Food For Thought And Food For Plants

[Amanda Adkins]

Fertilizers are food for plants. Unlike people or animals plants do not have a tendency to store away the excess energy from food in the form of fat, which is a condensed energy source. If there are excess nutrients in the soil or the water for aquatic plants, the plants simply do not use them. Most of these nutrients are in the form of ionic bonds or salts. If these are not used, the salts build up in the soil. This is part of the reason you end up with plants being burned; or in the case of aquatic plants, you get melting away of leaves and stems.

 

[Phishless]

If these are not used, the salts build up in the soil. This is part of the reason you end up with plants being burned; or in the case of aquatic plants, you get melting away of leaves and stems.

This seems to contradict the EI method of dosing?

Most that burn/melt their plants are due to high ammonia levels. Cycling or NH3 rich substrates.

 

[Allwissend]

Luxury uptake has been known for some time now: http://www.ib.usp.br/limnologia/textos/a06v60n2.pdf . Also described several times by Tom Barr. This says that plants can take up more "food" than they need or use for growth at that point in time.

Furthermore, storage of energy is possible for plants as well, and easily seen in seeds, root vegetables(carrots) or tuberous crops (potatoes).

What is more, some plants became very proficient at decontaminating soil from "toxic metals" by chelating them, isolating them in leaf structures etc.

 

[ArabellaBrewer]

Gotta say, it's like a crash course in plant nutrition! So, here's a little nugget to toss in the mix – have any of you tried incorporating beetroot powders into your plant care routine? I'm a newbie here, and recently, I read about how it can be a game-changer for boosting soil health. Apparently, it adds some extra kick to the nutrient game without going overboard. I'm all for experimenting, and my plants seem to be giving it a thumbs-up so far! Has anyone else dabbled with beetroot powder or other unconventional plant food? Let's swap stories!