Feed the Plant
Nutrient uptake by plants.
Plants need 17 elements for
normal growth. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen come
from the air and water. Soil is the principle
source of other nutrients.
Primary nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus,
and potassium) are used in relatively large
amounts by plants, and often are supplemented as
fertilizers.
Secondary nutrients
(calcium,
magnesium, and sulfur) are also used in large
amounts but are typically readily available and
in adequate supply.
Micronutrients or trace elements are
needed only in small amounts. These include
iron, zinc, molybdenum, manganese, boron,
copper, cobalt, and chlorine.
Essential Plant Nutrients
Roots take up nutrients primarily as ions
dissolved in the soil’s water. The ions may be
positively charged (cations) or
negatively charged (anions). The
nutrient ion soup in the soil’s water is in a
constant state of flux as the variety of ions
dissolve in and precipitate out of solution.
Humus, clay particles and organic matter
in the soil are negatively charged, attracting
the positively charged cations (like ammonium,
NH4+, and potassium, K+) and making the cations
resistant to leaching. Negatively charged anions
(like nitrate, N03-) are prone to leaching and
can become a water pollution problem. Both
ammonium and nitrate are important plant
nitrogen sources and are commonly found in salt
forms in fertilizers.
The Cation Exchange Capacity, CEC,is
a measurement of the soil’s capacity to hold
cation nutrients. More precisely, it is a
measurement of the capacity of the negatively
charged clay and organic matter to attract and
hold positively charged cations. CEC is useful
in comparing the potential for different soils
to hold and supply nutrients for plant growth.
Foliar absorption of mineral nutrients by above
ground plant parts including leaves stems and
flowers have been reported for over 200 years.
Interest however has been mainly since the
1950's. this interest has grown over the years
because of the increased costs of fertilizers,
environmental concerns about leaching and
runoff, a better understanding of how to
facilitate the absorption process and a better
understanding of plant growth. Minor element
deficiencies in fruit have been corrected by
foliar applications for 80 to 90 years. More
recently over the last 40 years or so, foliar
absorption of the macronutrients has also been
studied extensively. It is now known that not
only nutrients can be absorbed but also
pesticides, growth regulators, organic acids and
many carbohydrates.
Among the advantages to foliar absorbed
nutrients include the fact that they can be
rapid and effective, with quick plant response.
Because they are so effective they require less
fertilizer input by avoiding soil fixation,
leaching and runoff. They are applied to the
leaf blade and allowed to remain there until
fully absorbed. You do not water in. Today we
have the knowledge of how plants grow in order
to make the most effective use of this
technique. Other advantages revolve around the
fact that they are effective when the turf has a
restricted root system from such things as being
closely mowed, periods of environmental stress,
seasonal root loss, periods of low
photosynthetic output and correspondingly low
carbohydrate reserve.
Some nutrients become fixed in the soil and
results in low efficiency as a root absorbed
nutrients. Foliar applications of nutrients as a
supplementary fertilizer are highly effective.
Factors
affecting foliar absorption.
Several factors will affect foliar absorption
include relative humidity, temperature, pH of
the nutrient solution, variety of the turf, age
of the leaf, concentration of the nutrient
solution, difference in the nutrient
compounds(formulations) use of surfactants and
the addition of non-nutrient facilitating or
carrier-mediated agents.
Humidity and temperature have a direct
relationship with absorption of nutrients and as
they increase, penetration also increases. The
total amount of time the nutrient is in contact
with the leaf is critical. Optimum pH is a
factor that varies from nutrient to nutrient and
most good formulators recognize the need to have
optimum pH for the nutrient used.
Many chemical compounds are ineffective as
foliar nutrients. For example Shafer and Reed
studied a total of 31 organic and inorganic
potassium compounds for their efficacy as a
foliar fertilizer. Their results showed a broad
spectrum in foliar absorption of potassium from
both organic and inorganic carriers. Studies
from other researchers on many other nutrient
compounds show similar results.
Modern Foliars
The effectiveness of modern foliar fertilizers
varies significantly and is directly
proportional to the quality of the product.
Using both organic and inorganic facilitating
agents to transport the cations into and
throughout the plants has become a very exact
science. Harvest Grow uses only the finest
colloids in the form of Humates and Kelp
nutrients to achieve the best results. The process of building excellent
foliar fertilizers is an exacting and complex
one.
Many
humic
and organic materials have the capacity to bind
substantial amounts of metals and other cations,
and they can therefore exert considerable
control over the supply and availability of
nutrient elements to plants and in water.
When the metal ion combines with an electron
donor, the resulting substance is said to be a
complex or coordination compound. If the donor
atoms are attached not only to the metal ion but
also to each other as well forming a ring, it
creates a chelate.
There are good complexes and bad complexes and
there are good and bad chelates. Some of the
good organic agents used in these products are: humic
acids from many sources, fulvic acids, ligno
sulfates, amino acids, sugars and carbohydrates
and
hydrolyzed protein mixes. Harvest Grow
nutrients
are biodegradable and available to the plant
and the soil micro community as a significant energy
source.
Synthetic chelates are used extensively in many
agriculture and turf products. Some researchers
have reported that they may remain as a residue
in the plant tissue or in the soil tying up
other nutrients and they provide no additional
energy source. Harvest Grow uses organic
chelates keeping them available and
biodegradable.
Mobility
Absorption is only one aspect of a foliar
fertilizer. In addition, the absorbed nutrient
generally must be trans located throughout the
plant. While absorption is a key process in
selecting a foliar applied nutrient, the extent
of redistribution or mobility of each nutrient
in the plant is an important consideration also.
Buyer Beware
There is little regulation over the complexing
and chelate foliar industry:
The best chelating agents are those that are
natural components found in the metabolism of
the plant and they should compose a high
concentration within the formulation.
In his thesis for his PH. D. degree from
Michigan State University in 1956 H.B. Tukey Jr.
researched Nutritional Foliar Sprays. He made
this observation:
"Foliar fertilizers produce quick, visible
results and can increase the effectiveness of
fertilizer applications to the soil, reducing
total amounts of fertilizer applied."
He showed that it works like this:
In photosynthesis; sunlight, carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere, water and nutrients, along with
chlorophyll in the leaf, combine to produce
carbohydrates for plant growth and health. The
nutrients in the soil are soluble in the ground
water and enter the plant with the water through
the membrane of the roots and are carried up the
xylem tissue and distributed throughout the leaf
where the carbohydrates are produced. The
carbohydrates are then distributed throughout
the plant and carried by the phloem to the root
for storage.
When we apply foliar fertilizer
containing the
proper nutrients for photosynthesis directly to
the leaf, the plant begins to produce more
carbohydrates and in the process requires more
water. The stomata on the leaf open allowing
water vapor to escape, which reduces the water
pressure in the xylem tissue allowing more water
to flow up the vascular bundle. In turn more
water is absorbed into the roots to replace the
water moving up. If good nutrition is available
in the soil surrounding the root, extra
nutrients enter the plan with the water.
If you visualize the plant as a water pump, the
foliar fertilizer acts as a primer, priming the
pump and bringing more nutrition into the plant.
It is important to remember that the foliar
fertilizer actually increases the total uptake
of nutrients by several folds over the small
amount of foliar fertilizer applied.
Harvest Grow products effectively enhance
nutrient uptake by the plant, .
Harvest Grow uses natural chelates to enhance nutrient uptake and nutritional value capability of the plant.
Plant nutrient diagram
