If you type “ plant food ” into a web search locomotive engine , the first websites you get will needs ads for “ fertilizer ” – bottles of nutrients that people give to their plant to aid them grow . While most people use the two terms interchangeably , plant intellectual nourishment is not the same as fertilizer .
Plant solid food is glucose that the plant makes itself . It uses muscularity from the sun to convert water system and carbon dioxide into plant life food that it consumes or fund to grow and procreate . On the other manus , fertilizers are nutrient added to the territory to aid and elevate plant growth .
They can be natural , like seaweed or rock minerals , or can be formulated in a science lab as a liquidness or powder with a specific composition .
Let ’s take a look at what exactly plant food and fertilizer are , and how they interact in our gardens .
What Do Plants Eat for Food?
We all sleep with aboutcarnivorous industrial plant , especially the fabled Venus Fly Trap , and we are all thankful that John Wyndham ’s Triffids are only figment of the author ’s imagination .
But what about the balance of the plants ? The trees and George W. Bush , grass , the vegetables and flowers in our garden ? What do they exhaust to help them grow ? To amply understand the conflict between plant intellectual nourishment and fertilizer and how these two interact , we must know which element plant need to grow .
A flora absorb elements from the soil and air and uses them in different way throughout its lifecycle .
These elements are typically divided into three groups accord to how much a plant needs : Primary ( macro ) nutrients , secondary nutrients , and micronutrient . All in all , there are16 all important factor call for by plants .
The primary food necessitate by a plant are :
Secondary nutrients include :
Micronutrients are :
The primary nutrients are most important since a plant needs them in larger quantities than the others . For example , a plant life is composed of 45 % atomic number 6 and 45 % oxygen , yet only 0.00001 % of the plant is made of atomic number 42 .
There are also a few other food , namely cobalt , Ni , Si , atomic number 11 , and vanadium but these are only required in low quantities by a select number of plant and are not all-important to most gardens .
A flora engulf these nutrients in different style . Carbon dioxide and others are taken in through the leaves and many other food a draw up from the soil by the roots .
What Is Plant Food – The Miracle Of Photosynthesis
plant life solid food is glucose . The plant in our garden areautotrophs , meaning they make their own solid food . Through the process ofphotosynthesis , a industrial plant use the energy from the Dominicus to convert H2O ( H20 ) and carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) into glucose .
It can consume the glucose right on by , convert it into cellulose to build its cell walls , or store it as amylum to eat later when needed .
If plants only use water and carbon dioxide to make their food , then what are the other nutrients for ? Each nutrient play a life-sustaining part in various function of the flora .
Some of them are necessary for photosynthesis to occur , while others help cell shaping , improve enzyme activity , plus much more .
If the besiege soil is lack these elements , it inhibits the development of the industrial plant . This is where most hoi polloi mistakenly reach for a bottle of fertiliser .
What Is Fertilizer
Fertilizer is a soil amendment add to the soil to heighten sure nutrient that are missing .
If certain nutrients are missing from the soil , a industrial plant can not properly photosynthesize or will be lacking in another area , so the point of fertilizer is to replace the nutrients and help the industrial plant .
Next to carbon , atomic number 8 , and hydrogen the most common element in a plant are nitrogen ( N ) , Lucifer ( phosphorus ) , and potassium ( K ) which is why most commercial-grade fertilizer are deal by an N - phosphorus - K evaluation .
This military rank shows the percentage of each respective nutrient in the fertilizer . Some fertilizers also comprise trace amounts of petty and micronutrient .
There are several dissimilar kinds of fertiliser :
Do Plants Need Fertilizer?
Plants require the nutrients but this does not signify that they need plant food . Fertilizer is meant to feed the plant meaning that you provide an nimiety of nutrients that give the plants a boost in their increase .
This , however , is only a band economic aid solution that will not serve your industrial plant or garden in the long running game . Most fertilizers are water soluble so the legal age of the nutrients are washed out of the grime .
Those that remain provide unforesightful term benefits for the plant life which is why fertilizers generally suggest use every year or even every three months .
