Fertilizer Basics 101

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• Nitrogen is a part of all living cells and is a necessary part of all proteins, enzymes and metabolic processes involved in the synthesis and transfer of energy.
• Nitrogen is a part of chlorophyll, the green pigment of the plant that is responsible for photosynthesis. 
• Helps plants with rapid growth, increasing seed and fruit production and improving the quality of leaf and forage crops. 

• Like nitrogen, phosphorus (P) is an essential part of the process of photosynthesis. 
• Involved in the formation of all oils, sugars, starches, etc.
• Helps with the transformation of solar energy into chemical energy; proper plant maturation; withstanding stress.
• Effects rapid growth.
• Encourages blooming and root growth.
• Phosphorus often comes from fertilizer, bone meal, and superphosphate.

• Potassium is absorbed by plants in larger amounts than any other mineral element except nitrogen and, in some cases, calcium. 
• Helps in the building of protein, photosynthesis, fruit quality and reduction of diseases.
• Potassium is supplied to plants by soil minerals, organic materials, and fertilizer.

Micronutrients are those elements essential for plant growth which are needed in only very small (micro) quantities . These elements are sometimes called minor elements or trace elements, but use of the term micronutrient is encouraged by the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America.  Recycling organic matter such as grass clippings and tree leaves is an excellent way of providing micronutrients (as well as macronutrients) to growing plants. 

“It’s a carbon-rich soil amendment that can positively affect the soil chemistry as well as the soil microbial activity,” explains John Pope, territory manager with The Andersons, boiling humic acid down to its essence. “One of the biggest things it does is help plants use applied nutrients more efficiently, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen. It also can increase the water-holding capacity and water retention in the soil, which in turn increases retention of the soluble chemical fertilizer in the soil.”

So, basically, humic acid keeps moisture and nutrients in the rootzone longer, and helps the plant make better use of them.

 When applied to pesticides, the term systemic means that the chemical is soluble enough in water that it can be absorbed by a plant and moved around in its tissues.