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This is a cotton field that’s recently been fertilized, moments before a rain storm starts. You may not know it yet, but when those clouds start pouring down water, more than 50% of the fertilizer on the field will be washed off and lost. Unfortunately, this is just one example of what can go wrong when you apply fertilizers in the wrong place
I’ve been working with Indian farmers for years now, and I run my own farm in Maharashtra. In my experience, most farmers here in India spend a lot of time thinking about which fertilizers to apply and how much, but they spend very little time thinking about the right place for their fertilizer, often with horrible consequences.
So, in today’s video, we’re going to talk about fertilizer placement. I can’t guarantee that you’re going to be an expert, but if you stick around till the end, I can promise that you won’t make the most common fertilizer placement mistakes ever again.
Why Nutrient Placement Matters: Would you try eating nutrients with your chest?
The first thing you need to remember about fertilizer placement is perhaps the most important. It’s the simple fact that plants absorb 90% of their nutrients through the roots, and only 10% via other methods.
Why is this so important? Well it’s important, because it means that if you don’t put your nutrients in a place from which they can reach the roots, then you’re wasting your fertilizers. It’s a bit like expecting me to drink this glass of water by pouring it on my chest! It doesn’t work!!! Fertilizer placement is basically just the art of getting your fertilizers to the roots of your plants.
Late season nitrogen application
So let’s look at a practical application of what we just learned. Here are two cartoon fields viewed from the top, with rows of crops running from top to the bottom at a similar spacing. The fields are managed by different farmers. “Left farmer” decides to apply their fertilizer in a band close to the row, while “right farmer” applies their fertilizer evenly across the top of the soil. Which farmer is better? It’s “left farmer”. Why? Because they placed their fertilizer next to their plants where the roots are. Right farmer on the other hand wasted fertilizer by putting it into the gaps between rows, where there are much fewer roots.
So here’s my first practical tip:
If you are applying fertilizer to your field, always put it close to your plants, not into the gap between rows.
🌧️ Don’t Let Rain STEAL Your Fertilizer! Learn How to Protect Your Farm!🔥
Now that we understand how important roots are, the next fact we need to remember is the following: Plant nutrients like to travel. All of them mix with water, so when it rains, nutrients go where the water is going. For example: if you spread your fertilizer on the top of the soil and a heavy monsoon rain comes on the same day, more than 50% of your fertilizer may run away as outlined in our intro.
But there’s a simple solution: put your nutrients into the soil, not on the soil. Once in the soil, nutrients move much slower than on the surface, and they can’t be swept away by a storm.
Here’s my second practical tip:
There are two ways to mix fertilizer into your soil. Either mix them in during plowing, or apply them in the furrow while planting. I personally prefer the second option because it helps you get more nutrients closer to the roots.
🏃 🆚 🐌 Slow Vs Fast Nutrients. Avoid The Most Common Fertilizer Mistake!!!!!!!
Now, once your crop has been planted, you unfortunately cannot mix nutrients into the soil anymore. Fortunately we know that nutrients like to travel, so we can always apply them to the top of the soil right? WRONG. Nutrients do like to travel, but they all have different travel speeds.
Some nutrients, like nitrogen, can move through soil quickly. This means if you apply them to the top of the soil, they will move through the soil to the roots of your plants within a week or two. Other nutrients, like phosphorus, move through soil super slowly. If you apply these nutrients to the top of the soil, they will take months, if not years, to reach the roots of your plants, which is more or less the same as being wasted.
So here’s my final practical tip of the day:
Take a screenshot of this table of nutrient speeds. You can spread fast or medium speed nutrients on top of the soil if necessary, but you should never do the same for slow fertilizers.
Today's Merry Tips
Please remember that:
Plants absorb 90% of their nutrients through their roots
Mixing fertilizers into the soil keeps them safe and puts them closer to the roots
Nutrient travel speed determines which fertilizers you can apply to the top of the soil
Did you enjoy this post? If you did, then I’m happy to tell you that there will be another post next week to talk about nitrogen next week. Please subscribe to get an update as soon as a new post comes out!
Merry Farming!
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