If you're the guy out there every spring working the soil, looking at a planting plan, walking off distances and counting the number of rows that will end up populating the limited garden space you have to produce. You might be a garden snob. Like most garden snobs you'll throw the standard 5-10-10 (parts of nitrogen potassium, and phosphate or NKP) on the growing surface, carefully measure the proportionate amount of fertilizer for the volume of soil and the species of vegetation you're trying to nurture. Have you ever wondered who makes this stuff and where the heck do they come up with the materials?
The Ingredients
- Potassium- This is sometimes referred to as "potash". It's the "K" portion of the NPK. This stuff is found in old salt mines and where the oceans used to flood what we have as dry land presently. Eighty percent of the potash is mined from ore deposits. A small portion of the supply is extracted from mineral rich waters through evaporation. We used to get our potash from the fireplaces and wood stoves. Potash is the nutrients that trees absorb during their lifetimes, boiled down, if you will, to its smallest form. This is what puts the "bloom" on the crop.
- Nitrogen- Most dry nitrogen is purchased as dry ammonium nitrate. Just smell those little white beads in that bag of fertilizer. It's the odor that stings your nose. If you've ever smelled curing tobacco or a cat's neglected litter box you have a good idea of the smell. Though smelly, it is essential for plants and animals to get their share of this for healthy and proper growth. A fertilizer manufacturer will produce nitrogen from the fumes of petroleum products.
- Phosphorous- This is the stuff that that makes the stems and stalk as strong as an iron bar. The phosphorus, also referred to as phosphate, comes from rock around ore deposits. The rocks containing this healthy growth component are broken down and treated with different acids to produce the final product.
Be attentive concerning the amount you use. Always follow the directions. Most fertilizers contain salt. Just because your fertilizer comes from a feedlot does not exclude this fact. Armed with the knowledge of how and why your fertilizer works the way it does will put the odds of a bumper crop of whatever you're growing in your favor. So, feed your plants and your plants will nourish you. For more help, contact a local manufacturer, like T And N Inc.
