Soil fertility is a measurement of a soil’s ability to provide essential nutrients for plant growth. Nutrient needs change with the stages of a plant’s growth. For annual plants, the different stages of growth — germination, vegetative growth, flowering, and fruiting (seed set) — all happen within a single growing season. Having the right nutrients for each stage will help grow a healthy plant. However, for all plants, considering the connections between plant life cycles and soil properties is important for fertility management.
Fertilizers are materials that, through decomposition or dissolution, release nutrients that become available for plant uptake.
While often tied to fertilizers, a soil’s ability to provide adequate and sustained nutrients are dependent on its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. Some of these characteristics are:
- Drainage: The amount of water and oxygen in the soil control plant respiration and nutrient uptake.
- pH: The acidity range controls the solubility of various nutrients and their availability to plants.
- Soil Texture and Mineralogy: The soil’s physical structure is tied to its nutrient holding capacity, which determines the supply of nutrients to plants.
- Organic Matter: The amount and type of organic matter and decomposition rates affect nutrient availability.
- Soil Biota: Living organisms in the soil play an essential role in making nutrients available through decomposition, movement, and storage.
Mismanagement of fertilizers can have detrimental effects both onsite and downstream. Excess application of nutrients can kill plants and other soil organisms locally as well as cause dangerous issues with pollution in streams and estuaries, harming our water supplies and fisheries.
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