Key Techniques for Autumn Fertilization of Flowers and Methods for Preventing and Controlling Edible Fungus Diseases

Nitrogen is an essential element for flower growth. Applying nitrogen fertilizer can promote the growth of branches and leaves, but different fertilization management methods should be adopted for different flowers.

For flowers that go dormant in winter, applying a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer in autumn will trigger the growth of autumn shoots. The growth of autumn shoots not only consumes the nutrients stored in the flowers, but also affects the growth and flowering of the flowers in the following spring. In addition, because the dormant period of the flowers is delayed after autumn shoots grow, cold damage may occur when low temperatures are encountered. Therefore, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied to flowers that go dormant in winter in autumn. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers can promote the accumulation of nutrients in the flowers and lay the foundation for growth and flowering in the following year.

However, this does not mean that nitrogen fertilizer cannot be applied in autumn. Flowers that do not go dormant in winter can still be given nitrogen fertilizer. In particular, foliage plants should still be given fertilizer based mainly on nitrogen fertilizer. However, when applying nitrogen fertilizer, attention should be paid to combining it with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Reasonable application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers can improve the cold resistance of flowers:

For plants that bloom in winter, such as cineraria (Pericallis x hybrida), calceolaria (Calceolaria spp.), cyclamen (Cyclamen spp.), poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), and wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), early autumn is the vegetative growth period, so fertilizer based mainly on nitrogen fertilizer should be applied. In late autumn, most of them are in the bud differentiation period. When fertilizing such flowers, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be the main focus, with nitrogen fertilizer as a supplement. Too much nitrogen fertilizer is not conducive to winter flowering.