Use This Fertilizer On Your Squash To Help Them Grow Bigger Than Ever

One of the joys of growing summer squash is watching them go from tiny protuberances to veggies big enough to feed the tribe. While kitchen scraps can help your tomatoes swell and companion plants will boost the size of your lettuces, when it comes to growing bigger squashes, using the right fertilizer is crucial. Whether you're growing all kinds of summer squash or sticking to zucchini, they need a lot of feeding for the duration of the growing season, and the best way to do that is with a 10-10-10 fertilizer: that's a blend of 10% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus, and 10% potassium.

Those 10% increments are important. The fertilizer lurking in the shed that worked brilliantly for your lettuce? Don't be tempted to use it on your zucchini. It will have too much phosphate and potassium, not quite enough nitrogen, and will do the plant zero favors. A 10-10-10 blend provides enough nitrogen to keep the plant growing, the phosphorus and potassium support veggie production, while also helping to keep the plant healthy and free of disease.

Good sources of nitrogen include well-rotted manure, or blood or feather meal, and there's obviously phosphorus in rock phosphate, but you'll also find it in fish and bone meal. Sulfate of potash is good for potassium, as are wood ashes and kelp meal, but if you're adding all these to your soil in the wrong amounts, the size of your squash could suffer.

Giving your soil a hefty feed before planting is always a good first step, but too much nitrogen can be disastrous for some plants. Summer squash will produce lots of glorious leaves but fewer vegetables, and an excess of nitrogen also leaves the plants vulnerable to diseases like powdery mildew. A fertilizer that's heavier on the potassium and phosphorus than your summer squash needs will also impact their ability to absorb nutrients from the soil, potentially kyboshing your harvest.

The most reliable way to get a bumper crop of summer squash is to buy a quality organic 10-10-10 fertilizer, so you don't have to worry about those all-important ratios. Best of all, that fertilizer won't just keep your summer squash happy and healthy, it's great for the gamut of winter squashes too. Many gardeners will give their soil a nitrogen boost before planting their winter varieties, and side-dress with a 10-10-10 fertilizer when their squash crops begin to produce vines. When it comes to harvesting your big, beautiful veggies, remember this pro tip for your butternuts.