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About Fertilizer In order for a plant to grow and thrive, it needs a number of different chemical elements. The most important are:
• Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen - Available from air and water and therefore in plentiful supply
• Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (a.k.a. potash) - The three macronutrients and the three elements you find in most packaged fertilizers
• Sulfur, calcium, and magnesium - Secondary nutrients
• Boron, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc - Micronutrients
The most important of these (the ones that are needed in the largest quantity by a plant) are nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium. If you have read the articles How Cells Work and How Food Works, you have heard about things like amino acids, cell membranes and ATP. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are important because they are necessary for these basic building blocks. For example:
• Every amino acid contains nitrogen.
• Every molecule making up every cell's membrane contains phosphorous (the membrane molecules are called phospholipids), and so does every molecule of ATP (the main energy source of all cells).
• Potassium makes up 1 percent to 2 percent of the weight of any plant and, as an ion in cells, is essential to metabolism.
Without nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the plant simply cannot grow because it cannot make the pieces it needs. It's like a car factory running out of steel or a road crew running out of asphalt.
If any of the macronutrients are missing or hard to obtain from the soil, this will limit the growth rate for the plant. In nature, the nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium often come from the decay of plants that have died. In the case of nitrogen, the recycling of nitrogen from dead to living plants is often the only source of nitrogen in the soil.
To make plants grow faster, what you need to do is supply the elements that the plants need in readily available forms. That is the goal of fertilizer. Most fertilizers supply just nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium because the other chemicals are needed in much lower quantities and are generally available in most soils. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium availability is the big limit to growth.
he numbers on a bag of fertilizer tell you the percentages of available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium found in the bag. So 12-8-10 fertilizer has 12-percent nitrogen, 8-percent phosphorous and 10-percent potassium. In a 100-pound bag, therefore, 12 pounds is nitrogen, 8 pounds is phosphorous and 10 pounds is potassium. The other 70 pounds is known as ballast and has no value to the plants.
So why don't people need fertilizer to grow? Because we get everything we need from the plants we eat or from the meat of animals that ate plants. Plants are factories that do all of the work to process the basic elements of life and make them available to us.
Service Area: Calgary Alberta Canada
Area Codes: 403, 587
Postal Codes: T1X 1E1 - T3Z 3W2
List of Calgary Comunities We Service: Abbeydale, Acadia, Albert Park/Radisson Heights, Altadore, Alyth/Bonnybrook/Manchester, Applewood, Arbour Lake, Aspen Woods, Auburn Bay, Banff Trail, Bankview, Bayview, Beddington Heights, Bel-Aire, Beltline, Bonavista Downs, Bowness, Braeside, Brentwood, Bridgeland/Riverside, Bridlewood, Britannia, Cambrian Heights, Canyon Meadows, Capitol Hill, Castleridge, Cedarbrae, Chaparral, Chaparral Valley, Charleswood, Chinatown, Chinook Park, Christie Park, Citadel, Cliff Bungalow, Coach Hill, Collingwood, Connaught, Copperfield, Coral Springs, Cougar Ridge, Country Hills, Country Hills Village, Coventry Hills, Cranston, Crescent Heights, Crestmont, Dalhousie, Deer Ridge, Deer Run, Diamond Cove, Discovery Ridge, Douglasdale/Douglasglen, Douglasdale Estates, Dover, Downtown Commercial Core, Downtown East Village, Downtown West End, Eagle Ridge, Eau Claire, Edgemont, Elbow Park, Elboya, Erin Woods, Erlton, Evanston, Evergreen, Fairview, Falconridge, Forest Heights, Forest Lawn, Forest Lawn Industrial, Garrison Woods, Glamorgan, Glenbrook, Glendale, Greenview, Greenwood/Greenbriar, Hamptons, Harvest Hills, Hawkwood, Haysboro, Hidden Valley, Highland Park, Highwood, Hillhurst, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill, Huntington Hills, Inglewood, Kelvin Grove, Killarney/Glengarry, Kincora, Kingsland, Lake Bonavista, Lakeview, Legacy, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Park CFB, Lower Mount Royal, Lynx Ridge, Macewan Glen, Mahogany, Malborough, Malborough Park, Maple Ridge, Martindale, Mayfair, Mayland Heights, McKenzie Lake, McKenzie Towne, Meadowlark Park, Midnapore, Millrise, Mission, Monterey Park, Montgomery, Mount Pleasant, New Brighton, Nolan Hill, North Glenmore Park, North Haven, North Haven (Upper), Oakridge, Ogden, Palliser, Panorama Hills, Parkdale, Parkhill/Stanley Park, Parkland, Patterson, Penbrooke Meadows, Pineridge, Point Mckay, Prestwick, Pump Hill, Queens Park Village, Queensland, Ramsay, Ranchlands, Red Carpet, Redstone, Renfrew, Richmond, Rideau Park, Riverbend, Rocky Ridge, Rosedale, Rosemont, Rosscarrock, Roxboro, Royal Oak, Rundle, Rutland Park, Saddle Ridge, Sage Hill, Sandstone Valley, Scarboro, Scarboro/Sunalta West, Scenic Acres, Seton, Shaganappi, Shawnee Slopes, Shawnessy, Shepard, Shepard Industrial, Sherwood, Signal Hill, Silverado, Silver Springs, Skyview Ranch, Somerset, South Calgary, Southview, Southwood, Springbank Hill, Spruce Cliff, St. Andrews Heights, Strathcona Park, Sunalta, Sundance, Sunnyside, Symons Valley, Taradale,, Temple, Thorncliffe, Tuscany, Tuxedo Park, University Heights, University of Calgary, Upper Mount Royal, Valley Ridge, Varsity, Victoria Park, Vista Heights, Walden, West Hillhurst, West Springs, Westgate, Whitehorn, Wildwood, Willow Park, Windsor Park, Winston Heights/Mountview, Woodbine, Woodlands. |