In many cases , the nutrients are not in reality missing from the dirt but are out of proportionality so they can not be by rights absorb . In this case , adding plant food is like throwing gasoline on a flame and can actually produce an even greater imbalance in the soil .
That articulate , there are a few instances where use a natural fertiliser is a respectable idea and can assist your garden .
It is far better to fertilise the soil by add compost , or practicing other grease edifice activities .
Is Compost A Fertilizer?
Compost is the dark , rich organic matter in soil made from decomposed leaves , plants , manure , and other constitutional reservoir .
Compost is not a plant food and is well considered a soil amendment or a soil builder . While it for certain supplies substantive nutrient to the soil like fertilizer , it also builds and ameliorate the grease which fertilizers do not .
What Is Organic Fertilizer?
Just like the discrepancies between “ plant food ” and “ fertiliser ” , there is some disarray about what organic fertilizer mean .
Organic is sometimes used to mean fertiliser that is derived from natural sources , such as seaweed , or it can mean a product , either raw or synthetic , that is certified for constitutional food production .
Do House Plants Need Fertilizers?
If you seek for this interrogation online , you will often incur charts for how much fertilizer to apply on a regular basis to your indoor home industrial plant .
In most cases , however , theater plants do not require plant food and certainly not with the regularity that is suggested .
We often think that because indoor works are kept under less than idealistic conditions in our houses , we must compensate for this by adding fertiliser but , in truth , the fertilizer necessity of an indoor house plant are almost non - existent .
Are Plant Food And Fertilizer The Same Thing?
No , plant solid food and fertiliser are two unlike things . plant life food is a product that plants make themselves while fertilizer is a man - made mathematical product that is bestow to the soil to provide nutrients that may be lacking .
These two do work very closely together since without proper nutrient in the ground ( often ply by fertilizer ) a plant can not decent make the plant intellectual nourishment it necessitate to survive and thrive .
FAQ
A : This is a very deceptive question that is often answer wrong since plant food and plant food are two very different thing . Plant nutrient is irreplaceable .
In shortsighted , there is no permutation for plant food but fertiliser can assist the plant in making the plant nutrient ( or glucose ) .
A : None of them . While in some caseful , natural plant food can provide specific benefit to wipe out grime , most of our garden do not need fertilizer of any kind .
It is far better to build the grease by adding compost which will , in turn , help oneself the plant make its solid food .
A : If your plants are contend to thrive , they could benefit from a back breaker of natural or constitutional fertiliser as your soil take time to build itself up .
If in uncertainty , select an all - purpose fertilizer , or encounter one specific to the plant you are trying to grow .
A : Many plant food are not vegan or vegetarian well-disposed . Industrial fertiliser are detrimental to wildlife and many instinctive fertiliser contain manure , lineage or bone repast .
There are several vegan options of fertilizers useable .
A : Yes , a balanced pH around 5.5 and 7.0 is ideal . Outside this range , many nutrients will either become soluble and wash away or become trapped in the soil .
This will suppress photosynthesis , and give an inaccurate reading of available nutrients making it punishing to fertilizer properly .
A : In many guinea pig , too much fertiliser can burn plant or otherwise injure their development . If you do fertilizer , it is important to try the soil first and apply according to the package program line .
Fertilizer Is Not Plant Food
Now , more than ever , the words we use are significant and while something as ostensibly trivial as plant food and fertilizer might not make a difference , it can have important environmental impacts .
flora food is a wonderful process of nature , while industrial plant food is a piteous human attack to meliorate the soil .
While instinctive fertilizers can have their place in a healthy garden , most fertiliser are chemical substance that should never be used in our garden .
write By
Amber Noyes was carry and elevate in a suburban California townsfolk , San Mateo . She holds a master ’s degree in horticulture from the University of California as well as a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco . With experience work out on an constitutional farm , H2O preservation research , Farmer ’ markets , and plant baby’s room , she understands what makes plants thrive and how we can better infer the connection between microclimate and plant wellness . When she ’s not on the land , Amber loves informing citizenry of new ideas / things related to gardening , especially constitutive gardening , houseplant , and growing plants in a small space .
