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Year 11 Biology
Year 11 Biology
Abstract
An investigation was carried out to compare the effect between inorganic and organic fertilizers on plant growth. Tomato seedlings were used, which were divided into 3 groups - the inorganic fertilizer group, the organic fertilizer group and the control group. Besides using different fertilizers, all of the seedlings were planted in the same condition. The result has shown that the plants using organic fertilizer has a faster and healthier growth in contrast to the inorganic group and the control group under the same environmental condition.
Introduction
All forms of life need energy, food and water, and plants are no exception. Without water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and numerous mineral elements, they would not able to survive. Plants take nutrients from the air, the soil, and the water. Of the minerals, plants need comparatively large amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulphur, which are called major or macronutrients. Numerous other elements, called micro-nutrients, are also needed in much smaller amounts. (Windridge 2000) The main three ingredients, Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), together comprise over 75% of the mineral nutrients found in the plant. These three elements form the main ingredients of most fertilizers. These are marketed as N-P-K fertilizers, which stand for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), or compound fertilizers. They are labelled or named according to the content of these three elements. (Whiting 2009)
Fertilizers are chemical compounds spread on or worked into soil to increase its capacity to support plant growth. Fertilizers are categorized into two major types. The two types of fertilizers are organic and inorganic fertilizers. Both fertilizers can provide most nutrients that plants need. Organic fertilizer is made of bio-matter or those that originated