Natural Fertilizer Resources

Your lawn requires a large variety of nutrients to grow healthily. Some of them are readily available in the atmosphere or soil while others are available from fertilizers and water.

Among all the nutrients required, there are three that your lawn need most and they are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. These three nutrients are also known as macronutrients.

Nitrogen is most important among the three macronutrients and it is the nutrient that needs to be added in the largest amount.

Nitrogen keeps your lawn grasses green and growing well. Lack of nitrogen will cause your lawn grasses to turn pale and wither. Weeds will also start to get an upper hand as your lawn weakened.

However, do not apply nitrogen blindly as excessive nitrogen can burn your lawn. It also causes lush growth that attracts insects and diseases. In addition, water runoff filled with nitrogen will flow into the ground, streams or lakes and cause environmental pollution.

Nitrogen is usually present in either quick-release form or slow-release form. The quick-release form is relatively inexpensive and soluble in water. The roots will suck up the nitrogen immediately upon application and you can see result in a very short time. However, the quick release form has a higher tendency to burn your lawn and leech through the soil easily. The result is usually short-lived.

Other the other hand, the slow-release form of nitrogen cannot be absorbed right away by your lawn grasses. It needs to go through a conversion process performed by the microorganisms in your soil first. There is usually a coating of materials that physically slow down the release. This slow-release form is unlikely to burn your lawn and does not leech through soil easily. Its effect also tends to last longer.

Most fertilizers are already formulated to contain these two forms of nitrogen, which will give the type of results that most lawn owners want.

After nitrogen, the next two macronutrients required are phosphorous and potassium. Phosphorous is vital to the development of healthy roots. It is also very important when establishing a new lawn. However, phosphorous does not move into the soil with water as easily as nitrogen does. Thus, the best time to apply phosphorous is before you do any planting. For existing lawn, you have to work it into the soil to the root level. Otherwise, most of the phosphorous will stay near the soil surface without reaching the roots.

Potassium is required if you want to increase your grass hardiness and resistance to disease. It can penetrate the soil easier than phosphorous but not as easily as nitrogen. Potassium is usually available in adequate amount in most type of soils so there is no need to apply potassium in large amount. However, if you have very sandy soil, an application of potassium can greatly benefit your lawn.

It is imperative that you have a good idea what nutrients are already present in your soil before you start fertilizing. The only way to be sure is to have your soil tested by a reliable soil-test lab. If you repeatedly add nutrients that are already present in your soil, you can cause excess growth that harm your lawn or pollute the environment. Thus, having a clear idea about what nutrients are present in your soil will allow you to make better decision on the best way to fertilize your lawn.

Tags: how to make natural fertilizer, natural liquid grass fertilizer, coffee grounds fertilizer natural, hand application of natural fertilizer, all natural pasture fertilizer texas, natural homemade rose fertilizer, natural fertilizer recipe

Tags

Plant Fertilizer