What is a fertilizer?

When put in the simplest terms, a fertiliser is a plant’s food containing 16 essential nutrients that plants need to grow. There are two types of fertilizer, organic or non-organic. Whilst an organic fertiliser can only contain plant or animal matter, excreta or compost/plant residue from natural processes, a non-organic fertiliser is manufactured to meet the nutrient needs of the plant.

What is a liquid fertilizer?

A liquid fertilizer is produced when you take a range of essential crop elements and put them into an available solution which is easily applied and readily available to the plant. Stoller’s liquid fertilizers can be applied in the following ways:

• Seed Treatment, a method of applying a liquid fertilizer directly on to the seed.
• In Furrow, a method of applying liquid fertilizer straight onto the seed during planting using a liquid injection system.
• Foliar application, the process of spraying liquid fertiliser straight onto the leaves or woody tissue of the crop. Plants have the ability to absorb essential elements directly through their leaves and woody tissues (tree crops).
• Fertigation, the process of applying fertilizer through the crop’s irrigation water and the drip or sprinkler system.

 It must be understood that a nutrient cannot efficiently function within a plant if other nutrients are deficient. In order for a plant to be at its optimum potential for producing high yields, all nutrients within the plant have to be balanced.

What are the Essential Elements?

There are 16 essential elements needed to complete a total nutrient program to produce any crop. Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and some Nitrogen come from the atmosphere. Nitrogen Phosphorous and Potassium are considered primary nutrients. Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur can come from fertilizer and are regarded as secondary nutrients.  Zinc, Boron, Manganese, Copper, Iron, Molybdenum, Cobalt and Chloride are trace elements (micronutrients). Although these are only needed in small amounts, they are essential to crop growth and being low in one of them can cause productivity issues for the whole crop.

To become available to a plant, a trace element must be present in high enough levels in the soil and available for the plant to access. In some cases, trace element levels can be high in soil but not in the plant and deficiency symptoms will appear. This is because trace elements react with other elements in the soil and therefore locking each other out. Elements can react in spray tank and therefore become insoluble and unavailable for the plant to access them.

What is a Chelate?

Chelate comes from the Greek word ‘claw’. Chelating agents hold onto elements like a claw and prevent them from binding to other elements. The end result is called a chelate. Stoller’s range of chelated nutrients have a high efficiency because the nutrients are in a fertilizer form which is readily available and easily absorbed by the plant, leading to a much greater fertilizer efficiency.

Read more about chelates

In-Furrow fertilizers

How to get your crop off to a good start

It is important to have a balanced nutrition program throughout a crop’s growing cycle, but a key growth stage where good nutrition is essential is at planting. Fertilizer efficiency has a big effect on your bottom line and you need to know that your fertilizer is cost-effective, proven and versatile. Stoller has a range of fertilizer products available including Stoller’s ClearStart 22KZ which is perfect for in-furrow application.

Stoller’s ClearStart 15KZ+N contains slow release nitrogen essential to the process of photosynthesis. It also includes high levels of phosphorus in the phosphate form, a critical nutrient to establishing root growth in early crops. The additional potassium will help to promote carbohydrates, zinc will encourage root growth, molybdenum will help with nitrogen conversion and cobalt will aid stress relief and nodulation.

The table below outlines the difference between Stoller’s ClearStart range compared to traditional granular fertilizers and liquid phosphorus products. Stoller’s ClearStart products are liquids manufactured with unique Stoller acid technology. The outstanding fertilizer efficiency of Stoller’s ClearStart range means application rates are lower than other phosphorus-based fertilizers.

Unlocking the genetic potential of your crop

At Stoller we believe that from the moment a crop is planted it has an enormous genetic potential and it is our passion and aim to unlock and express their natural capabilities. There are however environmental factors which are out of our control and this means that with every day the crops chance of reaching its genetic potential is lessened. As well as the balancing, the nutrients and hormones within the plant it is also important to help the plant overcome stress. Stress – like frost, heat, hail, wind or herbicide damage – can impact on crop quality and yield. The more stress that a plant experiences, the less chance it has of reaching its full potential.

Stoller’s programs are designed to help plants function at their best, even when they encounter stress events, and to help them recover faster. Our specialized fertilizer products and programs are designed to enhance plant performance at every stage of growth, from helping plants establish and build strong root systems to resisting and recovering from stress and fruiting consistently.

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