Fertilizer for leafy plants

The Right NPK Fertilizers for Leafy Growth.

NPK is an organic fertilizer made up of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) macro-nutrients. Plants need these macro-nutrients to grow and without these soil boosters, plant growth and yield would reduce.

Composition:

These soil boosters come with a number on them such as 20-10-10, 20-5-5, 20-20-20 etc which refers to their particular ratio. And the higher the number, the more concentrated and effective the yield. However, certain plants might require more of Nitrogen, some more of Phosphorous or Potassium for better growth. Let’s make a brief stop on each of these nutrients.

Nitrogen (N)

Nitrogen is contained in the soil. Adding a reasonable amount of nitrogen in the soil increases the soil nitrogen level which is largely responsible for leafy green plant growth such as lettuce, cabbages, and celeries. Growing big leafy plants and tall green stems is a process that depends strongly on nitrogen nutrients. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not produce fruit or flowers. Growth may actually be stunted because the plant isn’t absorbing enough of the other elements it needs.

Phosphorous (P)

This macronutrient is largely responsible for the development of fruits, flowers, seeds, and roots due to their long lasting soil properties. To know if your leafy greens are deficient of this nutrient, the flowers and fruit yields is small, with weak and odd-looking and too much of it slows down the plant’s intake of vital nutrients such as Zinc and other nutrients.

Potassium (K)

Provide the plants with strong stem growth, easy circulation and absorption of water in plants, and also boost flowering in plants.

A combination of these nutrients to grow. BUT the question is, what is the right ratio for leafy greens?

The manner in which plants respond when fertilized or apply on the soil depends on the ratio between the three elements (N-P-K). However, to obtain the NPK ratio, divide the three numbers representing each nutrient by the smallest.

For example, An NPK fertilizer of 20 -10 -10 represents a ratio of 2:1:1. Which means the ratio of nitrogen is twice the amount of Potassium and Phosphorous. The NPK ratio above is a good for leafy greens and it is very important for plants during their early stages and to know your plant is deficient in nitrogen, the Leafs becomes yellowish. However, too much nitrogen retards plant growth

In that same light, a 15-30-15 NPK fertilizer has an NPK fertilizer ratio of 1:2:1 with Phosphorous being the most concentration which helps for the development of fruits and flowers.

Understanding soil nutrients at various growing levels and the right NPK fertilizer ratio to use is very important for gardeners to improve on their leafy greens. However, when choosing npk fertilizer for leafy greens, it is very necessary to check NPK fertilizer ratio. For example, this ratio’s should be used at every stage of plant growth and if applied correctly and depending on the demands of the plant, you can be sure of a high yielding leafy greens.