Added Phosphorous??????

GigZ-16 · Feb 19, 2008

I recently happened to destroy my second grow with a fert overdose(hey, ya live and ya learn), and now I'm working on my third. I bought a bag of "seedling start" potting soil. This has Miracle Grow which I know is bad, but I have used Miracle Grow Time Release Soil before, and it never stressed my plants, plus Its not time release in this soil, so I figured it would be okay. So, I was reading the label and it sais it has "added Phosphorous for good rooting," which raised my eyebrow because I remember reading that during Sprout and Veg I need alot of Nitrogen, with less Phsphorous, and then during Flowering I would need more Phosphorous and less Nitrogen. Has anyone got any advice? Besides the fact that I shouldn't use MG?

OldSkool1010 · Feb 19, 2008

I use MG Seed Starting mix for all my vegetable and herb seeds and can't attribute any failure to the soil.

Phosphorus promotes blooms as well as root development.

Essential Role Of Phosphorus (P) In Plants

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient both as a part of several key plant structure compounds and as a catalysis in the conversion of numerous key biochemical reactions in plants. Phosphorus is noted especially for its role in capturing and converting the sun's energy into useful plant compounds. The two examples that follow illustrate how vital phosphorus nutrition is to normal plant development and production.

Phosphorus is a vital component of DNA, the genetic "memory unit" of all living things. It is also a component of RNA, the compound that reads the DNA genetic code to build proteins and other compounds essential for plant structure, seed yield, and genetic transfer. The structures of both DNA and RNA are linked together by phosphorus bonds.
Phosphorus is a vital component of ATP, the "energy unit" of plants. ATP forms during photosynthesis, has phosphorus in its structure, and processes from the beginning of seedling growth through to the formation of grain and maturity.

Thus phosphorus is essential for the general health and vigor of all plants. Some specific growth factors that have been associated with phosphorus are: stimulated root development, increased stalk and stem strength, improved flower formation and seed production, more uniform and earlier crop maturity, increased nitrogen N-fixing capacity of legumes, improvements in crop quality, and increased resistance to plant diseases.
Phosphorus deficiency is more difficult to diagnose than a deficiency of nitrogen or potassium. Crops usually display no obvious symptoms of phosphorus deficiency, other than a general stunting of the plant during early growth, and by the time a visual deficiency is recognized it may be too late to correct in annual crops. Some crops, such as corn, tend to show an abnormal discoloration when phosphorus is deficient. The plants are usually dark bluish-green in color with leaves and stem becoming purplish. The degree of purple is influenced by the genetic makeup of the plant, some hybrids showing much greater discoloration than others. The purplish color is due to accumulation of sugars which favors the synthesis of anthocyanin (a purplish colored pigment) that occurs in the leaves of the plant.
Phosphorus is highly mobile in plants and when deficient it may be translocated from old plant tissue to young actively growing areas. Consequently, early vegetative responses to phosphorus are often observed. As a plant matures, phosphorus is translocated into the fruiting areas of the plant where high energy requirements are needed for the formation of seeds and fruit. Phosphorus deficiencies late in the growing season affect both seed development and normal crop maturity. The percentage of the total amount of each nutrient taken up is higher for phosphorus late in the growing season than for either nitrogen or potassium.
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