Nutrient elements of the soil
The need for plants in different nutrients is not the same. Eight biogenic( "biogenic" means "life-giving") of chemical elements used by plants in large quantities are called macro-elements( "macro" means "big", "long").
Microelements: nitrogen( N), sulfur( S), phosphorus( P), potassium( K), magnesium( Mg), calcium( Ca), iron( Fe)( if you know their Latin symbols, it will be easier for you to understand, which of them are included in this or that fertilizer, since often the formulas are given chemical formulas).
They are almost not present in nature in pure form, but are contained in compounds accessible to plants - nutrients. The same applies to trace elements( "micros" means "small"), which are required in incomparably less quantity. However, if you need a trace element, this does not mean that they are less significant. Quantitatively a person eats vitamins much less than potatoes, but do vitamins from this become less needed?
Microelements: boron( B), manganese( Mp), copper( Cu), zinc( Zn), molybdenum( Mo), cobalt( Co).
Macro elements
The life form on our planet is not accidentally called "protein" - without this group of substances, no living organism can exist. But the proteins themselves consist, as it were, of their "bricks" - amino acids. Most of the macronutrients are included in their composition.
Nitrogen( N).The most important of the nutrients. It is not only a part of proteins: the custodian of genetic information - DNA - also includes nitrogenous bases. And in chlorophyll, responsible for photosynthesis( whose importance is indisputable), nitrogen is also present, as in many other chemical compounds important for the normal life of plants.
For a long time, scientists believed that nitrogen, like carbon dioxide, the plant absorbs from the atmosphere, almost 80% of it. Alas, the practice proved otherwise - the plant is able to extract this element solely from the soil, so it is necessary to take care of its sufficient quantity to the person.
Sulfur( S).This element is included in many amino acids, takes part in oxidation-reduction processes, is an integral part of enzymes, hormones, substances that protect the plant from pests.
Phosphorus( P).Like nitrogen, it is part of many proteins, DNA, RNA, the universal carrier of energy - ATP( adenosine triphosphate), many vitamins and other substances. Phosphoric acid is the basis of the energy metabolism of any living cell and plays an important role in the process of breathing.
Potassium( K).Although potassium does not directly enter most of the most important molecules, many reactions to the transformation of proteins and carbohydrates can not take place without it, its role seems to be auxiliary, but its importance can not be underestimated. Promotes potassium and photosynthetic reactions. And the flow into the plant cell of water also depends on it. In its function is the opening and closing of stomata( micro-holes on the leaves through which gas exchange takes place).
Magnesium( Mg).The most important thing is that it is a part of chlorophyll. In addition, magnesium also plays a role in protein metabolism. Calcium( Ca).If we consider a plant cell as a brick, of which the whole organism is built, then calcium appears as an important component of pectic substances - "cement", which binds cells into a single structure. It also determines the viscosity of the protoplasm( a complex of substances that fill the inside of the cell) and participates in the formation of intracellular partitions( for example, the plasmolemma).
Iron( Fe).Participates in the synthesis of chlorophyll. Sometimes iron is referred to as micro-, not macro-elements.
Microelements
It is clear why the above-mentioned macronutrients are required in a rather large quantity. It is somewhat more difficult to determine the importance of microelements: the exact role of some has not yet been clarified, but it is known that a plant can not exist normally without them.
Manganese( Mp) plays an important role in the recovery of nitrates( nitrogen compounds) and is the activator( "trigger" or "start button") of many enzymes.
Copper( Cu) is an activator of enzymes in the same way as zinc( Zn).
Molybdenum( Mo) restores nitrates and promotes nitrogen fixation.
Chlorine( C1) is responsible for osmosis( diffusion, that is, percolation of water through membranes-cell walls) and ionic balance, in addition, chlorine is necessary for synthetic oxygen generation reactions.
Boron( B) is the most mysterious of the elements: it has not yet been established exactly what it affects, except for the use of calcium and the restorative phase of respiration, and most importantly how it affects them. But it is known that without it the plants develop very poorly.
Cobalt( Co) is not necessary directly to the plants themselves, but to soil nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, without the normal operation of which the colors will have to be tight.
Zinc( Zn) is an element whose importance for a plant is determined only by a painful reaction to its absence.