If you want to grow a fig tree, you might wonder what kind of fertilizer it needs. Fig trees need a well-balanced fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Slow-release fertilizers are better for growth, and organic fertilizers are better for soil. We’ll explain what makes fig tree fertilizer good and provide information on fig tree fertilizers that meet these requirements.
What is the Best Fig Tree Fertilizer?
Fig tree fertilizer needs to contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Also, slow-release fertilizer is better than quick-release, and organic fertilizer benefits the soil. We’ll provide more information about our top five favorite fig tree fertilizers:
- Dr. Earth Organic
- Jobe’s Organics Fruit & Citrus Fertilizer
- Miracle-Gro Fruit & Citrus Spikes
- EZ-Gro Citrus Tree Fertilizer
- Down to Earth Organic Fruit Tree Plant Food
What Makes a Good Fig Tree Fertilizer?
Let’s discuss what a good fertilizer should contain. Certain nutrients are considered essential for all plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, magnesium, sodium, boron, chlorine, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and nickel.
Plants require all fourteen nutrients for their basic, yet critical, functions. Even if all other conditions are met and all nutrients are available, if one of these essential nutrients is missing, plants will suffer.
If deficiencies are not treated, plants will die. That’s why they need good nutrition.
Plants consume soil nutrients continuously, and even the most fertile substrate eventually depletes, requiring more fertilizer.
Fertilizers add nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil in higher amounts than other essential nutrients.
Nitrogen is ranked first on fertilizer labels because it is the most important nutrient. Nitrogen regulates plant growth. Amino acids are assimilated into the plant as building blocks of protein. The plant also uses it to make chlorophyll and for many enzyme functions.
DNA and RNA (the genetic building blocks in plants) contain phosphorus, which is essential for root growth and flowering.
Potassium works indirectly in plants. It’s not a plant part, but it’s vital for plants’ health because it activates enzymatic reactions.
There are many fig tree fertilizers. They’re available as powders, liquids, and tree spikes and in conventional and organic formulations.
In general, powders and spikes release slowly, feeding your plant over time. This prevents your figs from overfeeding.
Moreover, organic fertilizers tend to take longer to work. Because they are natural, they improve soil quality.
These are all well-reviewed, high-quality products.
The Best Fig Tree Fertilizers
Dr. Earth Organic Fruit Tree Plant Food
Apply this organic powder to the base of your tree. Since it’s solid, it’s absorbed slower and therefore is slow release. Feather meal, fishbone meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, soft rock phosphate, potassium sulfate, seaweed extract, probiotics, and mycorrhizae make up this organic fertilizer.
Trees receive a constant amount of high-quality nutrients for several months. The natural, organic 7-4-2 N-P-K ratio enhances root development and fruit production.
To establish them, use one cup of fertilizer for every inch of trunk diameter (measured four to six inches above the soil line).
Water thoroughly to move the fertilizer through to the tree’s root zone after working it into the soil gently.
Jobe’s Organics Fruit & Citrus
It gives fruit-bearing plants the nutrients they need.
It contains Biozome, bone meal, feather meal, potash, and manure and has a 3-5-5 NPK ratio.
Biozome is a proprietary product containing healthy bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and microorganisms that help improve soil texture and increase water absorption.
For best results, apply it every two to three months.
Miracle-Gro Fruit & Citrus Spikes
No fertilizer list would be complete without at least one Miracle-Gro product. This is why we recommend Miracle-Gro Fruit & Citrus Fertilizer Spikes.
With fertilizer spikes give fruit trees all the nutrients they need for a season at a time. Miracle-Gro products are renowned for their quality and effectiveness.
Fruit & Citrus Fertilizer Spikes have an N-P-K ratio of 10-15-15 to release nutrients directly to the roots.
Plant spikes about three feet apart at the drip line to encourage the best possible fig tree growth.
When and how often should I use them?
A spring feeding gives trees new leaves and flowers. A fall feeding prepares them for winter.
Spikes will promote lush, green foliage and fruit production.
How many spikes should I use?
The drip line’s diameter determines the number of spikes. The drip line is the circumference of a tree’s branches. The larger it is, the more spikes you need.
One spike is enough for a small tree with a four-foot drip line. A larger tree with a 12-foot drip line needs ten spikes.
The back of the package will tell you how many spikes your fig tree needs.
EZ-Gro Citrus Tree Fertilizer
Plants need potassium to thrive and be disease-resistant and trees need it for bud and fruit development. That’s why we love EZ-Gro Citrus Tree Fertilizer.
A high potassium fertilizer source (20-3-19) improves your plants’ overall health. Potassium also increases yield, or in this case fruit production. And since it’s a liquid fertilizer, it’s easy to apply.
Dilute the concentrate with water and mix thoroughly according to the instructions. Apply the diluted solution to fruit trees either as a foliar spray or to the soil around the trunk.
Down to Earth Organic Fruit Tree Plant Food
Down to Earth Organic Fruit Tree Plant Food is our last fertilizer. OMRI certified, it contains fish bone meal, feather meal, carbonate, langbeinite, potassium sulfate, alfalfa meal, and kelp meal. It also contains added calcium, which is crucial for fruit development in fruit-bearing trees and plants.
Apply one cup of plant food per inch of trunk diameter. Start about one foot from the tree and work outward Apply it after the blooming period ends.
Figs are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow. They do well in pots and in the ground with fertile soil and high-quality fertilizer. We have discussed fig tree fertilizers extensively in this post. When choosing your best fertilizer, follow the instructions carefully so your fig trees produce delicious figs.