3 strategies for the choice of vegetable fertilizer, according to culture

Culture plants need some essential conditions to develop and have good productivity and when these conditions cannot be naturally insured, the intervention of farmers is required, applying fertilizer. It is light, carbon dioxide, nutrients for water and minerals, essential elements for any culture, whether we are talking about cereals, vegetable crops, fruit trees or garden plants.

In this article we will refer to mineral nutrients, which plants extract from the ground, for which it is essential that the grown earth is fertile, perfectly adapted to the plants in the harvest. The main nutrients that plants need are phosphorus, potassium, calcium, nitrogen, sulfur and magnesium, the degree of soil fertility based on the content of these substances and their concentration.

Because fertilizers are required

Although we find a very fertile ground, perfect for the culture we want to configure, its composition will change from one season to another, because the plants will absorb those nutrients they need. Therefore, the quantity of charitable substances that are naturally found in the ground is reduced and a land that was initially extremely favorable loses its properties. At the same time, the amount of nutrients decreases following natural processes that occur in the soil and to continue to guarantee good fertility of the soil, it must be completed. For this purpose, it is necessary to apply the fertilizer and the procedure is called fertilization.

Vegetable fertilizers are divided into two main categories, as follows:

• Organic fertilizers: contain nutrients obtained from unrealized or developed natural resources to a very small extent. The most commonly used resources to obtain organic fertilizers are animal waste – from which manure is obtained – and plant residues, which are the basis of the compost of the plants. Also called natural fertilizers, they are mainly used in organic agriculture and biological cultures.
• Chemical fertilizers: they are products obtained from the chemical processing of some resources from which the mineral nutrients necessary for plant foods are extracted. Chemical fertilizers have a rapid release, therefore nutrients reach the ground shortly after fertilization and the effect is an immediate, unlike organic fertilizers, which are slow -release solutions.

Fertilization strategies

The optimal quantity and the types of mineral nutrients differ from one culture to another, which is why fertilization strategies are specific to each culture. In all cases, the application of fertilizers must be carried out after a fertilization plan has adapted to the crop system, in which to take into account in particular the preliminary crops and the results of an evaluation of the fertilizer on the respective land.

1. Fertilization of legumes

When it comes to legumes, we find three categories of crops, respectively the fields, those of the greenhouses and cultures in the solarium. In the case of vegetables grown on the field and solarium, the basic fertilization is performed in the autumn, followed by phase fertilization, which are more intense for crops in the solarium. The basic fertilization for field crops is performed by administering organic fertilizers in quantities of 20-40 tons per hectare, while in the solarium the same type of fertilizers are administered, but in quantities of 60-70 tons per hectare. A second fertilization is applied to the field in spring, with ammonium nitrate or complex fertilizers, therefore they continue with phase fertilization, depending on the period of vegetation. The same treatment is applied to the vegetables in the solarium, but much more intense than on the field.

In the greenhouses, fertilization is performed once a year, between cycle I and the second production cycle, using 80-100 tons of manure per hectare.

2. Fertilization of cornI

It is performed after an in -depth analysis, which must take into account the amount of grains per planned hectare, the nutrient content in the soil, the precipitation level of the previous year, the residues of vegetables incorporated into the soil and preliminary culture. To produce a ton of cereals per hectare, a corn culture needs 24-30 kilograms of nitrogen on the active surface, 20-23 kilograms of potassium and other nutrients. The need for phosphorus and potassium can be provided by a single administration, but for nitrogen different stages of administration are needed, as it is a slightly soluble substance, which dissolves in the water of the soil and migrates with it.

3. Grain fertilization

In the case of wheat, nitrogen and phosphate are needed in the first three months after cultivation, nutrients that can be administered in the germ bed or immediately after sowing, in the necessary proportions, depending on the degree of soil fertility. 6-7 months after sowing, in the elongation phase, the nitrogen, potassium, sulfur and phosphate requirement increases, substances that must be provided during this period by administering fertilizers. Finally, in the phase of filling the cereals, it is recommended to apply nitrogen, phosphate, boron and magnesium fertilizers, for the best efficiency of the crop.

Very important to remember is the fact that fertilization is performed taking into account the type of any culture and peculiarity of the soil and a successful model applied in a specific region can prove to be a total failure in another area, in which the conditions are completely different.

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