Can anyone (experienced gardeners please) recommend the best basic all-around plant food/fertilizer?
Just like people and animals, plants need the right nutrients to grow. The non-mineral nutrients they need are hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and carbon (C). These basically come from the air and water. Then there are 13 mineral nutrients that plants need. Most of them are naturally found in soils but some soils have different amounts of them, hence the need for the right fertilizer. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are the major macronutrients in that plants need a lot of them. Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sulfur (S) are minor macronutrients. Calcium and magnesium come from lime added to acidic soils and sulfur comes from the breakdown of plant material into compost. There are also micronutrients or trace nutrients. Very little of these is needed and most can come readily from composting plant material. These include boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chloride (Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn). Sometimes a local soil can be deficient in one or more of the
