Fertilisers

Fertilisers:

Plants get their food through photosynthesis.

carbon dioxide + water => glucose + oxygen

But they also require other elements in smaller amounts. They take these in as minerals dissolved in wather through their roots. The most important elements are:

Nitrogen (N)

Potassium (K)

Phosphorus (P)

Natural fertilisers return these elements to the soil, but there is just not enough compost to support the lare and growing human population.

NO2 can be produced from N2 and 02 by lightning. There are also bacteria which lives in root modules - both of these return nitrogen to the soil as compounds.

Artificial fertilisers are needed to supplement natural processes. They contain at least…