Three Type Of Fertilizers
There are three types of fertilizers listed in catalogs: Straight fertilizers, Compound fertilizers, and Liquid fertilizers.
A straight fertilizer
A specific nutrient is supplied by these. In the spring, you can top-dress your cabbages with Nitro-chalk to make them grow more quickly. When it is dull weather, tomato ripening may not be as rapid as it should be. Sulphate of potash may be able to help. There are two types of straight fertilizers: inorganic (artificial) and organic (natural).
Chemical fertilizers, which are manufactured in factories, or salts that are purified from natural deposits underground, are more correctly referred to as inorganic fertilizers. In moist soils, they act quickly and dissolve easily in water. However, this does not mean they will wash away from your soil. In addition to phosphates and potash, nitrogen is absorbed when applied in the form of ammonium fertilizers as well. In winter or if applied too far away from plant roots, nitrates may be lost from the soil. Therefore, top dressings are necessary.
It is possible to calculate how much fertilizer to apply to the soil to provide a desired amount of any nutrient by calculating how much of each nutrient is present in any weight of fertilizer. Overdoses are dangerous due to their concentration, so they must be handled with great care.
Proteins and other materials in organic foods contain nutrients that are locked inside their complex structures. In order to be used by plants, they must be converted to soluble forms, such as nitrates or ammonia. They are most effective when used in moist, well-aerated, well-limed soils because they are broken down by bacteria and other living organisms in the soil. Nutrient content varies, but most are fairly concentrated.
Organic fertilizers have coarse fragments that break down much slower than fine dusty particles. Compared to inorganic fertilizers, hoof-and-horn meal breaks down quickly and releases nitrogen very swiftly.
In synthetic organics like Urea-Form, nitrogen is slowly released over several months by combining urea and formaldehyde. In the soil, their granules do not break down because they are almost insoluble. In much the same way as sucking a sweet, each granule’s outer surface gradually wears away. Warm moist soils begin to release nutrients within a few days, and the process continues for as long as the plants need. It may be necessary to apply several applications of quickly available forms over the course of the growing season rather than a single ‘one-shot’ application.
It is no coincidence that fruits and vegetables grown properly with nutrients that are quickly available are just as nutritious and tasty as those grown with nutrients that are slowly available. Plants obtain nutrients through their roots as simple chemicals. Chemicals in fertilizers, whether they are organic or artificial, are exactly the same.
Compound fertilizers
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are usually present in two or all three of these. Soils deficient in these nutrients are most likely to be deficient in the nutrients used by plants in the largest amounts. In order to give a balanced feed before planting or sowing, you generally buy fertilizer based on its content of these nutrients.
By mixing straight fertilizers together, you can make your own compounds. Homemade versions of the following are common:
For general use, here is a fertilizer:
Superphosphate 5 parts by weight Sulphate of potash 2 parts by weight Sulphate of ammonia 5 parts by weight
An analysis revealed 8% nitrogen, 8% phosphorus, and 8% potassium.
Potted plants need the following fertilizer:
A mixture of two parts of hoof and horn meal and two parts of phosphoric acid and one part of sulphate of potash
The analysis showed 5.1% N, 7.2% P205, and 9.6% K20.
Analysis
An analysis provided with fertilizers explains how much of each plant food it contains, so you know how much you need to purchase. N is the nitrogen content, P205 is the phosphoric acid content, and K20 is the potassium content. Due to the chemical properties of nitrogen and phosphorus, plants cannot absorb these forms and burn if exposed to the air or water. The combination of these elements with other elements is required for these elements to be absorbed by plants. In other words, the figures represent the equivalent element content of the fertilizer.
Nitrogen is found in 16% of nitrate of soda; what makes up the remaining 14%? Nitrogen, sodium, and oxygen make up the chemical compound sodium nitrate, which is also known as nitrate of soda. In this compound, sodium makes up 26% and oxygen makes up 58%.
Rather than buying ‘miracle’ or ‘wonder-working’ fertilizers with no guaranteed analysis, it is advisable to read the labels carefully and look for the analysis very carefully.
Compounds ready for use
Plant and lawn feeding materials are available in garden supply shops. These products range in price from very affordable to very expensive. There are several reasons why their prices vary:
Composition of nutrients
The cost of fertilizer with a high percentage of plant nutrients is greater than that of fertilizer with a small percentage of plant nutrients. Ensure that the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash content in the product is guaranteed. Grade is a series of three numbers separated by dashes that indicates the plant nutrient content of a compound. This product contains a certain amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, in that order.
