The only fertilizer i ever use on my garden soil is homemade compost. On my containers I prefer to use Foliage Pro, but will use any water soluble with the same ratio of nutrients plus I will use controlled release type when potting.

I use something acidic for blueberries and my one camelia - cottonseed meal or azalea fertilizer, usually organic. Native and drought tolerant plants - no fertilizer. Vegetables- organic vegetable fertilizer. Compost is great and I use homemade compost, but it is a soil amendment and conditioner, not a fertilizer.

The numbers on commercial fertilizers are standardized; the first is nitrogen, the second phosphorus, and the third potassium. If the first number is higher, it means that the fertilizer has more nitrogen that the other two elements. There should also be some trace minerals.

For the garden, not containers, I test the soil every few years and only add what is low. If you just go adding stuff willy nilly without testing to your garden soil, you're asking for trouble. Every single landscape I've had tested had very high phosphorus levels that were bumping up against toxic levels. This is most likely due to excessive manure or 20-20-20 application. High phosphorus levels are a problem because it can cause nutrient lockout.

For an all-purpose granular I use those labeled tomato or rose. The beds have roses, bulbs and perrenials. I usually remember to scatter it in the spring. Always burying compost only because I love to dig and my soil was heavy clay/.

For pots, Miracle-Gro with its high nitrogen level. To replace what watering washes out.. Use it very diluted every watering. 1/10th
strength
?

Same as Al, plus MiracleGro to get the tomatoes started. I like to push their growth hard when they first go in.

Organic or single nutrients--blood meal, bone meal and Dr. Earth's triple 4. May add green sand &/or other organic nutrients if I fee like it.

I also had my soil tested. It is high in phosphorous and medium high in potassium. The only thing I use is urea (for nitrogen) for a few plants if I know they should be doing better (for example, when my lettuce stops growing). Most get nothing, including my lawn, and I still spend plenty of time mowing and pruning.

I'm organic, so I think of feeding the soil and not the plant. When the soil is rich, the plant will automatically benefit. I'm not sure what kind of plantings you are talking about so not sure if this applies. I have used straw, soybean meal, alfalfa meal or hay, corn meal, anyways you get the drift. A lot of this I get at the feed store, so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Additional using this really cuts down on water. Here is a picture of a Julia Child rose taken a couple of weeks ago. I think she looks incredibly healthy and she has had no fertilizer, etc. other than a layer of straw last year. (Note the yard in the back ground is not mine, but the neighbors.)

If you're not testing your soil, the only thing you should add to perennial beds is woody mulch on top or you risk polluting the watershed. This includes organic fertilizers like soybean meal as well. For some reason people think that organic amendments are not fertilizer and are therefore safe which simply is not the case.

A few more questions based on the responses. Where do you get your soil tested and how much does that cost? Also do you have to do separate tests for different areas of your garden?

If you mulch, how do you add fertilizer? Liquid spray on top? Granular on top? Compost on top? Or do you have to move mulch, fertilize and them move it back?

Finally where do you usually find the numbers? Some EB Stone products have it on the front but a lot of them, from a casual perusal, do not have them listed.

UMASS? Like University of Massachsetts?

I've moved to just about 100% compost tea for my soluble fertilizer and my top dressing is typically manure-free compost with added kelp (that i collect at the beach).

Basically I use Vigoro- its ALWAYS available,Azalea and Camellia food. It works great with those and Citrus,Palms,ferns and Mango's. Lightly on houseplants.

If I happen to see organic and I need fertilizer? I like the EB Stone with the world famous bat guano. Pricey.

Contrary to what most everyone else seems to think, I've found that the composition of the soil is of far more importance. Just my opinion but I do not feel there is a need to use any fertilizer in my garden. Pay attention to other factors if you want your plants to grow well. level of sunlight and water, it is important to consistently water in the summer, and many of the plants in the drier or hotter parts of California do better with a little less sunlight than normally recommended for that plant.