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What you need to know about Plant Growth and Fertilizer
The issue of plant growth is directly linked to the use or misuse of fertilizer, in that both plant growth and fertilizer must be fully understood in order for anyone to produce the healthiest, most lush lawn and plantings possible.
Plants require basic nutrients in order to survive, and this is where the matter of fertilizer comes into play. In general, most plants grow by absorbing nutrients from their soil, and their ability to do this depends on the nature of the soil itself.
Also, soil texture affects how well nutrients and water are retained in the water and such elements as clay and organic soils are known to hold nutrients and water much better than that of sandy soils.
The pH of a soil is one of the most important soil properties of all that affects the availability of nutrients. Due to all these risk factors of a plant not receiving its required nutrients, the coordination between proper plant growth and fertilizer becomes quickly obvious.
How does the Amount of Fertilizer Used Affect Plant Growth?
The amount of fertilizer used can highly affect plant growth, in that insufficient fertilizer can either slow plant growth or stop the growth process altogether, as lack of fertilizer means that the plant has inadequate levels of the mineral nutrients which it requires to make essential compounds or for general metabolism.
Plant growth and fertilizer are basically the same thing, in that a plant which is severely nitrogen deficient loses its normal green color because it simply cannot make enough chlorophyll.
Although the use of fertilizer can be extremely helpful in plants and their development as well as their continued maintenance, having excess fertilizer can be a negative thing. This is because the overuse of fertilizer often causes a salinity problem because the excess salts make water less available to the plant due to an osmotic effect.
Further, this is usually the same case for various other mineral nutrients such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, and nitrate-nitrogen, which do not produce a specific toxicity.
Plant growth and fertilizer are important issues to be discussed together, in that both plant growth and fertilizer strive off each other. However, proper knowledge and understanding of the fertilizer itself, whether you need to use it at all, and if you do, the proper amount to use, must be acquired before even attempting to go forward in the process of fertilizing your lawn or plants. |