Justus von Liebig's discovery that plants are fed by water soluble substances started a revolution in agriculture. However this revolution went in a different direction far from the original thinking of von Liebig. The single addition changed the truth of his discovery. First to recognize the important misunderstanding was von Liebig himself. Man must regard nature as one unit, a whole and everything that occurs in nature works together as knots in a net.
Diseases of plants are diseases of the soil.
We must treat the prime origin of the disease, not the symptom. It is important to understand that if the soil is living and healthy, the plants will be strong and healthy with natural resistance against disease. This opinion is the basic pillar of organic biological farming. Fertilizer facilities prospered and became firmly established as the bass of a huge, new agro-industry. Ammonia taken up by plants is utilized directly, but nitrates have to be converted to ammonia within the plant to be utilized.