Thanks Spoot,
Saw myself in a bombed out wilderness...the smell of miracle grow mixed way to strong in the air.
For me the Plant gets its nutrients from the break-down of matter through microbial means. Like bug that rotted in the gut of the bat that shat on the floor that sat there and gained potassium. Then I come along and buy it from some Peruvian, put it in my pot of soil along with fungi (and many other soil organisms). The fungi break it and other things down (To a molecular level) for the roots to use. They also make the soil (living environment of the roots) eazier to grow and exchange molecules in.
Unscientific I Know
Try these guys:
http://www.fungi.com/mycogrow/amaranthus.html

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Acres Usa is about farming but I totally want to hang with these guys!