Are Nitrates Used As Fertilizers?

Nitrates

• Plants aren't very efficient at absorbing nitrogen itself, though they're highly efficient at doing so when nitrogen is mixed with oxygen. This then creates a nitrate. Nitrates easily dissolve in water, meaning they'll be able to move quickly through a plant's root hairs and into the plant itself. However, nitrates are only specifically present in inorganic (chemical) fertilizers. And those fertilizers depend on a number of petroleum processes to be brought into being.

Fertilizers

• Fertilizers themselves are divided into two types: inorganic and organic. In the latter type, nitrates aren't present per se. Rather, nitrites exist in those fertilizers, and they need a range of soil microorganisms (usually bacteria) to be able to convert to nitrates and then be absorbed through plant root hairs. All of this is why you'll see only nitrates in inorganic fertilizers, all of which are artificially made and chemically based.

Benefits

• There's no doubt that nitrates in inorganic fertilizers work well. They can jump-start plant and grass growth efficiencies in a rapid manner. And because they provide a vital macronutrient (nitrogen) in a wide variety of food crops, they've contributed mightily to the effort to feed an ever-increasing population of humans. More people are being fed from more crops grown on smaller amounts of land, in fact, because of nitrates.

Problems

• Nitrates aren't without their problems. One of them has to do with the issue of runoff of nitrates from fertilizers on lawns, fields and other places after it rains. Excess amounts from those fertilizers can leech into groundwater or other waters used for drinking supplies, unfortunately. And high nitrate levels in water are considered dangerous to human health. The University of Minnesota Extension states that research shows that the main source of those nitrates emanates from various inorganic fertilizers.