Book 29, Question 109
What does fertilizer do for plants?
Plants make their own sugar using sunlight, but they also need small amounts of minerals from the soil to build leaves, roots, and fruit.
When soil is short on these nutrients, fertilizer adds them back. It is like a vitamin boost, not food. Compost and manure are natural fertilizers. Too much fertilizer can harm plants, so follow directions and let a grown-up handle it.
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Quick answers
What does fertilizer do for plants?
Plants can use chemical fertilizers as soon as they are applied, but organic fertilizers must be broken down by soil bacteria and fungi before the nutrients can be absorbed by plants.
Organic fertilizers derived from plants or animals are generally slower to release their nutrients than synthetic fertilizers derived from minerals or chemical processes.
More fun facts
- Container plants need more fertilizer than plants in regular gardens because the frequent watering constantly leaches fertilizer minerals out of the soil.
Sources: Oregon State University