Best garden fertilizer

Garden fertilizers include various styles, substances, and absorption rates. The best options tend to be all-purpose, like our staff pick from Osmocote. It's formulated to release over 6 months so that your plants will never go hungry. When making your selection, the most important part is ensuring it works for your garden. Both outdoor and indoor plants benefit immensely from regular feeding; if you can follow simple directions, you'll have a lusher garden in no time. So show your soil some love, and peruse our garden fertilizer collection below—it'll level up your horticultural know-how.

Affordable, reliable, high-quality—these terms describe Osmocote's Smart-Release indoor and outdoor garden fertilizer. This plant food includes 11 essential nutrients and minerals for optimum growth and yield, great for fruits and veg or just your houseplants. If you'd prefer, you can get the flower and vegetable-focused blend if they're the star of your garden. Osmocote's fertilizer also lasts for up to 6 months, and just one scoop will feed 2 gallons of soil. The nutrients released from the pellets won't burn your plants, a guarantee promised by Osmocote.

I'm glad that I broadened my criteria for garden fertilizer as I searched for our best overall because I turned up this soil Recharge blend from Real Growers. Its clever nutrient combination, beneficial bacteria, and fungal powerhouses act as an organic growth stimulant for all plant varieties. For example, mycorrhizal networks are a far-reaching underground fungi system that provides a protective, symbiotic relationship with plants—even delivering water straight into the root system. Real Growers included two fungal varieties in their recipe: Mycorrhizae for root protection and Trichoderma, a voracious decomposer. This fertilizer essentially replaces the need for compost tea (and thus another thing to maintain in your garden). 

Humboldt County in Northern California is known for its dense forests, bountiful farms, and lush greenery. Due to this, much of the area's dedicated to horticultural development—and thus, the need for top-quality, effective fertilizer was born. Made by local business Humboldts Secret, Golden Tree is a liquid fertilizer. When diluted, it can be applied to all sorts of plants besides trees. You'll get at least a couple of hundred gallons worth of plant food formula out of the 16-ounce container I chose. The dilution ratio is up to you, but don't forget that flowering plants require double the food that vegetables do. You can use Golden Tree up to three times a week, and it's okay to combine it with other additives if you'd like. 

Easy Peasy's Urea fertilizer is the most critical nutrient during plants' development. It's formulated in such a way that it's essentially a bag of pure nitrogen, significantly simplifying the absorption process. Thankfully, fertilizers like this mean that the vomitrociousness of sprinkling nitrogen-rich urine and "nightsoil" on your fields can stay right where it belongs—in the annals of time. A single pound (2.5 cups) of Easy Peasy's Urea fertilizer will treat 100 square feet of soil, whether it's your lawn, an orchard, or a big rose bush. There are 5 pounds in the bag I chose, which will last you through at least a year's worth of nutrition.

Bioavailability is a critical aspect of choosing the best fertilizer for your garden. It determines how quickly the formula is released and how well your plants absorb its nutrients. Luckily, AgroThrive took bioavailability into account when formulating their fast-acting, fish and grain-based liquid fertilizer. It's pre-digested, eliminating the need for plants to break down various minerals and amino acids. AgroThrive's formula supports the local micro-fauna in your soil, and it's even certified by three separate organic organizations, including OMRI. Organic farmers can choose this garden fertilizer with confidence. 

Bottom line

Now that you've perused our collection of the best garden fertilizers, I hope you've found a formula that's best for your soil and plants. Our all-purpose staff pick from Osmocote is of the gradual-release pellet variety. Osmocote is formulated for indoor and outdoor gardens alike. The pellets inside the bag are actually smart-release shells full of fertilizer that's eked out into the surrounding soil over time. 

Liquid fertilizers like Golden Tree from Humboldts Secret are a wise investment for casual gardeners and farmers. Hobbyists will find their jug of Golden Tree will last for hundreds of gallons of water, and the pros appreciate it for its commercial-grade concentration. Just tweak your water-to-additive ratio, and you'll find that certain plants benefit more from concentrated solutions than water-dominant ones.

Why trust us?

At GardeningEtc, we recommend the best products to enhance your life. As expert curators, we handpick products based on quality and usefulness to positively impact your day-to-day, from cart to doorstep. We take our responsibility seriously — testing products, reading reviews, and sourcing knowledgeable outlets to ensure our selections are worthy of your time and money. We deliver detailed product overviews, balancing objective information with subjective opinions, so making the best choice for your home and lifestyle is as easy as possible.