Fertilizing/Feeding Question

I'm not exactly a beginner gardener, but I haven't used any plant food in many years. First of all, what would be the best all-purpose plant food? Also, would fertilizing hurt seedlings (I have many in the garden right now)?

Thanks in advance. Just looking for some advice.

Believe it or not, that is a hard question...every gardener has their personal favorite. Grin

I use a granular 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 in the early spring as I do the bed prep/weeding/etc. and then again at the start of summer(June) and again in August because I am in zone 8b/9a and have a long growing season. For your garden you would probably only use twice over the season.

I also use water soluble (miracle grow and the like) at least once a month generally and a little more frequently for heavy feeders like roses,and brugmansias.

You can also use any of the slow release formulas (osmocote) around heavy feeder plants...it lasts about 3 months depending on heat and rain.

The very best thing you can give you soil and plants is home made compost, doing this lets you control what you feed your garden, it also helps to make the structure of your soil better and it gets rid of lots of household waist, so what could be better for you and the environment, you can add all natural things, just look at what goes in the dust bin, tea bags, peelings from fruit and veg, coffee grounds, tea bags, lint from the clothes drier, fluff from carpet cleaner, all the dead, /cuttings from you tidy up in your garden and even small amounts of grass and news papers.
Other things that I use to feed my soil is pelleted chicken manure, buy in garden store and you don't over use it, rake it into the soil, buy packets of blood / fish/ bone meal, these are all natural feeds.

There is also feeds that are chemically made you can buy, loads of them available, but they don't do the same job as the natural ones do and don't last in effect for long, so you have to add more at shorter intervals.

I'm sure others will come in and give you their ideas and tips, all are just as helpful and probably easy to get, so like Themoon said, this is an individual choice and the good thing about a garden, you can try things out for a season and change your mind the next year, so there is no time limit on feeding plants, the soil structure is every bit as important and that takes a few years to get really well built up unless you have an endless bank book to go get several truck loads of manure / compost, so you just build it up as when you get the materials to do so, it's healthy, fun and boy, you really do enjoy the great results.
Good luck, WeeNel.

the best way is to use a safe slow release professional product like osmocote plus. it will last one year in the ground and safe for babies too. it has full micronutrient package and low salt index, so wont burn. 15-9-12, 8-9 month will last 1yr in the ground good for everything. we grow everything from grasses to fruit trees and everything in between.