Feeding plants in pots

Thanks for the tip BradfordLass - I'll give the Epsom salts a go. No stables near me, sadly, but I do have a big bucket of chicken s**t pellets which I usually add to what we laughingly call our soil when I plant stuff.

gulligranny A good soaking of water with Epsom Salts is excellent for roses and tomatoes. I grab a big handful of crystals to a bucket of water, stir well than apply.

They may also need a fertiliser of some kind and 'hoss muck' is an old Yorkshire remedy if you have a stables near you.

I've never put chemical fertilisers or pesticides on my garden as I value the insect, reptile and birds life too much. Heaps of alternative, natural stuff available, usually much cheaper too.

Tomato food is a much better plant food than Miracle grow . If you have just bedding plants that will be pulled out at the end of tbe season it is not a problem, but the permanent flowers in your garden need a good balanced plant food.

What's good for roses? I have horrible poor soil (the builder of our house sold off the topsoil ....) and although my roses are game little things, I feel sure they could be better with the right feed.

I recommended potash to my daughter when she complained that her strawberries were all leaves and not much fruit. She reported a big increase in yield after applying potash. I'm sure it can have a similar effect on flowering plants, especially in pots where they might lack nutrition..

Gromore for green shrubs. Chicken pellets for everything. Those slow release little round balls for flowering pot plants. My best find last year was potash which has improved the perennial geraniums from all leaves to masses of flowers. Why did it take me so long to discover it?

Someone on GN recommended Phostrogen which she only seemed able to buy at Wilkinson/Wilko. I tried it and feel it did give slightly better results than Miraclegro. When potting plants for one season only I add a few slow release pellets to the compost and don't bother again.
I am looking forward to Spring when I can cheer up my garden a bit but we have had snow this morning.

I assume you mean plants in pots outdoors? I use chicken manure pellets mixed in with compost - I think it gives slow release feeding, rather than Miracle gro or similar that gets watered in and needs repeating every few weeks.

I have the best results with miracle gro and chicken manure pellets
Tried Richard Jackson's products from QVC and cheap wilkos things but no results to shout about.

I use Miracle Grow or Tomato feed. First thing, in the spring ( after March) I take the top centimetre of compost off and put a fresh layer on.
Some plants, Acers and Azaleas need ericacious feed.