More fertiliser means bigger, healthier plants.
Contested
More fertiliser doesn't mean bigger, healthier plants. Past what a plant actually needs, the extra burns roots, pushes weak leafy growth over fruit, and runs off into waterways. Feed what the soil is short of, not more — and a soil test is what tells you the amount. When in doubt, less.
What is actually known
Fertiliser genuinely helps a plant that is short of a nutrient — that is the kernel of truth — but the relationship is not "more is more." Past the point where a nutrient is limiting, extra does harm: soluble salts build up and scorch roots ("fertiliser burn"), excess nitrogen pushes soft leafy growth at the expense of flowers and fruit and makes plants more attractive to pests, and an oversupply of one nutrient can block the uptake of another. The surplus that the plant cannot use leaches into groundwater and waterways. The right amount is set by what the soil is actually short of — which a soil test tells you — not by generosity.
Evidence: not yet confirmed against its 3 sources.
what this rests on - 3 pointers
nutrient response saturates and then reverses - excess soluble salts cause fertiliser burn
surplus nitrogen favours foliage over fruit and invites pests
and nutrient excess induces other deficiencies and leaching; the rate is set by a soil test; extension consensus
When would that grow at your place? →
Cite this page
Milpa Gardens. "More fertiliser means bigger, healthier plants." Evidence grade: Contested. https://milpa.garden/beliefs/more-fertilizer-overfertilizing/
A garden-planning corpus: every claim states its evidence grade and links its sources on the page. Cite it with the grade, and add the date you read it.