17 17 17 fertilizers are soluble and beneficial to all plants. However, understanding a fertilizer’s components and application mechanism before purchasing it is crucial to ensure your plants thrive.
17 17 17 fertilizer is all-purpose and well-balanced plant food. Its primary constituents include Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium, in equal 17% ratios. Although this fertilizer guarantees providing your plants with all the necessary nutrients, ensure you examine your plants’ needs before using them.
Should you use triple 17 fertilizer in your garden and lawn? Read on as we describe 17 17 17 fertilizer components and their benefits to different plants.
Contents
17 17 17 Fertilizer Components
17 17 17 are balanced fertilizers made up of three essential components, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. These ingredients are the leading nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth.
A bag of 17 17 17 fertilizer consists of 17% Nitrogen, 17% Phosphorous, and 17% Potassium. The remaining 51% includes other minerals and nutrients beneficial to your plants. Below are detailed descriptions of how 17 17 17 fertilizer components benefit plants.
Nitrogen
Vital plant processes require proteins, and Nitrogen is the most essential of these constituents. Plants like oilseeds, cereals, sugar, and fiber need balanced Nitrogen amounts to promote vigorous growth and consistent development processes.
Nitrogen is a major chlorophyll component. Chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants that helps absorb sunlight, a vital ingredient for photosynthesis.
Nitrogen is essential for stimulating crop development and root growth. It also enhances the uptake of other nutrients.
Nitrogen makes up a large part of nucleic acids like the plant’s DNA which is vital in growth and development. This supplement is also a significant part of the plant’s ATP, which stores energy and allows the cells to use it when necessary.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is crucial for cell division and new tissue development, which play a huge role in plant development. It’s also involved in complex energy transformation processes and is a component of nucleic acids like DNA.
Adding phosphorus to your lawn enhances your plants’ winter hardiness and root growth. It also promotes the production of side shoots and hastens maturity. Stalk and stem strength are dependent on Phosphorus. This nutrient is also vital in seed production and flower formation.
Phosphorus deficiency leads to stunted growth and may cause plants to have a weird dark green color. Without Phosphorus, sugars accumulate, due to a lack of energy transformations, causing the plant to have a reddish-purple color. Regularly apply triple 17 fertilizers to redeem your plants’ beautiful color.
Potassium
Potassium is essential for water and nutrient transportation in plants’ tissues. It’s also vital for enzyme activation, which triggers ATP, starch, and protein production. ATP is pivotal in photosynthesis, a crucial process for plant survival. Potassium deficiency leads to stunted growth.
This ingredient is responsible for the opening and closing of the stomata, regulating the exchange of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water.
Other Potassium benefits to plants include increasing root growth, enhancing drought resistance, producing grains rich in starch, increasing protein intake, and retarding crop infections and diseases.
Potassium reduces respiration, allowing plants to preserve food. Respiration is the production of energy through the oxidation of complex organic compounds. It leads to fast food depletion, which may affect the plant’s overall growth.
Where Is 17 17 17 Fertilizer Used?
You can use 17 17 17 fertilizers on all your plants, from trees, shrubs, lawn grasses, houseplants, vegetable gardens, and flowers. Below are descriptions of how these fertilizers affect different plants.
Lawn Grasses
17 17 17 fertilizers are crucial in lawn grass growth. They enhance root development and healthy growth by stabilizing the soil after planting new sod. These fertilizers protect plants against pests, diseases, and adverse weather conditions.
The best time to apply 17 17 17 fertilizers on your established lawn grass is during the spring when it’s thriving. Apply more fertilizer during the fall to help grass sustain the harsh incoming winter conditions. This also helps them recover from all the damages suffered during the cold season.
It’s advisable to avoid applying 17 17 17 fertilizers to your lawn during the summer. Lawn grass needs nitrogen-rich fertilizers to boost its growth and color during this time.
Trees and Shrubs
17 17 17 fertilizers have endless benefits to common shrubs and trees, including fruit trees. Adding these fertilizers to the planting holes before sodding your trees will ensure robust root growth and hasten their overall development.
Apply fertilizer 17 17 17 on your large, established trees and shrubs in early spring to prevent wilting and drooping. This also improves the plants’ color and protects them against diseases, pests, drought, and the plummeting winter cold.
Note that applying 17 17 17 fertilizers when already using mulch or compost is unnecessary. You should also avoid applying these fertilizers on trees and shrubs that have been drought-stricken. These plants hardly absorb nutrients.
