Fertilizers |
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Fertilizers - Main Topics |
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Fertilizers and How to use Them
This may surprise you, but green plants manufacture their own food. From the atmosphere they take in water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide to create sugar and starch. From the soil they extract water and nitrogen compounds which they use to make protein for forming tissues and seeds.Phosphorus and potassium
Plants also take small amounts of other elements from the soil to grow properly. Besides nitrogen, the two most important elements any plant needs are phosphorus and potassium. Phosphorus helps plants to form genetic material. Potassium aids in cell division and in manufacturing food.Fungus and bacteria
Soils containing a lot of organic fertilizers provide a healthy environment for the fungus and bacteria which transform nitrogen and other elements into usable compounds the plants can absorb. Fungus and bacteria are also needed to break down the organic material.The natural food-producing cycle
If a plant can do this much on its own, then why should you ever need to use a fertilizer or amend the soil? The answer is simple: In nature, whatever comes from the soil usually returns to it. But a gardener normally carries away many nutrients in the form of fruit, flowers, and spent plants.By fertilizing your plants, you make sure they'll always have the various elements they need. By adding organic material to the soil, you provide a healthy environment for the growth of soil organisms which help to keep the natural food-producing cycle going.
Buying Organic Fertilizer
You'll find that organic fertilizers are made of varied materials such as cotton seed meal, blood meal, bone meal, activated sewage sludge, hoof-and-horn meal, or guano (bird or bat droppings). Listed on the package you'll find the percentage of each of the three main elements. Most organic fertilizers are rather slow in giving up their nutrients since bacterial action is required before nutrients can be released.Some people think that manure and compost are fertilizers. Both may contain tiny amounts of usable nutrients (manure is typically about 1-1-1), but they are best used as soil amendments to improve texture and promote the growth of soil bacteria. The bacteria in turn help your plants to take nourishment from the soil.
Using Fertilizers
Labels on packaged garden fertilizers give instructions for their use. Look for the amounts suggested for an area of square feet, or for the amount to be mixed in a gallon of water. Most plants should be fed in the spring when leaf growth begins and again about three months later. If winters are mild, you can also feed plants in early fall.Plant feeding schedules
Some plants require special feeding schedules. Roses grow so rapidly that you can feed them the recommended dose every six weeks. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias like nutrients as their blooms fade and again six weeks later. Fruit trees benefit from a feeding about three weeks before they bloom. Vegetables need some plant food when their seeds sprout, and again when the plants are established (leaf vegetables require a high-nitrogen food). Container plants and such fast-growing plants as fuchsias and begonias can use a very light feeding once a week. (A light feeding is about 1/4 of what the label recommends.)Fertilizer comes in dry or liquid form.
To help a dry fertilizer be as effective as possible, you may want to dig it into the soil around the root zone. (A phosphoric acid fertilizer, such as superphosphate or bone meal, is normally applied in this way.)For established plants, work the fertilizer into the upper soil layer, being careful not to damage plant roots. For rows of young seedlings, dig a shallow trench on each side of the plants about four inches away and put in the proper amount of fertilizer. Whether you use the liquid or dry form, the fertilizer must be watered into the soil thoroughly or it will do no good.
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