Extra N = more leaves, fewer pods.
  2. Wk 6
    K
    Kelp meal side-dress if pods fail to set in heat
    Optional — only if production looks weak.
Lamiaceae

Light feeder — basil, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme

  1. At plant
    compost
    Light compost; avoid over-feeding — too much nitrogen dulls flavor
  2. Wk 6
    balanced
    Fish emulsion half-strength once after a heavy pruning
    Optional — only if plants look pale.

Most culinary herbs produce the best oils in lean soil. Restraint beats abundance.

Apiaceae

Light feeder — carrot, parsnip, celery, parsley, dill

  1. At plant
    compost
    Well-rotted compost — never fresh manure (causes carrot forking)
  2. Wk 6
    K
    Kelp meal side-dress once roots are sizing
    Mostly for celery and celeriac.
Asteraceae

Moderate feeder — lettuce, endive, sunflower, artichoke

  1. At plant
    compost
    1 inch of compost; half-strength fish emulsion at transplant
  2. Wk 3
    N
    Fish emulsion side-dress every 2 weeks for cut-and-come-again lettuce
    Keeps leaves tender and regrowth quick.