I was wondering what fertilizer other bonsai owners use. At the moment I'm using Yates Uplift, which I don't really think is the best for bonsai. Is there a 'best brand' that I should look out for? I read somewhere that some fertilizers are good for new shoots/more growth, and some are better for fruits/flowers or roots (or something along those lines). However, none of my bonsai's have fruits or flowers, however they are still very young and small, so I was wondering what fertilizer would be good for new, fast growth.
Any help would be appreciated

Thanks,

Matt

Any fertiliser with a good even enough NPK is fine.

Bonsai do not require anything special. Just like all plants, they need some nutrients in large amounts ( macronutrients, e.g. N: nitrogen, p - Phosphorous, K - Potassium being the main 3). They need some others to a lesser extend (e.g., Fe - Iron, Ca - Calcium) and others in a very low amount (e., Manganese). All in all it needs to be balanced (Think your ow diet: You need a bit of everything, not just potatoes 3 times a day)

By using some different fertilisers throughout the year you will vary the exact composition of what you give, which will reduce the risk of missing one of them.

Growth of plants is limited by the nutrient that is lacking in their system over medium term. So you can add loads of NP and K. But if the plant is in need of Calcium that is not going to help the plant a lot.

I use chicken manure pellets, some kind of organic pellets, most likely bone & nails. And I use liquid fertiliser '1$/liter from a discounter'.

If you want growth High nitrogen, like chicken manure pellets then switch to low nitrogen in late summer like any tomatoe fertiliser. If the tree is an old finished tree and you do not want so much growth then a balanced NPK is better. It all depends on the tree and what you want it to do.
Geoff.

Thanks everyone, will look out for high NPK
I've also got two small fertilizer cakes, I was wondering how much to give to each plant and the best season to do so?
Thanks again,

Matt

Mattyhatch1 wrote: I was wondering how much to give to each plant and the best season to do so?

That would be during the growing season, which would depend on your local climate and the tree species.

Okay thanks
So how much do I give my bonsai's? A whole cake or only a little bit?

The amounts will be/should be displayed on the packaging.

Oh well that's a problem then... My 2 fertilizer cakes are in small zip lock bags but I just remembered that the lady that sold it to me said no more than half a cake for each bonsai (or something along those lines, I bought them about 4-5 months ago and Her english was broken so I couldn't understand her that well) /: I might go back to the nursery and ask her, it's pretty far so I don't really go there much.
But apart from that, thanks for your help!

Matt, where are you located and which plant are you fertilizing? If you are in northern hemisphere / temperate zone: Your outdoors dor not need fertilizer (And your indoors I would not give fertilizer cake because of the smell).

How much fertilizer to give is heavily debated. Some put one or two small lumps on the pot. Others cover the whole surface. For example: I give my plants all a handfull of chicken pellets (Pots about 30cm across) a few times a year. I would start off with adding one. If you think the plant can do better than that, ad another. Are they the tiny 1-2cm balls? These you can easily add both, even if you have a very small pot.

These cakes normally do not come with instructions, so do not worry about asking for packaging.