The Biosphere Blog

Magnesium (Mg) in soil ranges from about 0.05% in sandy soils up to 0.5% in clay soils. It is more prevalent in clay soils as these contain very weatherable magnesium-containing minerals. Some clay minerals themselves contain magnesium. Magnesium may… more »

Elemental calcium (Ca) makes up 3.64% of the Earth’s crust, making it the fifth most common element in the crust after oxygen (O), silicon (Si), aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe). This makes it the most abundant of all plant nutrients after oxygen and… more »

So far we’ve covered he big three macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) — the famous NPK. Today we’ll cover a lesser-known, but also important nutrient for plants: sulfur (S). It may surprise you that sulfur is an… more »

Of the six essential macronutrients a plant needs, the big three are nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorus (P), our subject for today. Availability to Plants Elemental phosphorus (P) makes up 0.02–0.15% of soil, and primarily exists as hydrogen… more »

Last week we explored why nitrogen is an essential macronutrient in plants, by looking at the molecules it appears in, and the biochemical processes relying on those molecules. From that we could better understand where and why nitrogen deficiencies and… more »

Macronutrients are those a plant requires in high concentrations. There are six of these: nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S). Plants receive these nutrients either as standalone ions or as part of… more »