Gardening for Beginners - Fertilizer Basics

Step one in gardening for beginners is fertilizer basics. Fertilizers are any substance added to the soil, water or to a plant directly to supply the nutrients necessary for more vigorous or rapid growth. These nutrients can be supplied via organic or inorganic compounds. In this case, the term “organic” merely refers to the presence or absence of carbon and does not refer to the origin or processing of the underlying compound.

The nutrients most needed by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur but trace amounts of micronutrients are sometimes supplied via fertilizers. The beginning gardener needs to know a few simple acts about fertilizers and he will dramatically improve his gardening success.

Fertilizer Numbers Every fertilizer container comes listed with a set of three numbers prominently displayed on front. These numbers represent the percentage by weight of the three most important nutrients necessary for plant growth; nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. There are, indeed, bags of fertilizer that show a number such as 46-0-0. This bag contains 46% of the nutrient nitrogen with the rest being inert filler.
More typically, you will encounter a mixed blend such as 5-10-5. Again, this blend is 5% nitrogen and phosphorus combined with 10% potassium and the rest is filler. There are dozens of combinations and your gardening pro can tell exactly what you need from a soil sample and the types of flowers, shrubs or trees you intend to plant.
The beginning gardener may ask why we do not fertilize with carbon since that element makes up the bulk of any plants composition. The reason is rather simple. Plants do not ingest carbon as a solid but rather chemically remove it from the carbon dioxide molecules that are taken in during respiration