I love plants for a lot of reasons. Flowers brighten up any space, and they always make me smile. Vegetable plants bring a sense of joy and pride since you get to watch them grow from seeds until they are producing delicious produce that you can enjoy and share.
Gardening isn’t easy though (unless you are fortunate enough to have a green thumb). When I first started gardening I used to cross my fingers and hope that I would get vegetables by the end of the season, watering when the soil was dry and not much else. I would over estimate the number of plants I could fit in the beds, daydreaming of mounds of vegetables I would be able to pick.
I have learned a lot over the years, growing from those beginner mistakes to have a much more productive growing style that has served me well over the years. While gardening is a large topic with lots of learning opportunities, lets focus on the basics of what your plants need for nutrients to grow.
So What Nutrients Do Your Plants Need to Grow?
Did you know plants need 13 different essential nutrients to survive? They are broken into two groups, macronutrients and micronutrients. While both categories are important, we are going to focus on macronutrients because that is what the plant needs in larger quantities, meaning it’s something you will probably have to amend the soil or keep an eye one when gardening to keep strong, happy, and healthy plants.
These macronutrients can be broken down even further, into primary and secondary macronutrients. Primary macronutrients include nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that are not largely available in the soil because they are needed in such high supply. This means it is something you would need to add into the soil through fertilizers to keep your plants growing properly. Secondary macronutrients include calcium, magnesium, and sulfur which may or may not need to be added to the soil.
Primary Macronutrients:
- Nitrogen: nitrogen for plants is what protein is to animals which makes it vital for growth. They help make the plant’s leaves grow strong, aids in flower and seed production, and improves quality of crops. Nitrogen is also the reason for the green pigmentation in plants, making it vital to photosynthesis..
- Phosphorus: Phosphorus is essential to strong roots and flower growth. Plants are also prone to environmental stresses such changes in climate, temperature swings, high wind, and extreme weather events like hail or excessive wind. Phosphorus helps tolerate these changes. It is also vital to photosynthesis, helping with the transformation of energy from solar to chemical.
- Potassium: Potassium helps your plants grow not only strong, but helps fight diseases. It also helps with fruit quality and photosynthesis.
Secondary Macronutrients:
- Calcium: Calcium helps the plant grown and create strong cell walls, which helps with disease resistance. Calcium also helps the plant absorb and retain the other elements it needs to survive.
- Magnesium: Magnesium is the primary reason a plant is green, with a little extra assistance from nitrogen. It also helps partner with the plant’s enzymes by activating them to grow.
- Sulfur: Sulfur is a multipurpose nutrient, from helping the plant create seeds to helping the plants resist diseases and cold weather. It also helps with rapid plant growth. It also helps amino acid, enzyme, vitamin, and protein production. It also helps form chlorophyll, essential to photosynthesis. (NCAGR)
Micronutrients:
Boron, copper, iron, chloride, manganese, molydenum, and zinc.
Now that you know what nutrients your plants need to grow and survive, it’s time to figure out how you are going to provide them to your plants. This can be done with store bought fertilizers, compost, companion planting, or adding specific additives to the soil. This decision will be based on what kind of garden you are trying to grow and what methods (organic v. traditional).
Stay tuned for articles on everyday house hold items you’ve been throwing out that your garden would love to have!
Looking for more detailed information on plant nutrients? Check out this great article from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center!
