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Soil Fertility

Soil Fertility. Inorganic fertilizers Most developed in the 1940’s Ammonium nitrate Superphosphate Muriate of potash These are often pure (do not contain micronutrients) These are often concentrated (therefore they are cheaper to transport and apply). Soil Fertility.

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Soil Fertility

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  1. Soil Fertility • Inorganic fertilizers • Most developed in the 1940’s • Ammonium nitrate • Superphosphate • Muriate of potash • These are often pure (do not contain micronutrients) • These are often concentrated (therefore they are cheaper to transport and apply)

  2. Soil Fertility • Nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient in soils • Nitrogen applied in excess causes reduced flowering and fruiting and greater vegetative (leafy) growth

  3. Soil Fertility • Fertilizer analysis • Percentage (by weight) of the available Nitrogen (as N), Phosphorus (as P2O5) and Potassium (as K2O) Ex: 5:10:5 5% N 10% P 5% K 80% in the bag is inert material!

  4. Soil Fertility • High analysis = N+P+K percentage > 30% • Ex: 30 lbs. of N,P,K in a 100 lb. bag of fertilizer • Less costly (don’t pay for a lot of “filler”, but tricky to apply) • Low analysis = N+P+K percentage < 30% • more costly due to weight in transport but easier to apply

  5. Soil Fertility • Fertilizer ratio • The proportion of the three major elements Ex: 5:10:5 = 1:2:1 ratio

  6. Soil Fertility • N-recommendations: (in lbs./acre) • If the soil test indicates that you need to apply 100 lbs. of N per acre, how many pounds of a 20:10:10 fertilizer would you need? 20% • X = 100 lbs. 0.20 • X = 100 lbs. X = 100 lbs./0.20 X= 500 lbs.

  7. Soil Fertility • Now… you probably don’t have a garden that is an acre in size. • Ex: If your garden is 20’ x 20’ = 400 ft2 1 acre = 43,560 ft2 Your garden plot 20’ 208.5’ 20’ 208.5’

  8. Soil Fertility 500 lbs X lbs. 43,560ft2 400 ft2 43,560 • X = 200,000 200,000 43,560 X = 4.59 lbs. of fertilizer per 400 sq. feet X =

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