What are nitrogen,phosphurous, and potassium and how can they be put back into the soil when they are used up?

Answer 1

N-P-K, known as the three most important needs of any plant. When you use any fertilizer, the numbers on the bag ie, 10-10-10 or 30-4-7 represent the amount of those elements. I would recommend using complete organic fertilizer developed byy steve solomon

more NPK info (with complete organic fertilizer info below)
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Ok, so your confused. On some nutrients the NPK seems low, like 2-1-3. And on others it can be high, 14-24-16. Whats the deal here?

Nutrient values (N-P-K)are expressed as total percentage of weight as packaged. Organic nutrients typically tend to have lower npk values than chemical nutrients. Don't let this fool you, you can easily burn plants if you overfertilize!

Powder nutrients tend to have higher NPK values than liquid nutrients because they are not already partially diluted with water. Do not let low N-P-K values fool you, what really matters is how strong these nutrients are when diluted to recommended levels ie: thier tds/ppm/ms/eC/cf. For example SuperVeg will give you a tds of around 1000 ppm when used according to directions, while Aquafeed "V" Powder will have a tds of around 600 ppm if used as recommended.

What does N-P-K stand for?

N = Nitrogen 7-9-5
Nitrogen is the first major element responsible for the vegetative growth of plants above ground. With a good supply, plants grow sturdily and mature rapidly, with rich, dark green foliage.

P = Phosphorus 7-9-5
The second major element in plant nutrition, phosphorus is essential for healthy growth, strong roots, fruit and flower development, and greater resistance to disease.


K = Potassium (Potash) 7-9-5 The third major plant nutrient, potassium oxide is essential for the development of strong plants. It helps plants to resist diseases, protects them from the cold and protects during dry weather by preventing excessive water loss.

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Complete organic fertilizer info
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Steve Solomon developed this fertilizer mixture specifically for growing in our maritime climate. It is best to buy in bulk as it is far cheaper in the long haul than buying the small boxes of fertilizer. Store in metal galvanized garbage cans and keep moisture out.

1. Four parts seed meal (cottonseed or canola meal is usually readily available here in the Northwest.)
2. ½ part lime in equal amounts of agricultural lime and dolomite.
3. ½ part phosphate rock or bone meal (for vegetarians phosphate rock would be the obvious choice).
4. ½ part kelp meal.
You won't need to be precise when measuring this out. The seed meal and lime are most important ingrediants and as you build your supply of fertilizer you can add the latter ingrediants as you can afford them. You can mix them all at once or store them seperately and mix what you need as you use them.

In the Plant and Gallery Guide most of the plants listed there I recommend using a complete organic fertilizer. This is the formula I recommend.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are minerals that plants need. Some times a crop is plowed under to restore the soil. Chemical fertilizers can be put on the fields . Animal fertilizers can be put on the field. All of these restore the P, K, and N. Agway has bags of fertilizer called 10-10-10, or 5-10-5, etc. which are various amounts of P,K, N that different plants need different amounts of.

Answer 4

You named some of the light elements that are neccessary for plant growth.
You put them back into the soil with 'mulches`, (decaying organic matter), or chemical fertilizers.
(Nitrogen is found in air and is relatively unreactive. The nitrogen in fertilizer is 'fixed`, (in chemical combination, ammonia - NH3, or as nitrate, NO3 -, Phosphorous generally as Phosphate, PO4 -,
potassium as a salt, the nitrate KNO3 is one way, -two birds with one rock).

Answer 5

These chemicals automatically get recycled when you go to the toilet. Some places will apply it directly to the land and this works but is a bit risky when it comes to disease. If you process it in a sewage works first and apply it to the land that is safer.