The fertilization of plants is always somewhat complex if it has never been done.There are many formulations and each crop requires a specific fertilizer or fertilizers if things are to be done well.In addition, in each phenological stage of the crop, the nutrient contributions will be different.Is there a best fertilizer for everything?The truth is that no.The specificity of each crop, substrate and situation, requires different types of fertilizers that we will see later, but it is true that there are very specific ones in their formulations for different crops and uses.But first, let's lay some groundwork on plant nutrition in broad strokes in case you're new to feeding flora.There are 3 and you will know them very well if you have already walked through this blog more times.The famous NPK.Nitrate, phosphorus and potassium.And don't you wonder why carbon is not included?After all, living beings on this planet are based on carbon chemistry.They obtain it mainly from the CO2 that they metabolize with photosynthesis.This carbon is the building block of glucose and many other molecules that plants metabolize.The 3 NPK macronutrients are not found in the air in sufficient quantities for a plant to supply itself.It is true that the air has nitrogen in approximately 79% but it is considered inert because it is nitrogen gas N2.This molecule contains a triple bond that makes it extremely stable and it is difficult for it to react directly with the plant.There are some plants that can feed on atmospheric N2, with few exceptions.The most common is that atmospheric nitrogen undergoes a cycle, in which it is fixed to the soil, converting in the medium and long term into mineral nitrogen, the way that plants have to absorb it for their metabolic processes.These three macronutrients can come from different origins, organic or mineral that we will see later.Now we are going to focus on what is the function of each of them.It has many functions but the most notable are:Nitrogen: Very important in the early stages of cultivation and in the growth of the vegetative part of the plant.Nitrogen is often said to be important for the "green parts" of the plant.Phosphorus: Important for the implantation of the crop in its vegetative phase (stimulates root development).In addition, we must have a good phosphorus content to ensure good flowering and fruit set.Potassium: Important in the formation of fruits and maturation.It is a very important element in fruit trees, for example, to obtain large and quality fruits.The proportions of each one of them in a formulation depends on the crop, the moment in which the crop itself is found (early phases, flowering, fruit set...) and the nutritional quality of the soil that we have to supply.Some examples of common formulations are:There are many, many more.Practically 99% of the minerals that the plant needs are these three.And although micronutrients in quantity are nothing compared to NPK, their importance in small doses is vital for many plant metabolic functions.They are mainly iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron and molybdenum.The deficit of any of these nutrients also causes serious damage to the growth of plants that are often confused with diseases caused by viruses, fungal bacteria or nematodes.Iron chlorosis is a typical example of iron deficiency.Subscriber plans must also include certain very controlled doses of these micronutrients in their formulas.Normally, a good organic fertilization in the form of humus, compost, matured manure, green manures, etc.It usually supplies these essential micronutrients and others that we have not mentioned.It has already been shown that an excess of fertilization is very detrimental to the environment.A poorly executed fertilization due to excess can affect the plant negatively, it can alter the balance of the soil, both at a physicochemical and biological level.It can also contaminate aquifers, making the water totally unusable for human consumption.For this reason, doses are being optimized to the maximum and better and better fertilizers are made, each time more specific and technical.Those crops with high investments such as greenhouses with or without soil (hydroponics), the dosage of macro and micronutrients is of amazing precision.The return on investment is also something that determines the choice of fertilizers and we can afford that level of technology.Greenhouse crops for example (tomato, pepper, strawberry...) are typically technified crops.And if we go to hydroponics where liquid fertilization makes its presence known, then the levels of modernization in fertilization skyrocket.Simple fertilizers: Those that provide a single nutrient to the plant.They are less and less used, in favor of complex fertilizers.In any case, for specific corrections or very special needs they are still used.Compound fertilizers: It has two or three of the essential macronutrients.They are called binary (2 of the 3 nutrients) or ternary (all 3 nutrients) depending on their formulation.They can be complex (NPK chemically reacted in the same granule) or mixtures (granules of each nutrient separately and mixed).Solids: They usually come in granular form.They are very common in large-scale monocultures (rainfed and irrigated) such as cereals, legumes, etc.From the fertilizer industry.They are synthesized in a way that ensures that each granule has the same composition and balance of each nutrient.This type are the majority in conventional agriculture.Liquids: They are the best fertilizers in high-tech crops where the subscriber goes together with the irrigation water.In high-yield crops such as marijuana, these types of very specific products are usually given.And they are also completely organic fertilizers with their specific proportion of NPK and variable and balanced contents of the previously called micronutrients.Products such as Biological Activated Cocktail BAC Fertilizers or Advanced Nutrients Fertilizers are an example of the wide variety of formulas, mixtures and forms of application.Another common classification occurs in the application mode, although this classification is more open.Background fertilizers: These are those that are applied to the soil before the implantation of the crop or at the time of sowing and are usually controlled release.Top dressing fertilizers: Fertilizer that is applied during a specific phase of the crop to nutritionally support a crucial phenological state for the crop, such as flowering or fruit set.Foliar application fertilizers: Those that are applied sprayed on the leaves as support fertilizationFertilizers for fertigation: They are those that are mixed with the irrigation water.Used in technified irrigated crops where the irrigation dose is controlled to the millimeter (greenhouses, hydroponics).None of these classifications are exclusive.In other words, the more information we have or can give about a fertilizer, the more certain we will be about how to use it.An example may be a liquid ternary compound fertilizer for foliar application 10-20-10.With this we are giving a lot of what that fertilizer is like.A lemon tree should be pruned once a year to improve branch set, fruit set, improve air circulation and light entry.Sowing in the air allows a higher production and less consumption of water and fertilizers Potatoes no longer need land to grow Sowing in the air: The land is no longer necessary for growing potatoes.At least for growing seed potatoes.Newco – Company for the Transfer of […]Vertical farms are also not weather dependent, so fresh produce can be grown year-round.You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/