Powdered fertilizers are more expensive than pelleted or granular fertilizers. You may prefer the granular form, however.
If it’s windy, powdered fertilizers may blow away or be objectionable to use. Your fertilizer spreader may have trouble spreading them properly if they become damp more easily.
A granular fertilizer does not have the same dustiness or cakeability as powdered fertilizers, and it flows more easily through fertilizer spreaders. Plant foliage is less likely to burn due to the granules rolling off.
A fertilizer compound is most expensive when nitrogen is used as an ingredient. It is more expensive to use organic forms and Urea-Form than to use rapidly available forms. It follows that when a compound contains more nitrogen, especially a form of nitrogen that is slowly available, it will be more expensive.
Added materials
Pesticides, herbicides, or trace elements added to fertilizers cost more. Combinations of fertilizer and weed killer are commonly used on lawns. The following conditions can make these combinations quite satisfactory:
Applying fertilizers and weedkillers at the same time is the best practice.
Nutrients and weedkillers are adjusted in the mixture to ensure the proper rate of application.
Package size
A fertilizer sold in a small container costs more per pound than a fertilizer sold in a larger package.
Liquid Fertilizers
There are two main types of liquid fertilizers: solid and liquid fertilizers. Solid fertilizers are made from solid materials; liquid fertilizers are made of liquids and solids. Using concentrated chemicals like potassium nitrate, ammonium phosphate and urea, you can prepare feeds according to your own prescription, but this takes some technical knowledge, and buying one of the readymade products is usually more convenient since they come in two main categories:
Liquids that need to be diluted with water according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Solid chemical mixtures that dissolve in water. Due to the fact that you don’t need to pay for transporting the water, these are the most affordable.
Since liquid fertilizers are manufactured from purer materials, they are more expensive than solid fertilizers. In spite of this, they are popular due to their ease and speed in supplying nutrients in balanced amounts to plants at different growth stages and weather conditions. When dealing with large batches of plants, feeding and watering can be done in one operation.
In certain forms of irrigation equipment, liquid feeding is essential, but they are not necessarily better than solid feeds.
Keep Facts In Mind When Using Fertilizers
When using fertilizers, keep these facts in mind. The amount should never be guessed; overdosing can harm or even kill plants; too little may not work. Buy a graduated gardener’s measure or weigh on household scales.
If you don’t have scales, believe it or not, you can use a match box. Match boxes hold the following when full:
- The amount of superphosphate is 15 grams (oz)
- It contains 22 grams (ounces) of sulfate of ammonia, bone meal, as well as other inorganic compounds
- Potassium sulphate, 28g (1 oz)
Use proprietary compounds according to the directions on the container’s label.
Avoid patchy growth by scattering them evenly. Lawns and large beds can be irrigated with distributors.
Liquid feeds can be diluted using dilutors that measure the amount correctly.
Don’t bury fertilizer deeper than 2 or 7 cm deep, rather rake it into the top 5 or 7 cm of the soil or rotary cultivate it. Raking or rotary cultivation is the best method of mixing slow-acting ones with the top 15cm (6in).
Soil or compost that is dry should never be fertilized with liquid fertilizers. Water comes first.
Make sure fertilizers are kept in a dry place and closed up when not in use. Keep bags off the ground at all times.
Leaves and flowers may be scorched by fertilizers. Three of the most commonly deficient soil nutrients are NPK, N, P, and K. These are chemical symbols for three of the most essential plant foods. Fertilizers are typically purchased for their plant food content. Therefore, the value of fertilizers depends on their analysis, which should be indicated on their packaging.
It is taken from nitrates, which are formed when nitrogen and oxygen combine chemically, which cannot be absorbed by plants.
Plants cannot take up phosphorus in this form since it burns when exposed to air. Phosphorus is absorbed by plants as soluble phosphates, which contain oxygen and this element. The archaic term p205, commonly called phosphoric acid, still refers to phosphorus content in fertilizers.
Its Latin name is Kalium, which stands for potassium. The raw state of potassium does not allow it to be used by plants because it bursts into flames when it interacts with water. Soil potassium salts can be taken up by plants.
It is derived from the old custom of concentrating ashes, which contain potassium, in pots, which gave rise to the word potash, which means potassium oxide-K20. A compound fertilizer’s grade, separated by dashes, indicates the plant food content. Based on the numbers, you can determine the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the compound, in that order.