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Here's a plant.
These are the 14 essential plant nutrients.
Today, I’m about to think like a plant to help you understand which of these many nutrients you really need to focus on to maximize yields on your farm.
Plant nutrients are the stuff that plants eat. Just like we humans need carbs, oil proteins and vitamins, plants need the 14 plant nutrients. And just like us humans, if your plants don’t get fed correctly, they go hungry, lose weight and finally die.
In today’s article, I’m going to use my knowledge from 5 years of research, my own farm and dozens of expert interviews to share 3 tips that you can use to improve the way you handle plant nutrients on your farm.
The 14 essential nutrients 💰💰💰
The first thing you need to know about the 14 essential plant nutrients is that there are exactly 14 of them. No more, no less.
Seems obvious. So why does this matter? Well, if you think like a plant, you’ll quickly realize that the only fertilizers you care about are those fertilizers that actually contain the nutrients your plants want to eat. Anything that doesn't contain one of the 14 is wasted on you. But unfortunately, not all fertilizers are like that. On my farm in Maharashtra, I’ve seen a lot of products being sold to farmers that contain absolutely zero plant nutrients!
So my first tip is:
Think like a plant: memorize the 14 plant nutrients and always check your fertilizer labels to ensure you don’t get scammed.
Macronutrients 💥💥💥
Memorizing 14 nutrients is a lot! Let’s try to think like a plant to make our life easier. You’ll quickly notice that there are some nutrients that are more important than others. We can separate the 14 plant nutrients into 3 distinct groups, and you can manage fertilizers differently according to which group they’re in.
The first nutrient group is called macronutrients. It contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are by far the plant’s most favorite food. In fact, plants like N, P and K so much that over 90% of the fertilizers sold across the world are macronutrient-based fertilizers.
So although you may hear companies and shop owners telling you differently, here’s my second tip:
Focusing on just the macronutrients NPK is the best thing you can do. It’s a safe, easy and cheap way to make the most of your crop.
Focus on NPK for Maximum Harvest! 🌱🌱🌱
But what about the other two groups? Well if you think like a plant, you’ll quickly realize that these groups are usually not that important.
For example: plants like to consume the secondary nutrients calcium, sulfur and magnesium decently well, but the reality is that most Indian soils are naturally rich in these minerals, so as a plant you don’t need any additional fertilizer to be happy.
And it’s similar for the group of 8 micronutrients. For plants, these nutrients are a bit like vitamins for us humans. You get enough of them from your regular food, and only really need them if you’re sick or you have a deficiency.
In that light, my final tip is:
You don’t need to apply secondary nutrients or micronutrients unless your plants are sick or a soil health card tells you to.
Today's Merry Tips 🚀
We’ve thought like a plant, and we’ve learned some great strategies for managing nutrients on our farms. Please remember that:
There are exactly 14 plant nutrients, no more, no less.
Focusing on only the macronutrients NPK is often the best fertilizer strategy.
On most farms, secondary nutrients and micronutrients should only be applied if your plants are sick or have a nutrient deficiency
Did you enjoy this post? If you did, then I’m happy to tell you that there will be another post next week. While today’s content was all about plant nutrients, the next one is going to be about fertilizer products. We’ll discuss what types of products exist, which ones are good to buy and which ones are total scams. Please subscribe to get an update as soon as a new post comes out!
Merry farming!
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