NPK Fertilizer

In agriculture fertilizer or seed is most important part or others name likes “vitamin” to the plants. Like human, plants also need Carbohydrates, Protein and fat but for plant also have three main "food groups", or rather "macro nutrients", the three main elements that make up the bulk of a fertilizer is NPK[21].

NPK is short name of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) or in other name „Kalium‟ hence the chemical symbol K. All elements have their own characteristic of shape, density and molar mass. Nitrogen, N helps the plant to grow strong and if too high nitrogen fertilizers will make for quick growth but weaker plants that are more susceptible to attacks by diseases and pests. This chemical fertilizer is a component of chlorophyll and aid to photosynthesis. Phosphorus, P is important in the photosynthesis process.

This chemical fertilizer supports the component such as oils, sugar and starches to the plant. In addition, phosphorus helps the growth of root and flower development. The last content is Potassium, K, besides help the photosynthesis process, this „vitamin‟ help to support protein to the plant. Most importantly, this chemical fertilizer controls the fruit‟s quality and to make the plant healthy [21]. These 3 elements have their own specification as shown table 2.5 below.

Table 2.9 : The NPK specifications [22]. Fertilizer

element

Density, g/cm³ Molar mass,

g/mol Particle Shape Size, mm

Nitrogen, N 1.026 14.0067 Granular/ Fluid 1 - 5

Phosphorus, P 1.823 30.9737620 Granular/Fluid 2 - 6

Potassium, K 0.862 39.0983 Granular/Fluid/Powder 0.1 - 1

There have ratio between NPK elements for example 10-10-10 that means Nitrogen 10%, Phosphorus 10% and Potassium 10%. This ratio has their purpose for the growth of the plant. For example 10-10-10 fertilizer has a 1-1-1 ratio, 10-20-10 fertilizer has a 1-2-1 ratio and 30-15-15 fertilizer has a 2-1-1 ratio. Basically, gardener use 1-2-1 ratio for the rooting, 1-1-2 or 1-2-2 or 2-1-2 ratio for the flowering and fruiting, for leafy growth the ratio is 2-1-1 or 3-1-1 and for all purpose the ratio is 1-1-1 [22].

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