What fertilisers should I get for lawn and border shrubs?

[MLS]

A very knowledgable local gardener (sadly, he's too busy to take on my garden) has told me that my lawn and borders 'need vitamins'. He's absolutely right, as my current (and very basic) gardening service just weeds and waters so the grass and the plants - fan palms, hibiscus, various flowery-things-I-don't-know-the-name-of, chilli bushes etc. etc. - could all do with some loving attention.
I plan to do it myself and I'm assuming I can buy fertilizer for the shrubs and a decent lawn feed from the roadside garden centres but I'm not sure what types to buy - or how to ask for them, for that matter. By the way, the grass is sort of English, not the large-bladed tropical type.
Anyone out there who can give me some advice or recommend stuff they use? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Cheers.

[malcolminthemiddle]

I can't offer any advice myself but would be interested to know whether this recommended fertiliser can be delivered through an irrigation system?

[Dannie Boy]

We buy it in 50kg bags of granular fertiliser and have 3 different types depending on whether it is for fruit, flowers or grass.

They probably have names but it is all in Thai, but the breakdown varies as follows:

Fruit
N 25%. Nitrogen
P2O5 7%. Phosphate
K2O. 7%. Potash

Flowers
N. 16
P2O5. 16
K2O. 16

Grass
N. 46

Can't remember exactly the prices but about 1000 baht or just over a bag bought from one of the hardware shops. Being granular they are not suitable for an irrigation system so just need scattering by hand.

[PeteC]

I use 12-12-12 on everything. (nitrogen-phosphate-potash) and have been told by many a Thai garden person that this is best, and easy. No switching back and forth with type between grass, flowers, trees etc. Works great for me.

It's a blue colored pellet type substance that is time release to a degree, but disappears completely after a heavy rain or watering. You can sprinkle by hand without gloves without getting skin burn. Skin turns a bit blue but washes off easily. You need to water grass though after application as the nitrogen content will burn it if a bit too much lands in one spot.

Your grass will not green up with 12-12-12 as fast as if using straight nitrogen. You can use straight nitrogen (white crystals) on your grass but you REALLY need to water heavily within 30 minutes of application or you'll have a dead lawn. Wear rubber gloves if not using a spreader. Straight nitrogen will give you a green, thick pasture in about 2 days.

The 12-12-12 comes in 25 and 50 kilo bags. Forgot cost as working off a 50 kilo bag for the past year.....I think around a thousand? Most garden centres will have small plastic bags as well that they've filled from the larger bags. Handy for small properties.

Read this for more guidance: http://www.sunset.com/garden/garden-bas ... 000015144/ Pete

[Frank Hovis]

I agree with Pete, stay away from high nitrogen mixes, especially now we're getting semi-regular rainfall your plants will be able to get nutrients out of the soil much easier as the worms start to move about again.

High nitrogen on grass will have you spending all day on the lawnmower at this time of year. Use a fork or corer to aerate the lawn, it helps with getting moisture deeper down into the soil instead of the flash-flood runoff that usually happens.

[STEVE G]

Having dabbled in the partners families Issan farming enterprises, if you go to an agricultural wholesaler you can usually work out what is in the large bags of fertilizer as the chemical breakdown is normally in a script that can be understood even if everything else is in Thai.
As oil is used in the manufacture of chemical fertilizers, the price varies quite a lot depending on the price of oil and Thai farmers follow these prices keenly when deciding the best time to buy but obviously they're buying a lot of the stuff.

[migrant]

There are some posters on the forum here that seem to generate a lot of fertilizer

Seriously here in the states there are places you can take a sample of your lawn (roots and all) and they can tailor a suggestion to your situation. May not be offered directly, but one of the wholesale places may be able to take a educated guess.

[PeteC]

Dannie and I were typing at the same time yesterday and shows two different approaches. There are dozens of approaches depending upon how much time and tailoring you want to do concerning what you're growing. In the beginning at this property I went with the tailored approach and it got to be too much with too many different products including chicken manure , that's why I now opted for the "one for all" approach. The results may not be as fast, but everything growing is doing well.

There is also a liquid product named B2 I use on trees once a quarter. A few cap fulls in a bucket of water is enough. You can almost see the trees growing/blooming. I'll try to take a pic of the bottle and post later today. Pete

[PeteC]

Here's the pic. It's named B1, not B2. What you may not be able to read are the English words "A root stimulant reduces transplant shock". Yes, but it is also great as a periodic tonic for all trees and bushes. Very good on fruit trees. Not for grass or flower beds. Two cap fulls using the white cap on top is enough in a full normal size bucket of water. 1 bucket quarterly, unless a very large tree, then apply 2. Comes in 1 liter and the 5 liter shown. The 5 liter is about 700 something Baht. Pete

[MLS]

I'm really grateful to all of you kind people for taking the time and trouble to give such useful replies above - my garden and I thank you!