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How to feed flowers

Updated: October 2026

You already have a bottle or a tub, and the risky moment is the first watering, not the checkout. How to feed flowers means reading whether the liquid is ready to pour, a concentrate, or granules, then stopping when the season says stop. Diluting a ready-to-use bottle wastes it. Pouring a concentrate on neat can scorch compost and roots. Pack notes are on the [flower fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/flowers-fertiliser). Choosing the job stays on the [flower fertiliser buying guide](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/flowers-fertiliser/sub/flowers-fertiliser-buying-guide). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You already have a bottle or a tub, and the risky moment is the first watering, not the checkout.

Our top picks

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate, 2 x 800 ml

Best overall

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate, 2 x 800 ml
7.4/10about £7.98
View offer
Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed, 2 x 1 litre

Alternative

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed, 2 x 1 litre
5.5/10about £8.98
View offer
Baby Bio Baby Bio Pour & Feed, 1 litre

Best value

Baby Bio Baby Bio Pour & Feed, 1 litre
7.3/10about £5.81
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Do not dilute the ready-to-use bottle
  2. 2.Dilute the concentrate
  3. 3.If the listing is silent
  4. 4.Granules, leaves and the last month

Do not dilute the ready-to-use bottle

Baby Bio Pour & Feed is the clear case. The item highlight says no dilution is required, and you pour it onto the compost. The bottle is 1 litre, listed at £5.81 on 19 October 2026. If you tip a cap into a full watering can, you thin a product that was sold already dilute. In the Amazon reviews the litre does not last as long as concentrated Baby Bio. There is no application rate in the product data, so the bottle in your hand is the dose.

Dilute the concentrate

Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate, model 121175, is the opposite bottle. The amazon bullets say a concentrated formula that mixes with water. The mixing-ratio field is blank. The manufacturer label says half a cap in 1 litre of water, and a quarter cap for sensitive, small or young plants, every 7 to 14 days from early spring to late summer, and only when the plants are growing. Soak the compost at the base. Do not invent a millilitre figure for the cap, and do not pour the concentrate on neat.
Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate, 2 x 800 ml

Testsieger

Miracle-Gro Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate, 2 x 800 ml
7.4/10about £7.98
View offer

If the listing is silent

Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed, two 1 litre bottles, has bullets that only say Plant Food, Easy to use and Good product for use. The spec does not say whether to dilute. One review says it does not need diluting, and another says they diluted it. Do not pick a side from those reviews, and do not borrow the half-cap rate from model 121175. Topline's 8 kg granules say every 4 to 6 weeks from February to the end of October. Grams per square metre are blank. The mixing-ratio field reads 20:20:20, and the product data says that is not a declared analysis, so do not treat the tub as a printed 7-7-7.

Granules, leaves and the last month

Granules stay on the compost, not on the foliage. The Royal Horticultural Society warns that fertiliser left on leaves can scorch them. The gram rates for the shrub feeds are on the ericaceous fertiliser page. Do not tip those granules into a weekly watering can. Do not fertilise with a general feed after September. Topline's listing says February to the end of October, and that clash does not move a camellia past the end of July. If the flowers are already cut, use the cut flower food steps instead.

Common questions

Do I dilute Baby Bio Pour & Feed?
No. The item highlight says no dilution is required. You pour it on. Thinning it in a watering can uses up the litre without matching the way it was sold. In the Amazon reviews people had not realised it was already dilute, and people found it ran out faster than a concentrate.
How much Miracle-Gro All Purpose concentrate goes in a litre?
The manufacturer label for model 121175 says half a cap in 1 litre, or a quarter cap for sensitive, small or young plants, every 7 to 14 days from early spring to late summer, while the plants are growing. Wet the compost at the base. The amazon mixing-ratio field is blank, and the cap volume in millilitres is not in the product data.
What if the Pour and Feed listing does not say?
Leave it undecided. The spec does not say whether Miracle-Gro Pour and Feed needs diluting, and the saved reviews disagree. Follow the label on the bottle you received. Do not borrow the half-cap rate from the All Purpose concentrate, which is a different model.
Where do granules go, and what if they sit on leaves?
Spread them on the compost and keep them off leaves and stems. The Royal Horticultural Society links fertiliser on leaves with scorch. Brush or water them off foliage, then water the area in. Do not dissolve a shrub granule into a weekly spray.
When do I stop a general feed?
After September, on the Royal Horticultural Society's general rule, so you are not pushing soft growth as the weather cools. Houseplants that are still growing hard or flowering are the Met Office exception, not a reason to feed every pot. The Miracle-Gro concentrate label already narrows use to early spring through late summer.
Does the Topline February-to-October line override September?
No. The tub prints every 4 to 6 weeks from February to the end of October, and the Society says do not fertilise after September. Those are different instructions. Do not apply the October line to camellias, which stop at the end of July. The tub also has no gram rate in the product data.
Can I use this method for a vase?
No. Ready-to-use liquid, concentrate and garden granules are soil feeds. A cut-flower sachet is for vase water, with its own volume, usually around half a litre where the listing states one. Putting Baby Bio or Miracle-Gro in the jug is the wrong product, not a clever shortcut.

Related pages

Best flower fertiliser by job

Cut flower food

Flowers fertiliser

Flower fertiliser buying guide for pots, beds and vases

Ericaceous fertiliser for azaleas and rhododendrons

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the ten amazon.co.uk listings captured on 19 October 2026. Scores use the method dated 21 October 2026. This is not a laboratory test. An analysis on a maker label is that label, not a figure the amazon bullets always repeat. The 2026 consultation on UK Fertilising Product Regulations is not law in force.

  1. RHS, fertilisers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. RHS, feeding plants (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. RHS, conditioning cut flowers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. RHS, growing camellias (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Fertilisers Regulations 1991, legislation.gov.uk (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK, manufacturing and marketing fertilisers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Miracle-Gro all purpose concentrate label (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Miracle-Gro azalea, camellia and rhododendron label (retrieved 19 October 2026)