Plants prepare their food by the process of photosynthesis. In this process, plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide & water. They also require oxygen for respiration, just like we do. However, to stay healthy, plants need basic nutrients, supplementary nutrients & micronutrients.
Basic nutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) are 3 major essential nutrients that are provided via soil.
Supplementary nutrients: Calcium, Magnesium & sulfur are also essential nutrients, but are required in a moderate amount in the soil.
Micronutrients: Iron, Boron, Copper, Zinc, Molybdenum, & chlorine are mineral nutrients that are required in a very less amount in the soil. These play a key role in plant growth.
If you are growing plant or crops on a soilless medium, these can be replaced by plant nutrients and water solutions.
Organic Fertilizers:
Organic fertilizers are the products of natural decomposition that feed the soil and are easy for plants to digest. Made from natural sources, organic fertilizers provide garden and farm plants with slow-release, consistent nourishment.
The main types of organic fertilizers are peat, animal wastes, and plant wastes from agriculture.
Organic fertilizers you can purchase online
Humus - Promotes good soil structure, enhances water holding capacity, and increases beneficially microbe population.
Canaan Nano Organic - All-purpose foliar, soil conditioner, and fungicide.
Vermicast - Vermicast (worm castings) is the substance left by the earthworms after what it eats passes through their digestive tract (worm manure).
Cocopeat - Home gardening enthusiasts see cocopeat as a sustainable alternative to soil. Hydroponic plants grown in cocopeat grow fifty percent faster than they would in soil. It also eliminates the need for fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides as peat itself carry ample nutrients.
Peat Moss - Peat moss is made from dead fibrous materials that form when mosses and other living materials decompose in peat bogs
Neem Cake - Neem Cake is used as an organic fertilizer because of the various micro and macronutrients of which it is composed of. It will control, at the same time, soil-based pathogens as well as nematodes. It will also inhibit nitrification of the soil plus enhance the efficiency of nitrogen providing fertilizer
Alnus Compost - Compost Alnus Leaves. Alnus (Alder) Can be mixed with any soil for your vegetables, ornamental plants, herbs, and trees. Alnus (Alder) enhances soil fertility. It promotes Nitrogen fixations and growth response to plants
Bio-organic Fertilizer - This fertilizer turns Soil into FERTILE STATE; with beneficial microorganisms that fights off diseases in the soil.
Post Organic Farming
Post-Organic means the produce was grown without using soil and is 100% pesticide free. Examples are Aquaponics and Hydroponics. We use hydroponics which produces most of our crops.
Hydroponics and aquaponics are both soil-free methods of cultivating crops. In these types of gardens, the nutrients and water are delivered straight to the plant's roots, allowing the plants to grow faster, and allowing harvesting to be done sooner, simply because the plants are putting more of their energy into growing above the ground, instead of under it.
The major difference between the two is that aquaponics integrates hydroponics with aquaculture, the process of cultivating fish.
The Right Nutrients for Soilless Farming
You can create your own nutrient mix, or get a Hydroponic nutrient package from the store. For beginners, I highly recommend you to buy it, saving the experimenting and mixing your own nutrients when you get a bit of experience.
These are the 3 most important minerals – Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). For example, they come at the ratio of 10-10-10, meaning that each nutrient is composed of 10% of the solution. The rest of 70% is water, micro-nutrients, and other chelates that assist the nutritional process.
If you are to choose available solutions for your hydroponic garden, the one thing to keep in mind is that you should get the nutrient designed specifically for Hydroponics only. Common fertilizers used in soil do not contain the necessary micronutrients that hydroponic plants require.
Second, it is recommended to use the 2 or 3 parts solution in the liquid. Normally, a liquid solution is easier to work with than a powder form because it easily dissolves in water.
To save your time, we have handpicked the best hydroponic nutrients on the market below:
Crop Type | Nutrient Solution | Store Links |
Leafy Greens | NutriHydro | |
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| NutriPlus | |
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| Masterblend | |
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Tomato | Masterblend | |
Fruit bearing Crops | NutriHydro |
For detailed information on how to dilute nutrient solutions for hydroponics, follow this guide.
