Not all plant food are the same . Here ’s what you should know before you buy .
Whether it ’s lettuces or althaea , all the plants in your gardenrequire certain essential nutrients(17 of them ) to grow properly . However , you commonly only have to worry about theBig 3 , call the primary or macronutrients : nitrogen ( N ) , Lucifer ( P ) , and potassium ( K ) .
bet at the recording label on any fertilizer package , and you ’ll see three numbers split up by dashes , which correspond to the amount of elemental food in the Cartesian product . For lesson , one with three of the same phone number , 4 - 4 - 4 , is called a " balanced " fertilizer because it has equal quantity of the Big 3 N - atomic number 15 - K ( always shown in that orderliness ) . A container of tomato food might be labeled 2 - 5 - 3 , which indicates high amount of money of P and less N and K. Why do these levels matter , and what do nitrogen , phosphorus , and atomic number 19 do for works anyway ? Here ’s what you need to know .
Credit: Greg Scheidemann
What Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Do for Plants
While all the freehanded 3 nutrient work together in a plant , each has some specific problem . A simple trick for remembering what each part of N - phosphorus - K does is " head - blazonry - legs " for " leaves - blossom or fruit - roots . "
Nitrogen(N ) gets the emergence show on the road . It ’s a building block for grow new fore and leaves , plus it is a necessary part of chlorophyll , which makes the leave green and helps plants photosynthesize .
Phosphorus(P ) is needed for grow flowers , fruits , and radical systems .
Potassium(K ) go on solution healthy and also aids peak and fruits . It helps plantstolerate stress , such as drouth .
What Happens When Plants Don’t Get Enough N-P-K?
Annuals such aspetuniasandmarigoldsand most vegetables live out their lives during the warmer months of a single year . They ’re often call " heavy feeders " because they draw a lot of N , atomic number 15 , and K out of the soil to fuelall their speedy growing during their short lives . Because of this , they ’re ordinarily the first types of plants to show signs that thesoil is abject in nutrients . So keep your eyes pare for these symptom :
Asoil test will helpdetermine which nutrients are missing if you see these symptoms . you’re able to get a flying and grating measurement of N - P - K with an inexpensive grunge test kit up from a garden center . For more detailed information and guidelines on how much fertilizer to add to the soil , mail a grime run to yourstate Cooperative Extension military service .
How to Choose the Right Fertilizer
Once you know what ’s missing , you may add the proper nutrients back into the soil with plant food . The numbers racket on the fertiliser label show the percentage of a nutrient in terms of the full volume in the fertilizer . So , a bag of rose food that says 12 - 6 - 10 think of that it has 12 % nitrogen , 6 % phosphorus , and 10 % potassium .
you’re able to give a flora a jog in the direction you want it to uprise by increase one of the primary nutrients . For instance , if yourroses have grown Lot of leavesbut are n’t pushing out many salad days , try adding plant food with eminent P to boost peak yield but down N , which energize leafage growing .
You have many choices for adding plant food to the soil , from slow - tone ending granule to gunpowder , liquid or even sprays you put on the leafage . All will leave what your plants want , but the important affair is to fall out the recording label teaching so that you do n’t overdo it in terms of quantity and oftenness . It ordinarily does n’t take much toreplenish yourplants ' nutrients to boom !
