Choosing the Right Water Soluble Fertilizer

CHOOSING THE RIGHT WATER SOLUBLE

FERTILIZER By ICL Specialty Fertilizers

As a grower, choosing the right water-soluble fertilizer (WSF) for your operation is one of the most important decisions you make. Choose wisely, and you can optimize your fertilizer investment, improve operational efficiencies, reduce inputs and labor costs, and improve retail performance for the customers you cultivate.

But the water-soluble fertilizer industry has changed a lot since the late 1940s, when Bob Peters first started testing soil for cut flower growers and developing prescriptive fertilizers to meet grower needs. Since commercial production of Peters brand water-soluble fertilizers began in 1952, options for the grower have flourished. But choosing the best water-soluble fertilizers for your operation is not as hard as it may seem.

Discovering your starting points

No one knows your growing operation like you do. But the more you learn, the better decisions you can make when it comes to WSFs. Identifying what your crops really need starts with knowing your irrigation water and growing media quality. Accurate, reliable testing eliminates the guesswork, reveals your true starting points, and puts you ahead of the game.

Irrigation water – Water quality is the single most important factor affecting your WSF success. Solubility and nutrient availability depend on it. Without knowing where your irrigation water stands on key measures such as alkalinity and soluble salts, fertilizer performance comes down to trial and error.

Water testing provides you with crucial information to keep your crops and profitability on track. Testing is especially important if you use well water or multiple water sources. Heavy rains, melt-off, flooding and drought can impact water quality significantly as well. That’s why it’s a good idea to always test new water sources, and retest existing sources twice a year.

Growing media – Growing media quality can vary considerably from the start, but media pH and nutrient content also change over time. Depending on your management practices, those changes can be significant. To manage nutrition effectively, you need to know where your media quality stands all season long. This is especially important if you mix your own media.

By testing your growing media as a regular part of your quality assurance program, you can keep an eye on root zone nutrient status at critical points. Rather than guessing what your crop needs, you can rest assured in your knowl-

edge and adjust your nutrient plan accordingly. Because irrigation alkalinity has such a strong influence on growing media pH, it’s a good idea to test your media in tandem with your water. This gives you a better view into nutrient availability and the choices that can best support your crop.

Plant tissue – If you suspect a nutrient deficiency or toxicity, a plant tissue analysis can end your speculation. To get the full picture, you may want to sample and analyze your plant tissue and growing media at the same time. As with water and media tests, a thorough lab tissue analysis can help you accurately identify the problem—and choose the best WSF in response.

Understanding fertilizer content and properties

Establishing your water and growing media quality helps narrow down your fertilizer options. But before you buy, it’s important to research the product to understand what’s in a product and how it meshes with what you do.

Whatever your path, don’t overlook the obvious. Pay close attention to the nutrients listed in your fertilizer’s guaranteed analysis. Don’t assume, for example, that a 20-20-20 or 20-10-20 WSF formulation contains adequate calcium and magnesium. In most cases, you’ll want to supplement those products. Unless your setup allows zone-specific feeding programs, or your operation focuses on a single crop, you may want to take the practical approach. Develop a fertilizer program that satisfies most of your crops, then supplement those that need special treatments.

The short list for your biggest challenges.

You take pride in every blade of grass from the first tee through the last green. You raise the plants and flowers that in turn bring beauty and value to homes and businesses. Your work is what keeps you in demand. Corteva Agriscience is committed to finding solutions to make your turf and ornamentals beautiful. We deliver products that give you the flexibility and strength you need to help you thrive season after season. Every product and solution starts with you. Because it's all of you who make us who we are.

To learn more about our products, including new herbicides and insecticides, visit corteva.us/turf.

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