Inorganic fertilizers
Inorganic fertilizers are chemical fertilizers that contain nutrients necessary for the growth of crops produced by chemical methods.
Inorganic fertilizers are divided into 5 different categories;
1. Nitrogenous Fertilizers 2. Phosphate Fertilizers 3. Potassium Fertilizers 4. Compound Fertilizers 5. Complete Fertilizers (NPK)
1. Nitrogenous Fertilizers: Nitrogen fertilizers contain nitrogen necessary for crop growth. Nitrogen is the main component of chlorophyll, which maintains balance during photosynthesis. It is also part of plant amino acids and forms proteins. Nitrogen fertilizers improve the yield and quality of agricultural products.
These nitrogenous fertilizers are divided into four groups namely; nitrate, ammonia and ammonium salts, chemical compounds containing nitrogen in the amide form, and plant and animal byproducts.
Most Common Types of Nitrogenous Fertilizers:
Ammonium sulfate: It is a white crystalline salt containing 20-21% ammoniacal nitrogen. It is very suitable for crops in wet areas such as rice and jute. Ammonium sulfate is easy to handle and can be stored well under dry conditions.
Ammonium sulfate can be applied before planting, during planting, or as a cover for growing crops. It should not be used during germination, as in its concentrated form it will have a very detrimental effect on germination.
Ammonium Chloride: It is a very crystalline compound in good physical condition. Contains 26% ammonia nitrogen. It is widely used for rice. Its effect is similar to that of ammonium sulfate. Not recommended for certain types of crops, such as tomatoes, tobacco, etc., as it can be damaged by chlorine.
Urea: Urea is a white crystalline organic compound. It is a highly concentrated nitrogen fertilizer that contains 45% to 46% organic nitrogen. It is highly hygroscopic and cannot be stored well in wet areas. To overcome this problem, it is also formed into particles covered with an inert, non-hygroscopic material.
It is very soluble in water and leaches quickly from the soil. It works very fast and will quickly convert to ammonia when used. It is used during planting or as a top-dressing, but never during germination. It is suitable for most crops and can be applied to all types of soil.
2. Phosphate Fertilizers: The main nutrient in a phosphorus fertilizer is phosphorus. The efficiency of fertilizer depends upon effective phosphorus content, methods of fertilizing, and properties of soil, and crop strains. Phosphorus found in the protoplasm of the cell plays an important role in cell growth and proliferation. The phosphorus fertilizer is beneficial for the growth of roots of the plants.
Phosphate fertilizers are classified as natural phosphates, treated phosphates, by-product phosphates and chemical phosphates.
3. Potassium Fertilizers: These are applied only to those soils that are deficient in potash.
Potassic fertilizers are used as:
Muriate of Potash (MOP): It is a gray crystalline material containing 50 to 63 percent of potash (K2O), the whole of which is available to the crops. It remains absorbed on the colloidal surfaces and is not leached out from the soil. It is applied at sowing time or before sowing.
Sulphate of Potash: It is more costly as it is prepared by treating potassium chloride with magnesium sulphate. It contains 48 to 52 percent K2O. It dissolves readily in water and becomes available to the crops almost immediately after application. It can be applied at any time up to sowing. In certain crops like tobacco, chillies, potato and fruit-tree it is considered better than muriate of potash.
4. Compound Fertilizers: These fertilizers contain two or three plant nutrients simultaneously. When both nitrogen and phosphorus are deficient in the soil, a compound fertilizer, e.g., amorphous, can be used. It contains 16 percent nitrogen and 20 percent P2O5. Two different fertilizers can be mixed in the correct proportion to produce the compound fertilizer.
5. Complete Fertilizer (NPK): Compound fertilizers are not always well adapted to different kinds of soils. For that reason mixed fertilizers containing two or more materials in suitable proportions are used according to the needs of different soils. Mixtures usually fulfill the nutrient deficiencies in a more balanced manner and require less labour to apply than different fertilizers used separately.
These mixtures containing all the three principal nutrients (N, P and K) are called complete fertilizers as most soils usually remain deficient in these three elements. A special mixture for different crops are also produced by the manufacturers.
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