Important Minerals

Plants need minerals to grow big and produce fruit (実がなる). The three most important minerals are nitrogen (窒素), phosphorus (リン), and potassium (カリ). Each of these minerals does a different job that helps make plants healthy.

            Nitrogen is the most important of these three minerals. Plants absorb (吸い取る) more nitrogen than any other mineral. It helps plants develop protein, which is necessary to develop healthy cells (細胞) as they grow. Plants also need nitrogen for photosynthesis (光合成) – the process of turning sunlight into energy to grow larger and produce fruit.

            Phosphorus is also important for photosynthesis because it helps plants store energy. It also helps plants grow and develop.

            The last mineral is potassium. Potassium helps plants grow strong roots (根っ子), and makes them more resistant to diseases (病気に強い) and cold temperatures. In addition, it helps plants produce fruit.

            How do plants get these minerals? They absorb them from the soil (土) using their roots. So, having healthy soil is one of the most important things about having a healthy garden. The easiest way to make sure that your soil has enough nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is to use industrial fertilizers (産業肥料). However, in our garden we try not to use industrial fertilizers. Instead, we try to plant plants that will provide these minerals to our plants naturally. These are called dynamic accumulators. In the next article, we will introduce some of our favorite dynamic accumulators.

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