Fertilizer Basics & NPK Ratio: Boost Your Plants' Growth

According to the Gallup Gardening Survey, less than half of the country's home gardeners use any kind of fertilizer on their lawns or gardens. What's unfortunate about this statistic is that it means gardeners aren't getting as many flowers or as much produce as they should. And they're probably struggling with disease and insect problems that could be avoided.

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Well-fed plants are healthier, more productive and more beautiful. This article covers the basics of why and how to fertilize your garden.

Plant Nutrients 101

Remember those tasty tomatoes and beautiful roses you grew last year? It took nutrients from the soil to build those plant tissues. By fertilizing your garden, you replenish lost nutrients and ensure that this year's plants have the food they need to flourish.

Nutrients Required by Plants

Macronutrients

Structural nutrients are the building blocks of most biomolecules. Plants primarily get these from CO2 (carbon dioxide) and H2O (water).

• Carbon
• Hydrogen
• Oxygen

Primary nutrients are needed in large quantities by plants, and therefore tend to get depleted from soils first. These are the major components of most fertilizers.

• Nitrogen is the base of all cells, proteins, and chlorophylls. It helps plants make the proteins they need to produce new tissues and promotes lots of vegetative growth. In nature, nitrogen is often in short supply so plants have evolved to take up as much nitrogen as possible, even if it means not taking up other necessary elements. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not produce fruit or flowers. 
• Phosphorus stimulates root growth, helps the plant set buds and flowers, improves vitality, and increases seed size. A phosphorus deficiency leads to slow growth and weak plants.
• Potassium improves overall vigor of the plant. It helps the plants make carbohydrates and provides disease resistance. It also helps regulate metabolic activities.

Secondary nutrients are also required by plants, but but in much smaller amounts

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• Calcium is used by plants in cell membranes, at their growing points and to neutralize toxic materials. In addition, calcium improves soil structure and helps bind organic and inorganic particles together.
• Magnesium is the only metallic component of chlorophyll. Without it, plants can't process sunlight.
• Sulfur is a component of many proteins.

Micronutrients

Finally, there are seven elements that plants need in tiny amounts. Healthy soil that is high in organic matter usually contains adequate amounts of each of these micronutrients:

• boron
• copper
• iron
• molybdenum
• zinc
• chlorine
• manganese

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Synthetic fertilizers are water-soluble and can be taken up by the plant almost immediately. In fact applying too much synthetic fertilizer can "burn" foliage and damage your plants. Synthetic fertilizers give plants a quick boost but do little to improve soil texture, stimulate soil life, or improve your soil's long-term fertility. Because synthetic fertilizers are highly water-soluble, they can also leach out into streams and ponds. Synthetic fertilizers do have some advantages in early spring. Because they are water-soluble, they are available to plants even when the soil is still cold and soil microbes are inactive. For this reason, some organically-based fertilizers, such as PHC All-Purpose Fertilizer, also contain small amounts of synthetic fertilizers to ensure the availability of nutrients.

For the long-term health of your garden, feeding your plants by building the soil with organic fertilizers and compost is best. This will give you soil that is rich in organic matter and teeming with microbial life.

Foliar Feeding?

Plants can absorb nutrients eight to 20 times more efficiently through their leaf surfaces than through their roots. As a result, spraying foliage with liquid nutrients can produce remarkable yields. For best results, spray plants during their critical growth stages such as transplanting time, blooming time and just after fruit sets.

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