What is Balanced Nutrition for Plants?
With the dawn of chemical fertilization, the focus of emphasis has been on the elements nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The agricultural establishment put forth the idea that said application of these three elements held the key to profitable production for agricultural producers. The arithmetic was very simple: Just add the weight to the system that was removed by the growing crop. This became a unit in and unit out approach.
In recent years, and especially after the stress full year of 2012, more discussion has centered around the microbiological population of the soil. Phrases such as "soil health," "cover cropping," and "rhizosphere" have become part of the mainstream discussion within the agricultural establishment. With this increased importance of soil microbiology, the recognition of various trace elements and their need by soil microbiology has brought new discussions about what elements are necessary to create profitable success. Animal agriculture has always recognized the importance of the immune (microbiological) system trace minerals such as zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn), and now plant scientists are giving various trace elements more consideration when it comes to the productive health of the soil.
Over the past 20 years, seawater-based products have arrived on the scene as a source of trace elements for the microbes in the soil microbiological life. These various products were a form of seawater or version of seawater animals or seawater plants. The concept was kind of a complicated "fish in the hill" idea.
Before the stress year of 2012, this sea life approach was met with great skepticism by the agricultural establishment. The idea of a fertilizer containing a balance load of elements to enhance N, P, and K usage was considered not economically viable. For years, GMS was considered way too costly for the purity and elemental balance to compete against the large number of pounds of just N, P, and K. However, after the stress year of 2019, the mainstream agricultural establishment is showing signs of wavering.
Discussions in the agricultural press and on the agricultural internet concerning prevented planting acres contend that a year of bare soil without a growing crop will result the following year with poor availability of the fertilizer element P. The availability problem is a direct result of poor microbiological life in the soil. One way to overcome this deficiency is to plant a cover crop or place P on the seed at planting time. It appears that Zn is also necessary for the proper microbiological use of P. (This discussion will appear in more detail in a later Solution article.)
Also in 2019, several mainstream agricultural publications have advertisements for seawater plant-based fertilizers that restore soil health, raise nutrient uptake, and reduce the effects of abiotic stress. These references are for products manufactured by Nutrien®, a merger between Agrium and Potash Corp, which is now the largest producer of potash in the world and the second largest producer of nitrogen in the world.
Since 1955, Growers Chemical Corporation has suggested the use of pure and balanced elements, both artificial and natural, would help plants and soil microbiological life work better to create more profitable agricultural production.
Once again, it appears the agricultural establishment is moving more toward the ideas of Dr. V.A. Tiedjens.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2019) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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