7 Best Christmas Tree Stands in 2022

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Believe it or not, a Christmas tree won't stay upright on its own. Instead, you need a stable Christmas tree stand that can accommodate the type and size of tree you have. We researched dozens of the best Christmas tree stands to help you find the right one for your needs, whether you have a real tree, an artificial tree, a small tree, or a behemoth. The stands in our guide have a track record of durability, performance, and easy setup. We also outline the size and type of tree each stand is meant for. Check out our guide to the best Christmas tree skirts once you've chosen the right stand for your tree. The best Christmas tree stands in 2022 Best Christmas tree stand overall: Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand, available at Amazon, $82.79 The German-engineered Krinner Tree Genie Christmas Tree Stand is easy to set up in a couple of minutes and keeps trees up to 12 f...

The Difference Between Plant Food and Fertilizer

Image for article titled The Difference Between Plant Food and Fertilizer

Photo: Ostanina Anna (Shutterstock)

Like humans, plants need certain nutrients in order to survive. So if you have a plant, and it doesn’t exactly look like it’s thriving, you may decide to give it a little nutritional boost. But does it need plant food, or fertilizer? And what’s the difference between the two? Here’s what to know.

The difference between plant food and fertilizer

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, plant food and fertilizer are not the same thing. The biggest difference is that plant food is made by the plants themselves, while fertilizer is a synthetic or natural substance that is added to a plant’s soil. Here are a few more specifics:

Plant food

The easiest way to remember the difference between plant food and fertilizer is that only plants can make plant food: It’s not something that can be purchased (no matter what product labels say). To produce the simple sugar they use as food, plants convert water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight during photosynthesis, and absorb nutrients in the soil through their roots.

When a plant isn’t able to get the nutrients it needs through its soil, it may benefit from the addition of some fertilizer or compost to make up for the nutritional deficits.

Fertilizer

The nutrient content in soil depends on a variety of factors, including its texture (loam, loamy sand, silt loam), organic matter content, and pH. Testing your soil is the best way to figure out which nutrients are present in sufficient amounts, and which you may want to add to the soil using fertilizer.

Commercial fertilizer comes in formulations with different ratios of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—the nutrients plant need in the largest amounts. This TausiInsider article from May 2021 decodes the letters and numbers on fertilizer bags, and explains how to select the kind that would most benefits your plants.

Additionally, this page from the University of Minnesota Extension provides further details on the different types of fertilizer, and when to use them.

https://www.tausiinsider.com/the-difference-between-plant-food-and-fertilizer/?feed_id=330858&_unique_id=644f357087e08

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