I’ve been reading through this topic and just want to state this information, since I noted there have been a few misstatements along the way regarding the names and numbers of essential elements for plants. All plants need a total of THIRTEEN essential elements in order to survive and thrive. There are SIX macro-nutrients and SEVEN micro-nutrients. Primary macro-nutrients are nitrogen–N, phosphorus–P, and potassium–K. These three macro-nutrients (essential elements) are generally in lower supply in soil/media because plants use up large amounts of these three for growth as well as for survival. The breakdown of organic matter supplies these nutrients in the natural world, but practices like farming and ornamental gardening tend to deplete these nutrients from the soil, thus they need to be added back via the addition of composted organic material or through fertilizing. The secondary macro-nutrients (essential elements) are calcium–Ca, magnesium–Mg, and sulfur–S. These three nutrients are generally in abundant supply in soils, often from the slow weathering of solid mineral matter, so plants rarely use up all the available supply.
The seven micro-nutrients (essential elements) are boron–B, copper–Cu, iron–Fe, chloride–Cl, manganese–Mn, molybdenum–Mo and zinc–Zn. Because plants generally do not need much of these seven elements the breakdown of old vegetative organic matter in soils tends to supply these necessary nutrients in abundance from a plant perspective.
Though lots of orchids, as well as many other types of plants, grow as epiphytes or lithophytes, they still need all these essential elements available to them in order to survive and thrive.
Hope this didn’t bore anyone…
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