Plant Nutrition Experts Offer Plant Health Tips

Proper nutrition equates to healthier plants. This means the fertilizers growers apply can make all the difference when it comes to producing a high-yielding, disease-free crop. We talked with Larry Parker of Westbridge Agricultural Products and Michael Carpenter of CSI-Nutri-Cal about effective application methods, the future of plant nutrition, and more. Here’s what they had to say:

Q: What are the key attributes you look for when developing fertilizers for fruits and vegetables? How do those attributes relate to grower needs?

Parker: Westbridge develops cost-effective, liquid fertilizers that are rapidly absorbed, allowing nutrients to quickly translocate within the plant resulting in increased yields with better quality.

Carpenter: Understanding how nutrients are taken up, timing of application for optimal uptake, how nutrients are transported through the plant, and where they go once in the plant are the key issues in developing a nutritional product. Foremost in our decision-making process is identifying the growers’ needs and how we can help them through nutrition, specifically calcium, achieve their fruit quality goals.

Q: What are growers saying is most important in plant nutrition?

Carpenter: With the cost of broadcast fertilizers rising, I believe more growers are interested in nutritional products that can be applied foliar or in drip systems at lower rates with lower cost and higher efficiency.

Parker: Existing and proposed regulations in California are requiring growers to use sustainable practices. Farmers will need to use fertilizers and pesticides more efficiently, leading to a reduction in ground and surface water contamination. Recently, there has been increased interest in calcium and its importance in plant nutrition.

Q: What type of application method(s) do you recommend for your product(s)?

Parker: Westbridge recommends applying nutritionals at key physiological stages when the plant can maximize the benefit of the fertilizer. Our fertilizers are designed so that they can be applied as either a foliar spray or through the soil. They can also be applied through aerial application, with standard spray equipment, with electrostatic sprayers, or chemigated through sprinklers, drip irrigation, or flood irrigation, or knifed into the soil as a side-dress or starter fertilizer.

Carpenter: Nutri-Cal and Nutri-K are pure solutions, non-corrosive and non-phytotoxic so they can be applied through all types of sprayers, overhead sprinkler systems, and drip systems. Specific recommendations are considered for each crop, the equipment the grower has to work with, and the most efficient application method for best performance.

Q: What types of products do you have coming down the pike?

Carpenter: We just came out a few years ago with a new potassium product, Nutri-K, an organic complex liquid potassium carbonate solution formulated with our organic acid T.O.G. for foliar application on fruits and vegetables.

Q: Where do you see the future of the plant nutrition category headed?

Parker: Farmers are “doing more with less” by focusing on sustainable farming. There is a great deal of work to be done in maximizing fertilizer efficiency. We need to develop a better understanding of the effect of fertilizer application timings and the method of application on nutrient availability and plant uptake.

Another area of importance is the relationship between plant nutrients and plant disease. Micronutrients, especially zinc, manganese, copper, and boron, play an important role in reducing plant disease severity, which can lead to less pesticide use. These nutrients are involved in both systemic acquired resistance and induced systemic resistance. Another area of research should be to look at nutrient ratios and plant disease.

Carpenter: I believe the future is very strong and challenging. Consumers want good-tasting, nutritional, high-quality fruit. How do we get it to them? Growers will have to meet that demand by building that quality and shelflife into their product.