24/03/2021
Why do we need to supplement our plants/ Crops?
Plants need basic requirements to grow, develop, survive, thrive and become lush and bear fruits or flowers. Nature provides the most important esentials-
1. Sunlight
2. Soil.
The most important process is called PHOTOSYNTHESIS where the sun's radiant energy is converted to chemical energy used by plant as food. The plant gets Carbon dioxide (CO2) and water from air and soil where they are converted to sugar called GLUCOSE needed by plants to grow. This is facilitated by photosynthesis using sunlight.
There are 2 more food groups needed by plants:
a. Essential Nutrients - nitrogen 👎, phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K)
b. Secondary nutrients- calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and Sulfur (S).
Here is a brief review of the nutrients.
1. Nitrogen - is for leaf growth and good green color.
2. Phosphorus- to form new roots, make seeds, fruits and flowers. It is also used to fight diseases.
3. Potassium - helps make strong stems and for fast growing.
Magnesium is used by chlorophyll to capture sun’s energy used in photosynthesis.
It also helps strengthen cell walls.
It is also used in uptake of Nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
Sulfur in sulfate acts as soil conditioner and helps reduce sodium content in soil.
A fertile and virgin land can provide all the necessary nutrients for plants. Nutrients will be consumed and depleted. The deficiency will make our plants weak and prone to diseases and death in the long run.
These are the reasons for supplementing our plants with fertilizer ( synthetic or organic) and other nutrients.
CTTA/ CTTO