Macronutrients, the 3 numbers you will see on all types of fertilizers are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Each of these have a vital role to play in our plants’ life.

Nitrogen promotes healthy growth and vigor. Nitrogen deficiency can be seen through yellowing and shrunken foliage.

Phosphorus promotes healthy root development Phosphorus deficiency is much less common than a Nitrogen or Potassium issue due to our soils being relatively high in this nutrient. The signs can be seen by distorted leaves and discolorations. This issue is frequent in agriculture settings.

Potassium is responsible for plants to resist disease, drought, and other stressors. Potassium deficiency can be seen by wilting or drooping foliage throughout the canopies.

In addition to macronutrients there are also micro nutrients. Manganese, Iron, and copper are a few of them. Visual inspection and soil testing are a couple of tactics that can be used when identifying any type of deficiencies in our plants.

In the Spring a Nitrogen based fertilizer is recommended to help plants come out of the dormant season while in the Fall we generally recommend Potassium based fertilization. Nitrogen can be looked at almost like a vitamin while Potassium is more of an antibiotic!