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Something doesn’t look right in your garden. Maybe your plants don’t have that midsummer vibrancy and look a pale or even slightly yellow. Growth seems slow, and the plants seem weak and spindly instead of bushy and vigorous. Older leaves keep dying and falling off.
All of these signs are possible symptoms of a lack of nitrogen. Easy, right? Grab the box of blue powder off the shelf, and mix up some instant problem-solving! Not so fast. That temporary fix isn’t doing the good it should.
Humans aren’t the only organisms that help plants grow, gather nutrients, and survive. Plants are quite capable of providing for their own needs and have developed intricate relationships with other organisms to do just that. Why do heavy feeders like melons and squash grow so well in a compost heap? Because those complex natural relationships of soil biology and plants are working.
The Dance of Sunlight, Water, Carbon, and Nitrogen
Envision a bright, warm, sunny day in midsummer. Your tomato plants bask in the