Adding 17 17 17 fertilizers to fruit trees supports their growth and enhances the production of flowers and fruits. They also increase the harvest’s shelf life, which is pretty impressive.
Vegetable Gardens
Not all vegetable gardens require balanced fertilizers to flourish. If your garden is deficient in major nutrients, applying a 17 17 17 fertilizer is a good option. For the best results, use these fertilizers before planting.
Apply triple 17 fertilizers to leafy vegetables like spinach and cabbages to boost foliage production and improve their color. However, reduce these fertilizers when dealing with root vegetables like beets and carrots. These plants may perish due to increased foliage growth and dormant root development.
Practice light fertilizing on fruity vegetables to avoid exposing them to high Nitrogen nutrients, which mostly promote foliage production. Although you’ll get a beautiful garden full of lush green vegetables, fruit production will be highly limited.
Remember, if you prefer a dry 17 17 17 fertilizer, mix it into the top two to four inches of soil and water the ground sufficiently for easy absorption.
Houseplants
For the best results, avoid applying fertilizers on houseplants at all times. Houseplants’ exposure to sunlight is limited, reducing their absorption capabilities.
You should also dilute 17 17 17 fertilizers before applying them to these plants. Although most indoor plants may lack some micronutrients, fertilizing them once yearly is enough.
Flowers
Flowers, regardless of their area of growth, require regular fertilizing. Add a liquid concentrate triple 17 fertilizer to maintain large blooms on your flower bed or hanging baskets.
Flowers need sufficient energy to bloom. However, some varieties are heavier feeders than others. Ensure that you understand what your flowers need to determine the right fertilizer amount.
Apply 17 17 17 fertilizers on annuals only when they start growing. You can add fertilizers to perennials during the spring as they continue growing even after the annuals die.
Applying 17 17 17 Fertilizer
Below are tips to follow when applying 17 17 17 fertilizers for the best results.
- Ensure you dilute the fertilizer before spraying it on the leaves. Triple 17 fertilizers are highly concentrated and may harm plants when applied directly, without dilution.
- Apply about 600g/ha of fertilizer on vegetables and flowers. Fruit trees should get about 100g/ha.
- When diluting these fertilizers, ensure all the granules or particles are completely dissolved.
- Use 17-17-17 fertilizers with other foliar fertilizers to ensure your plants get both the macro and micronutrients.
- Incorporate pesticides with fertilizers to protect your plants from pests and diseases.
Where To Buy 17-17-17 Fertilizer
You can buy 17 17 17 fertilizers online or at garden stores. Your local hardware store may also have these plant foods.
Always read the package instructions before using these fertilizers, regardless of where you purchase them. Different varieties have varying application mechanisms.
After identifying the stores selling triple seventeen fertilizers close to you, read their reviews online and ask your neighbors for recommendations first. To settle on the best deal, you should compare the 17-17-17 fertilizer price per ton.
A fifty-pound 17 17 17 fertilizer bag goes for about $15. The prices may vary slightly from one brand to another. Different retailers also have varying prices.
Choosing the Best 17-17-17 Fertilizers
Before purchasing a 17 17 17 fertilizer, ensure it’s of the best quality to avoid harming your plants. It should also meet all your plants’ needs.
Don’t rely on the packages to determine the fertilizer’s quality. Research and read all the customer feedback and reviews online to get a clear picture of the fertilizer’s attributes.
You could also choose the best 17 17 17 fertilizer by trying on different types and analyzing the results. Settle for the one that sits well with your plants.
Other factors to consider when choosing triple 17 fertilizers include the brand’s customer service, price, and warranty terms.
Understanding the brand’s customer service is crucial before purchasing a 17 17 17 fertilizer. Good twenty-four-seven customer service comes in handy when in need of urgent help. Slow and inefficient or rude customer service only worsens the situation.
Conclusion
17 17 17 fertilizers have 17% Nitrogen, 17% Phosphorus, and 17% Potassium. They are excellent for solving plants’ issues, like enhancing their growth and protecting them from pests and diseases. You can apply triple 17 fertilizer to lawn grass, vegetable gardens, houseplants, and flowers.
Hello! My name is Chris, and I am the founder of Yard Floor. When I was a toddler, my family had a lush green lawn. I was at the center of caring for and maintaining this lawn and even proceeded to take an associate’s Degree in landscaping. I am here to share my years of experience with you – be it repairing your mower/tractor or caring for your lawn.
