What is fertigation?
Fertigation is a time-tested process of “spoon feeding”: Delivering small amounts of fertilizer through an irrigation system each time the system is operated. Fertigation has been used extensively in agriculture for more than 30 years and has gained wide acceptance in the golf course, nursery, turf and athletic industries over the last 10 years.
Fertigation is a landscaping and gardening practice in which water-soluble materials are added to the water used for irrigation. Classically, fertigation supplies nutrients in the form of fertilizers, although it can also be used to deliver soil amendments and a variety of other materials, including agricultural chemicals to cope with crop pests and plant diseases. In commercial agriculture, fertigation is in wide use, and the concept began to spread to residential landscaping and hobby gardening in the early 2000s. A basic fertigation system simply has a tank attached to the water outlet, allowing the user to add chemicals to the tank as needed. Typically, local codes require the installation of a backflow valve, which prevents materials in the tank from traveling up the water line, thereby eliminating the risk of contamination. Permits may also be required for particular agricultural chemicals, especially those which pose a risk to human and animal health if poorly managed. When crop
Fertigation has been described as the application of plant nutrients in irrigation water to accomplish fertilization. Fertigation is becoming widely accepted in the industry due to the fact that a properly designed system will perform accurately, is now economical, easy to install, saves time, labor and most importantly, will save you money. A proper system will eliminate waste, sludge and residues. It allows one to “fine tune” fertility levels, and will monitor the rates of fertilizer being applied. A good system will also address the reduction of fertigation water runoff which will soon be environmentally required. How do you Fertigate? To fertigate, you must use fertilizer. The type of fertilizer you select should be a high quality liquid containing low salts, high purity, complete solubility and an acceptable pH. The analysis of fertilizer, (the N P K ratio) should be directed toward your specific needs, based upon soil, medium and tissue analysis. The nutrient ratios, including se
Fertigation is a broad term for watering plants with a fertilizer solution. It comes from two words: fertilization + irrigation. Minerals are added to water in a very mild solution, and then fed to plants. Similar to hydroponics, but hydroponics uses expensive chemical fertilizers. Fertigation uses minerals derived from locally derived, often free, plant and animal sources. Why use fertigation? It’s easy and simpleIt’s inexpensive or freeIt works with any soil, climate, or plant With fertigation, farmers not need use expensive chemical fertilizers. Often farmers apply too much chemical fertilizer and “burn” the soil; the fertilizer destroys the useful soil bacteria and fungi which convert minerals into plant food. After that, the soil will not grow plants without fertilizer. In a sense the soil and plants become “hooked” on chemicals. So how does fertigation work? Fertigation uses minerals from manure, composts, and rich plant materials which are locally available and generally free. F
The application of nutrients through irrigation systems is called “fertigation,” a contraction of fertilization and irrigation. The most common nutrient applied by fertigation is nitrogen. Elements applied less often include phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, zinc and iron. This technique can reduce fertilizer application costs by eliminating high operational requirement. It may also improve nutrient efficiency by applying them closer to when the plant needs them. Also, it could conceivably reduce leaching or denitrification (gaseous) losses of nitrogen and lower the luxury uptake of nutrients by plants.
