Potassium and Roses: Not a Rock Band

Its summertime once again and gardeners everywhere are getting their vegetable and flower gardens planted. The smells of flowers are without a doubt one of the greatest joys of summer. Roses are without doubt or hesitation one of everyone’s favorite summertime flower. Nothing enhances a yard or garden more than a big showy abundance of fragrant roses. Growing big showy roses can be a friendly neighborhood competition of sorts; every gardener wants to be the one with the biggest and most roses!

Grow More Roses

Regular pruning of the rose bushes ensures plenty of blooms, but after a few years the size and number of rose blooms diminishes. It may be time for fertilizer made just for roses. There are generally two kinds of fertilizers: a synthetic type that directly feeds the rose and doesn’t really improve the soil, and the natural fertilizer which improves the soil and roses benefits from that. The choice is yours whichever you prefer to use. More and more, people are opting for the natural or organic fertilizer for their plants.

For big beautiful roses with large and plentiful blooms, roses require fertilizer made just for them that contains extra potassium. More potassium has been shown to grow larger, more plentiful blooms in all varieties of roses. A rose fertilizer also contains a generous serving of elemental nitrogen, which in studies has been shown affects the depth and intensity of color.

Why do Roses Need Potassium?

Potassium is an element that roses need for the formation of chlorophyll and creation of many blooms. The high potassium in rose fertilizer affects the growth rate of the plant and also activates essential enzymes that provide optimal photosynthesis, plant respiration and for maintaining optimal health.

Rose Fertilizer, and a Natural Source of Potassium for Bigger Blooms

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Fertilizer intended for rose bushes has more potassium than regular plant food; usually the ratio is a 10-10-20 fertilizer, with the “20” being the potassium.

When planting a rose bush, give it an early boost and throw a banana peel or two into each hole prior to setting the root ball. Or for that matter, not just the banana peel but a whole banana would do just fine. The natural source of potassium from the banana won’t over-feed the rose, but it will safely and naturally decompose and provide the rose with potassium. And this makes for showier and more abundant blooms which every flower gardener wants.

Planting individual tomato plants with banana peels (or a small dead fish, also high in naturally-occurring potassium) under the root ball is also a wise gardener’s trick to not only gently fertilize the soil but also as an aid to prevent or reduce blossom end rot. The decomposition of these natural organic fertilizers also generates a small amount of heat which in turn activates helpful bacteria in the soil that makes the non-biotic available calcium more available for your plants to absorb.

There are many other benefits to using banana peels in your flower and vegetable garden as well. A good compost bin should include your banana peels along with other vegetative refuse. Using this natural compost on your garden or flowerbed will yield bigger and healthier plants and you will be on your way to becoming the envy of the neighborhood with your abundant rose blooms.