Plant Nutrients - Getting Started

If you're growing a veggie garden or you've ever grown a garden then you probably know that nutrients are very important.  Sun and soil are important as well (and SEEDS) but nutrients also play an integral role in plant health.

My Organic Peppers!

Most "all-in-one" type of fertilizers have an "NPK" rating.  NPK stands for Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (potash).  What does each nutrient do? In addition to other properties, Nitrogen helps plant foliage to grow strong. Phosphorous helps roots and flowers grow and develop. Potassium (Potash) is important for overall plant health.

Organic Blood Meal (Nitrogen) 12-0-0

 Blood Meal is a 100% natural fertilizer that's extremely rich in nitrogen. Provides a consistent source of minerals and nutrients for plants considered "heavy feeders."
Keep your plant soil healthy with this nitrogen rich fertilizer
Depending upon the crops you grow, soil that has been too often planted can start to lose its growing potential. Over time, the minerals and nutrients that plants need to grow and stay healthy become depleted. Blood meal helps restore these lost nutrients and revitalize depleted gardening beds.
Blood meal is an all natural powdered fertilizer that contains one of the highest, non-synthetic nitrogen counts (12-0-0) available.

• Easy to use  
• Works in gardens, yards, lawns, and soil beds
• Perfect for revitalizing soils that have been heavily worked
• Scent serves as a deterrent to common garden pests such as rabbits and deer
• Also helps accelerate composting breakdown of carbon based composts such as leaves and straw

Blood Meal works quickly, providing “heavy” feeding plants such as corn, lettuce, and okra with the high amounts of nitrogen. This fast acting organic fertilizer works to build new growth and keeps mature plants healthy and green. Blood meal can help brown, spotted, or wilting plants recover by infusing the soil around their roots with nutrients and minerals essential to healthy plant growth.
More information about Blood Meal
Blood Meal works with bacteria and nematodes in the soil to breakdown the powder into nitrogen components so plants can more easily absorb the nutrients. This increased bacterial process adds life to your soil base, causing increased root growth and a stronger overall root system.
Because Blood Meal has such a high nitrogen count, applications should be spread out enough to allow time for the plant to use the extra nutrients. Overuse could result in excessive amounts of nitrogen being present, which can damage plants instead of feeding them. This phenomenon is known as “burning” and occurs with nearly all fertilizers when they are overused.

Organic Bone Meal (Phosphorus) 4-12-0

How can you tell if your garden has a phosphorus deficiency? The easiest way to tell is to look at the plants. If your plants are small, are producing little or no flowers and have a bright green or purplish cast to them, you have a phosphorus deficiency. Since most plants in the garden are grown for their flowers or fruit, replacing phosphorus in the soil if it is lacking is very important.

Phosphorus is involved in many plant processes, including:

• Energy transfer reactions
• Development of reproductive structures
• Crop maturity
• Root growth
• Protein synthesis

Work the bone meal into the soil well if you are planting a new bed. If you are fertilizing existing plants, rake the top 2 inches of soil around the plants with a bow rake or hoe to work in the bone meal. Use care to avoid disturbing the plant roots.

Mary's Organic Plant Nutrients 3-4-4

• A complete plant food with all 15 essential nutrients
• Originally developed for professional gardeners
• Complex blend of natural organics provide complete and balanced feeding of all 15 nutrients
• Environmentally safe
• No sludges, hazardous or toxic ingredients