Just as important as oxygen is to life, plants need minerals! Minerals are both macro and micronutrients. While micronutrients are not required in large amounts by plants, they are essential for supporting optimal plant growth and function. Without the micronutrients, plants are not able to properly utilize macronutrients.
The absence of adequate minerals will create a huge disconnect in all the growing functions of plants. They are the very building blocks of life. For example, if Magnesium is missing, plants cannot photosynthesize. This single mineral is the precursor in a plants ability to turn light into food. And here’s a fun fact: the mineral potassium “activates” at least 60 different enzymes involved in plant growth.
Agronomist Rich Affeldt explains it like this, “…The flavor and nutrition in fruit, grains, and vegetables are based on the soil minerals available, not the amount or type of organic matter. If a needed mineral is missing, it is just that, missing, and no amount of organic matter will make up for it.”
The essential elements required in larger quantities for sufficient growth are the macro-nutrients. Nine minerals make up this group. Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, and Sulfur. Eight other essential mineral elements are required and are the micro-nutrients. They include: Iron, Chlorine, Manganese, Boron, Copper, Molybdenum, Nickel, and Zinc. While vital to plant health, micro-nutrients are only needed in small amounts. Plants actually only require about 0.01 percent or less of them.
Plants are complex organisms and they simply cannot thrive without a variety of minerals. Deficiencies in these essential nutrients are common and can create a chain reaction of poor plant health. Tappin Roots All Stages and Dynamic Soil Amender contain macro and supportive micro nutrients in a form plants can readily use. Over 60 bio-available minerals are contained in our selected extracts.
In our next blog we will delve deeper into a few of these minerals to understand a bit more about their relationship with your garden.