Fertilizers are added to crops in order to produce enough food to feed the human population. Fertilizers provide crops with nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, which allow crops to grow bigger, faster, and to produce more food.

When can we use fertilizer?

Fertilizer is most effective when used on plants at their peak growing cycle. This is when the plant is leafing out for deciduous species, flowering, or putting on new growth after leaving the dormant winter stage. The time of year for fertilizing most plants would then be spring.

Why are fertilizers used?

Fertilizers are food for plants. Fertilizers replace the nutrients that crops remove from the soil. ... That's why mineral fertilizers are used to supplement the soil's nutrient stocks with minerals that can be quickly absorbed and used by crops.