Home & Garden Information

Fertilizers and Soil Analysis

You may know that fertilizer helps out a great deal in vegetable gardening. The problem is that they may kill the plant instead of helping it grow. Before wasting your money, you should know when this should be applied.

For starters, fertilizer should only be applied if the soil is naturally fertile. You should also know that exact quantity of organic matter already present and what kind of chemical agent works well depending on the kind of fruit or vegetable being grown.

But how do you know that the soil is fertile? For that, you will have to call some professionals at the local lab for help. You can visit the local university or college that has an agricultural program, garden centers, state agriculture offices and online gardening facilities.

How do you know if the fertilizer you buy is right for your vegetables? This is much easier because it should be written on the product label. In the United States and Canada, companies are required to post the fertilizers’ formulation. It should state the nitrogen, phosphate and potash content so all you have to do is calculate how much is needed before applying it to the plant.

But fertilizers aren’t the only things plants need in order for them to grow. This is because it only gives 3 out of the 16 elements. Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon come from sunlight and water while the remaining 10 are micronutrients that are already present in the soil.

Despite that, farmers and homeowners are encouraged to use both synthetic and organic fertilizers for vegetable gardening. Those who feel this is too costly can try the alternative, which is by using compost, manure or mulch. Again, this can only happen after proper soil analysis has been conducted.

If you still don’t get it, let’s put it in layman’s terms. Let’s say you have a headache but don’t know the cause. Like most people, you want the pain to go away so you head on over to the drugstore and buy medicine. Without proper examination, you don’t know if what you bought will make you feel better or make things worse.

The same thing goes with vegetable gardening because you could be using something too strong with what you are planting. In both cases, that is a gamble you must never play because your life and your crops are both at stake.