Growmore is a multi-purpose plant food with an even balance of nutrients to feed all the plants in your garden, with a content of N-7, P-7, K-7.
When preparing Beds, Borders and Vegetable Plots, scatter 140g per sq m (4oz per sq yd) onto the soil 7 – 10 days before planting or sowing and fork well in. For salad crops use half the quantity. This should give sufficient nutrients for 6 to 8 weeks.
Growmore can be applied to the soil surface once a month to keep your plants well fed throughout the growing season. Scatter 70g per sq m (2oz per sq yd) onto the soil and lightly fork or hoe in.
Growmore has its place in the garden as an all-in-one feed, quick and easy with no messing.
It's a good beginner fertiliser but you will soon find that it is not adequate for more specialised subjects. There are alternative fertilisers around such as Pelleted Chicken Manure which also has the advantage of being organic.
National Growmore – The History
Growmore, probably the most popular compound fertiliser, was first formulated as part of the "Dig For Victory" campaign in the Second World War (1939-45) - hence its full name "National Growmore".
Growmore as it become known had a ratio of NPK of 7:7:7 and even today this is what you will find on Growmore, produced and sold by many different companies.
Some copies of wartime leaflets gave mention that certain crops would likely need additional treatment throughout the growing season. So for example, cabbages will benefit from a nitrogen feed later to encourage leaf growth or tomatoes will need a high potash feed for fruit development.
During the war many people referred to Growmore as 'artificial' since they were made rather than coming from animal or other waste products applied direct to the ground. The leaflets at the time explained that products like Growmore were not artificial but inorganic.