Start with a teaspoon broadcasted around the base of the plant and water it in. Wait a week and see how the plant reacts if all is good keep slowly increasing dosage until you reach what is recommended. But remember these are time release fertilizers that leach from the top of the soil down to the roots so if you overdose your plants its harder to flush them. It can be done but you'd need to scrape all the fertilizer off the top of the soil flush them with straight water and then re apply the fertilizer with a little less. It will still work without a doubt its just harder to fine tune and dial in the nutrient level your plant needs like you can with liquid feeding.