Why do plants need fertilizer?

Answer 1

As we need water and food to do our daily tasks similarly plants also need different chemicals to complete their life cycle. Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are the most important chemicals. These chemicals are absorbed by the plants through the soil or water. As we know, a lot of crops are being harvested in only one patch of land. So gradually the amount of essential plant nutrients in the soil decreases and soil can't provide the desired quantity of essential plant nutrients to the plants and consequently, the growth of plants is effected. So these plant nutrients are provided to the soil in the form of fertilizer. Actually, fertilizer contain necessary amount of essential chemicals according to the need of soil. In short fertilizer are used for the better growth of plants.

Answer 2

Fertilizer is needed when plants are harvested for food by either animals or machines, and nothing is returned to the land. When the amount of nutrients is exported off the land base and not returned, these nutrients become depleted in the soil, so they need to be returned in the form of manure or fertilizer. If these nutrients are not returned, plants suffer and become less vigorous and productive over time. Land that once held a bumper crop year after year without needing fertilizer now barely makes enough for a farmer to even break even on his net returns. Fertilizer, in this case, is definitely needed to give plants a short-term boost in productivity again.

Fertilizer gives a short-term boost for plants, but it's not best long-term. Fertilizer can make plants lazy and significantly reduce soil microbial and fungal populations to unhealthy levels. Fertilizers also don't replace the organic matter that may be also reduced with crop production. Manure is the best option for replacing nutrient levels to the soil on cropland and gardens.

Lawns can also suffer from nutrient losses if person are active about removing mowed material from lawns to dump the "waste" somewhere else, instead of leaving the litter behind to decompose back into the lawn. Nitrogen needs to be added to the lawn to keep it a nice deep green.

Answer 3

Fertilisers provide some of the nutrients which a plant needs to grow - particularly if it is growing in poor soil.