When it comes to growing crops, fertilizer is a vital component. And when it comes to making fertilizer, phosphorus—a mineral crucial to living organisms—is often a key ingredient. So what happens to ...

A thriving garden starts with good soil, and the best way to keep it healthy is with homemade organic fertilizers. Store-bought ones can be expensive and full of chemicals, but the good news is that ...

The three numbers on fertilizer are the N-P-K ratio, which stands for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These three nutrients have separate functions and are essential to a plant's growth and ...

On an overcast day, Roger Sylvester-Bradley walks along a hawthorn hedge, collecting a thick rind of mud on his leather boots, before stepping into a gently sloping field of barley. He stoops to pluck ...

Plants need phosphorus to grow. Farmers’ use of mineral phosphorus fertilisers has greatly increased soil phosphorus fertility and, consequently, crop yields. However, these fertilisers are made from ...

Disrupting Earth’s chemical cycles brings trouble. But planet-warming carbon dioxide isn’t the only element whose cycle we’ve turned wonky—we’ve got a phosphorus problem too. And it’s a big one, ...