Soil care is fundamental to gardening. Good healthy soil, rich in the right nutrient and holding the right amount of moisture, gives our plants their best chance of a healthy and happy season. Understanding how compost, fertilizer, and other modes of soil care enhance our gardens is important for any gardener. Especially important, however, is understanding the role of nitrogen in soil health and plant growth. Nitrogen is interesting stuff—an inert gas that makes up most of our atmosphere and plays a huge role in almost all life on earth. Let’s dig in, learn more about nitrogen and garden soil, and get a head start on soil health for the growing season ahead!
What is Nitrogen?
Nitrogen is an element, appearing at on the periodic table of elements at number 7 due to it having an atomic weight of 7. It’s easy to spot on the periodic table; the symbol for nitrogen is “N”. Nitrogen most commonly appears around us as a gas—almost 80% of the Earth’s atmosphere is composed of nitrogen. It’s also an inert gas, meaning that it contains no oxygen and is relatively non-reactive with other elements. For this reason it’s often used in manufacturing and food packaging. This stability goes away quickly when nitrogen is in some forms of solid state, but that chemistry is a bit beyond the scope of this blog.
In addition to being used for a variety of industrial, manufacturing, and packaging purposes, nitrogen is also a key component in many commercially produced fertilizers. Ammonia—a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen—and nitrates are among the most common of these. Please note that the ammonia used as fertilizer is not the same as the ammonia you may use as a cleaning product, so please don’t confuse the two! They aren’t safely interchangeable and may cause harm to you or your soil!
What Does Nitrogen Do For Plants?
As we’ve touched on while discussing fertilizers, nitrogen is one of the elements vital for plant growth. In soil, nitrogen promotes healthy growth for all parts of the plant but especially stems and leaves. Without enough nitrogen, plants will grow slowly or in a stunted manner and may become a sickly yellow color rather than a healthy shade of green. However, before you go loading on the nitrogen fertilizer in your garden soil, note that too much nitrogen can cause problems as well. An overabundance of nitrogen in garden soil can lead to small or stunted vegetables or flowers and overall poor productivity. Further complicating things, different plants have different nitrogen requirements; our friends at the Colorado State University Extension Office have a handy guide here for the proper level of nitrogen for different plants. We suggest making use of this when planning your garden layout and fertilizing/composting plan.
Early in the season, well before planting, you may want to have your soil tested in order to determine what nutrients and minerals are present and in what quantity. This will tell you what kind of fertilizer, compost, or other soil amendment you’ll need to add. It’s especially important to pay attention to the nitrogen levels due to the critical role they play in plant growth.
Adding Nitrogen to Garden Soil
The good news for gardeners is that there are a number of ways we can add nitrogen to our garden soil should we need to. Amending the soil with composted manure is a powerful way to introduce more nitrogen, but take care: adding fresh manure may create too much nitrogen and cause those problems, while fresh manure may also contain microorganisms that cause illnesses in humans and animals. If you are using fresh manure, the best approach is to compost it either in your composting setup or by layering it into your soil and letting it break down naturally over the course of several months before planting. Full composted manure will look like rich, black, crumbly soil, so check back regularly and see how yours is progressing.
Most commercial fertilizers contain nitrogen; it’s the “N” in the “NPK” number measurement on the label. You’ll want to select a fertilizer that adds the right amount of nitrogen for your soil needs, but there are a wide variety available so compare the results of your tests to both the product label and the required level of nitrogen for the plants growing in it. This is one of those times when checking in with your local extension office or garden club might help—they can push you in the right direction and help you find the fertilizers you need.
We know all this sounds like a lot, but you’ll get the hang of it as you work with the information here and the plants/soil in your garden. As always, we’re here if you have any questions so just drop them in the comments section or send us an email. Gardzen is all about community and we’re always glad to hear from you!
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