Some vegetables not to fertilize include beans, peas, and other crops that grow best without extra food. Giving these plants nitrogen can hurt your harvest instead of helping it.
I learned this the hard way with my first bean crop. My plants grew tall with thick green leaves that looked amazing. But when harvest time came, I found almost no pods hiding in all that foliage. Too much nitrogen grew leaves instead of beans.
Your beans and peas make their own nitrogen through bacteria in their roots. These tiny helpers grab nitrogen from the air and feed it right to your plants. Adding more nitrogen from fertilizer shuts down this natural system and wastes your money.
Low fertilizer vegetables like legumes do better with less from you. Skip the nitrogen and your beans put their energy into making pods instead of leaves. I now prep my bean beds with just compost and nothing else.
Your carrots and parsnips grow weird when you give them too much nitrogen. The roots fork, split, and grow hairy side roots that make them hard to clean. Stick to phosphorus if your carrot bed needs anything at all.
Root crops in general count as light feeder crops that need less than your leafy greens or fruiting plants. Your beets, radishes, and turnips grow fine with one feeding at planting time. Extra nitrogen makes them grow big tops but small roots.
Your garlic and onions want very little nitrogen after they start forming bulbs. Early season feeding helps them grow strong leaves first. Late feeding ruins your bulb storage quality, so I stop all nitrogen to my onions by June 1st every year.
Herbs like sage, thyme, and oregano taste better when you skip the fertilizer. Rich soil makes your herbs grow fast but dilutes their flavor oils. My herb garden gets no feeding at all and produces the strongest flavors.
Your sweet potatoes grow lots of vines but few tubers with excess nitrogen. Feed them once at planting and let them be for the rest of the season. I made this mistake twice before finally leaving them alone.
Group your low nitrogen crops together so you can skip that section during your feeding rounds. This makes your garden work easier and avoids accidental over-feeding. My bean and pea beds sit at one end where I never bring the fertilizer bucket.
Watch your plants for signs of too much food. Lots of leaves with no flowers or fruit often means you gave too much nitrogen. Some crops just do better when you leave them alone and let them grow on their own.
Read the full article: Fertilizing Vegetable Garden: Boost Your Harvest
