1. Plant Nutrients

2. In previous work on soil it was seen that
nutrients are added to help plants grow.
This is what will be briefly studied now.
At the end you should:
Be able to discuss the different plant
nutrients and why plants need them
for growth.

3. What are plant nutrients?
There are two types of plant nutrient
major nutrient
trace nutrients

4. Trace nutrients
These are require in small quantities
Examples include
magnesium – to make chlorophyll
iron – to help disease resistance

5. Major nutrients These are required in much larger
quantities but it depends on the
type of plant
3 major nutrients are:
Nitrogen (N) for leaf growth
Phosphorus (P) for root growth
Potassium (K) for flower and fruit growth
Nitrogen is essential for making all proteins

6. Fertilisers Fertilisers are chemicals that plant growers
add to their plants to give them the nutrients
they need to grow.
They usually contain nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium (NPK)
A number is usually displayed on the bag to
Indicate the ratio of the elements like 7:14:6
7% nitrogen, 14% phosphorus, 6% potassium

7. Examples of fertiliser chemical ratios
Which part of the plant does this help grow the most?
Which part of the plant does this help grow the most?

8. How fertilisers are applied
They can be applied as granules, powder or liquid
Granules
People would use these mainly because they:
are easy to apply
break down slowly to release their minerals
do not get blown away easily

9. How fertilisers are applied
Liquids
People would use these mainly because they:
Are quick acting
BUT they can easily and quickly get leached out of the soil

10. How fertilisers are applied
Powders
People would use these mainly because they:
are quite quick acting
easy to apply
BUT they are quite easily blown away

11. Quiz
Read the information sheet on fertilisers and answer the questions