Home And Garden

  Every gardener knows that generous nitrogen feeding makes the lawn greener and plants healthier. They know phosphorus-deficient plants are puny and weak. Plants lacking potassium have mottled stunted foliage later develops tiny patches of dead tissue over the surface. But what about when the garden has: An ample feeding of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium A soil in good condition Favorable weather … and still the plants are dwarfed or the foliage is distorted or the growing tips fail to elongate or the plant is discolored? These are instances when trace elements analyses are needed. A trace element, or trace mineral, or essential mineral (all terms for the same thing) is a chemical that has proven necessary for normal plant growth but is used by plants in extremely small amounts. In fact, the history of trace elements does not go back to the turn of the century. This is because they occur in such tiny amounts that they were not detected until late in the development of soil sc...