What Can I Put in My Soil to Make My Flowers Grow Faster?

Soil Nutrients

• Soil provides plants with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous -- three macronutrients essential to plant life. Too much nitrogen, however, encourages rapid stem and foliage growth but does little for flowers because plants put their energy toward shoot development and fail to produce buds and flowers. Potassium and phosphorous deficiencies are responsible for overall stunted plant growth but especially weak bud and floral development. Micronutrients like magnesium, sulfur and calcium also help with plant development and vigor. Excess micronutrients damage not only plants but soil integrity. Damaged soil can persist for years, causing lackluster plant development for more than one growing season.

Soil Tests and Amendments

• Avoid soil damage by submitting soil samples for testing before adding fertilizers, lime or other amendments. Take soil samples from different areas of your garden and submit them to your local university cooperative extension for analysis. The benefit of soil testing is the report you receive afterward that provides soil fertilizer and plant recommendations for your soil type. By following recommendations, you can avoid adding too much or too little nitrogen or other nutrients. You will see fertilizer recommendations listed using three numbers. These numbers are in a ratio and indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium contained in the fertilizer mix. Standard fertilizers such as 10-10-10 and 20-10-5 are often used to balance or bolster the nutrients in your soil. These fertilizers, when applied in accordance with recommendations, can improve flower blooming and plant growth.

  Other amendments like lime or sulfur are used to change or maintain a healthy acid level. Azaleas and rhododendrons bloom well in acidic conditions while most flowers prefer favor neutral or slightly alkaline conditions.

  Compost, bark and organic materials provide bulk and improve drainage. Suggested amounts of all these amendments are provided in soil test analysis reports.

Annual Flowers

• Annual flowers bloom once during the growing season and do not return once they die back after the first frost. To encourage blooming, site your flowers in a sunny location. Most annuals prefer full sun -- up to six hours per day. Annuals also prefer well-draining soil. Add compost to provide bulk to compacted, dense, clay soils. Compost lightens soil and encourages worms and microorganisms, which aerate soil. Add compost to light, sandy soils to retain essential nutrients, minerals and moisture. When planting annual seedlings, add compost to the growing hole. When starting annual flowers from seed, incorporate compost into the seedbed.

Perennial Flowers

• Perennial flowers bloom year after year. They bloom off plants that are planted once and reemerge once the dormant seasons pass. Because these plants remain in the landscape year after year, fertilizers are usually applied in spring or fall to the plant's base. Place mulch over the plants before the first frost. Not only does mulch insulate the plants but it provides organic materials that encourage aeration and soil rejuvenation.