Dr Below on Understanding Crop Nutrients

Transcript:

One of the big problems is that not all nutrients are used at the same rate at the same time, so there is no one size that fits all. Understanding and placing them in the proximity of the root system helps make sure that they are absorbed by the plant and that the plant uses them for growth.

There are a lot of plant nutrients, but I talked about my six favorites that I think are necessary to grow high corn yields. I showed both the amount required to produce, and the amount removed with the grain.

Then I talked about my criteria, what makes me excited about a particular nutrient. Either it has a very interesting pattern of uptake (the micronutrient boron fits into that category), or the plant needs a lot of it in a short time (potassium fits that criteria), or, my most important criteria is, that it has a high grain requirement. For growing crops to have a lot of grain, then those nutrients where most of the plant takes up ends up in the grain have to be important. That’s where nitrogen phosphate, sulfur and zinc come in.

Understanding what makes a nutrient important, why it’s important, this gives the grower the chance to manage them accordingly.