Soil Nutrients

Soil nutrients and pH balance are the two major things needed to grow a vegetable plant.

Different types of plants require different levels of pH. pH determines the amount of acidity in the soil. This level is measured on a scale from 0 to 14, with seven being neutral. Most of our plants will need a pH balance from 5.8 to 6.5. Anything above 7 though will hamper our vegetables’ growth and productivity.

Soil nutrients come in three different categories—primary, secondary and micro-nutrients. For our purposes, we are going to be concerned only with the primary nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The worms and organic materials we have added should take care of secondary and micro-nutrients.

There are soil test kits on the market that will test the three primary soil nutrients. If you want to measure the others you will need to send a sample of your soil to a test lab or your county agricultural agent.

For the first year, if you have bought and filled your garden with bagged soil, then you should be okay. I have some soil in place already and will be buying bagged soil. In about a month, I will test my soil to see how it is looking. I am fairly certain that with all the organic material I have added in the past it will be fine.

Your soil test kit will come with instructions on how to “fix” your soil if there are any deficiencies. There are organic fertilizers available on the market to fix this. Also, I have found that Miracle-Gro also does wonders for my plants. I am not an organic gardener. I use what works quickest and fastest to make the plants grow and produce.

One year, in Marquette, Michigan, I planted pole beans. They were growing great. The plants were over ten feet tall and a dark green color. Only, I had few to no beans.

The plants were sucking up so much nitrogen that all they wanted to do was grow the plant and not produce any vegetables. I cut back on the nitrogen and I got so many green beans I hardly knew what to do with them. We spent hours canning them.

Please keep in mind I am just hitting high points. If you want more detailed information, go to this site on plant nutrients.

In a nutshell, nitrogen helps the plant with its growth through the leaves. Phosphorus turns sun energy into plant energy which helps to stimulate root growth and encourages blooming. Potassium helps in the growing of the vegetable which is sometimes called the fruit.

If the soil nutrient levels are not correct then we may get all plant and no flowers. Or we will get the flowers but they will die and drop off without producing any fruit. Heat will affect flower growth and pollination which we will discuss later.

Without proper soil nutrient levels, plants may succumb to fungus and disease. There are still other things to consider like micro-organisms, bacteria and other things that are found in the soil to make it healthy. There is really a lot going on to make the plant grow.

Generally speaking, if an area is left un-planted for a year, it will replenish itself with little to no effort by the gardener. In many areas in the Old Testament of the Bible, we find God telling the Jews to let the land rest in the seventh year after growing for six years. We know today that it was to let the land rest and recharge its soil nutrients.

We also know today that crop rotation helps the soil to revive as well. So in our plan, after the first year, we may want to put a cover crop on an area and let it recharge itself for that year. We will talk about crop rotation and cover crop later.

With the right balance of nutrients, pH level, sun and water, you should be able to produce a very healthy garden with lots of vegetables. The last time I planted tomatoes, I had three plants. They produced so many that I gave tons away to family and friends. They were even telling me to stop bringing them over since they had too many. But this year, I am looking to sell my excess produce.

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