What's going on epic gardeners? Welcome back to another episode. Thanks for tuning in. My name is Kevin and today we are talking about

Phosphorus. So this is one of the

Continuations of the Nutrient profile series that I'm doing here on the

podcast and we're talking about phosphorus because it's one of the most important

nutrients that a plant needs. Again if you want the full breakdown of not only what

phosphorus does but what the rest of a garden requires as far as nutrients go then

you can always find that at epic gardening.com

forward slash plant-dash nutrients.

All right, let's talk about phosphorus.

So, first of all, it helps a plant convert

other nutrients into usable building blocks with which to grow

So it's kind of like a catalyst in that sense. It's one of the main three nutrients that is most commonly found in fertilizers so when we see

fertilizers you see the n the p and the k well phosphorus is the p

it is most often used by a plant to develop roots and grow them bigger and better.

Flowers that are well fed with phosphorus will also have more blooms, fruits will ripen better and faster.

It's actually really important to flower bulbs as well as to perennials and recently

established trees and shrubs. Since trees and shrubs don't need as much nitrogen as grasses and other more vegetative plants,

a small first number as in a low n, and a larger second number as in a low n and a larger second number as in a high p is often seen in

fertilizers that are intended for trees shrubs and bushes. How can we tell if our plants aren't getting enough phosphorus?

Well, let's talk about a familiar plant to all of us, which would be the tomato.

If a tomato is deficient in phosphorus, the leaves will turn an odd kind of purplish or reddish purple,

usually on the underside of the leaves and then later in a more severe situation on the top.

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