Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Three reactions to the concept of “feeding your plants”:   Plants feed themselves through Photosynthesis (you don’t need to feed your plants!)   They’ll pick up elements in the soil that they need for growth and development – nobody feeds the plants in a native forest.  What’s scientifically needed for our gardens is a soil test that indicates which chemical elements are lacking in soil.  This is about the Science of Fertilisers.  This is the time of the year when soil temperatures are the best for plant growth. Roots work over time to extract minerals, dissolve them in water, and transport them through the phloem bundles to the leaves of plants, where photosynthesis puts it all together and creates carbohydrates and chemicals that allow cell-elongation (growth).   Plants use three main elements for bulk growth “food”: Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (K), which are generally known as NPK (their chemical symbols).   N is used to make green stuff: leaves and Chlorophyll