- Author: Ben Faber
Especially when there are no winter rains to leach accumulated salts from the root zone of trees, there is major concern about increasing the levels of salts going into the root zone. Chlorides, boron, sodium and total salts all should be minimized as much as possible in order to optimize tree production and health. Evaluating the fertilizer and irrigation management programs is important and in doing so, finding out how much is being put into the orchard.
A wonderful way to evaluate what is being applied through the irrigation system is to go online to AvocadoSource (avocadosource.com) and go to the ‘Tools' section and click on the ‘Irrigation Water Mineral Content Calculator'. Once there click on ‘Retrieve District Water Analysis Data' and there are several water qualities that can be downloaded onto the calculator.
I chose one of the Metropolitan Water District sources – Castaic Lake – which is representative of water delivered to the south from northern California. It shows a chloride level of 81 mg/L (81 ppm) which translates to 220 pounds of chloride for every acre-foot of water. Which means about 440 pounds of chloride per acre (about 2 ac-ft/ac) to grow avocado and citrus in Fillmore. And the same water coming out of Lake Skinner further south but nearly the same quality as Castaic, would be 880 pounds of chloride per acre in Fallbrook (4 ac-ft/ac).
So the question comes up about the use of potassium fertilizers. Citrus and avocado haul off about twice the potassium in their fruit as nitrogen. A typical harvest for either crop is about 50 pounds of K per acre – more fruit, more K. So to apply potassium, a grower can use several different materials – KMag, potassium thiosulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride. A 100 pounds of either potassium sulfate or chloride put on about the same amount of potassium, 50 pounds. With the potassium chloride or course, there is 50 pounds of chloride.
The cheapest source of K is potassium chloride, but growers are concerned about the added chloride. The material is highly soluble and is easily injectable. It also is rapidly moved through the soil, so when it is injected through the irrigation in small amounts, the chloride tends not to accumulate in the root zone. So looking at the total amount of chloride that is applied in our normal irrigation waters, the chloride in the fertilizer doesn't represent a large proportion of the total chloride the tree sees. It could be considered in a fertilizer program, or at least a supplement to other sources of potassium.
Potassium is relatively immobile in soil, more so with more clay. Chloride on the other hand is quite mobile. It goes wherever the water goes. Applying it any time of the year basically results in its staying there until it is taken up or the soil is washed away. So applying potassium chloride in a wetter time of year, could be a cheap way to get potassium on with the least effect of chloride. Or potassium chloride could be applied in rotation with more expensive forms of potassium, such as potassium thiosulfate (KTS).
By the way, that Castaic water would contain 87 ppm sulfate and 74 ppm sodium which would mean over 200 pounds per ac-ft in the water and 110 ppm bicarbonates. The pH would be around 7.8. And this is good water by southern California standards. Many of the well water in southern California have much lower qualities than these waters from norther California and we get good yields from them. We have learned to use some pretty awful waters to grow crops here.
- Author: Ben Faber
It is more than just the confusion about the effects of phosphonates, but also how to spell the words associated with the P atom. Phosphorus with an ending in “us” is the element we know as P, while Phosphorous with a “ous” ending is the adjective of P. So an acid containing Phosphorous acid is written H3PO3 while phosphoric acid is H3PO4. These are both strong acids and can hurt and cause damage if splashed on the skin. When either is reacted with calcium or potassium hydroxide, a salt is formed which is less dangerous to users, but as with any chemical can be misused.
The salt formed from Phosphorous acid is called calcium phosphite or calcium phosphonate depending on what naming system is used to describe it. Whereas when these bases are reacted with phosphoric acid, the result is calcium or potassium phosphate. These salts are relatively benign in contact with skin. Labels on containers often call phosphorous acid, “soil applied” whereas the phosphite forms are called “leaf applied”. The “soil applied” when applied to a leaf can cause damage, whereas, the leaf applied is much less likely to cause damage to both plant and applicator. It can be applied to the soil, as well. It's much safer to use the leaf applied in either application technique.
The phosphites are often registered as fertilizers, but they have little nutrient effect. Most of their effect is to boost the plant's immunity to Phytophthoras and pythiums. This is called fungistasis and the material is called a fungistat. They don't act as a fungicide when normally applied to kill these organisms.
So you can see there is a lot of confusion in the phosphorous world. Knowing the proper spelling, pronunciation and use is note only good grammar, it makes good farming.
To read more, see:
http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/centers/turf/extension/factsheets/phosphonate-products
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs254
http://grammarist.com/spelling/phosphorous-phosphorus/
There are few documented cases of phosphorus (P) deficiency in tree crops in California.
- Author: Ben Faber
Most growers know the N-P-K numbers on fertilizer, but that doesn't tell you what else might be in the material, either as a contaminant or something purposely added to the material. CA Department of Food and Agriculture has a website that according to manufacturer and material there is a full listing of what is in the product. The website is: http://apps4.cdfa.ca.gov/fertilizerproducts/
What's startling is the shear number of producers on the market
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- Author: Ben Faber
- Author: Jim Downer
Jim Downer is the Environmental Horticulture Advisor in Ventura County Cooperative Extension
As growers of thousands of ornamentals we understand that minerals absorbed mostly by roots as ions are essential for plant growth and development. Some required in parts per hundred are macro-nutrients while others only required in ppm or ppb are considered micronutrients. As long as enough of the 18 essential minerals are available, plants grow and reproduce in a healthful way. When not enough of one of the essential elements is supplied, a deficiency occurs and plants present symptoms. Mineral nutrient symptoms are considered abiotic disorders. There are however cases where excess or deficiency of elements can be predisposing to disease caused by pathogens. While examples of this are not abundant, some mineral elements do have a role in the development of disease caused by some pathogens.
Soil-borne pathogens are affected by minerals dissolved in soil solution. Minerals can act in specific ways (specific ion effects) or total ion effects (osmotic strength/concentration) having direct effect on pathogenic propagules or on the host itself. If we utilize the plant disease tetrahedron and think of all the implications ions could have in a biological disease relationship there are several possibilities:
-Specific ions harm the pathogen
-Specific ions harm the host
-Ionic strength changes the root environment making the host weak and susceptible
-Ions change the pH of the soil solution making it more/less fit for a pathogen or the host
-Ions change the soil physical environment making plants conducive to disease
While it is often espoused that the well “fed” or fertilized plant it is resistant to disease it is rarely borne out in any research. Keeping a good nutritional level in nursery stock will not necessarily protect plants from many of the virulent pathogens that are capable of causing disease. Nitrogen fertilization can produce succulent growth that will lead to exacerbation of such diseases as powdery mildew (Powel and Lindquist, 1997). Too many mineral nutrients may only result in luxury consumption by the fertilized plant or may cause other problems. It has long been known that seedling disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani increases with increased salinity in media (Baker, 1957) and later discovered by Jim Macdonald and others (1984), that salinity increases susceptibility of ornamental plants to Phytophthora.
Two basic plant resistance mechanisms that mineral nutrition can affect in plants are: 1.) formation of mechanical barriers (cell wall strengthening) and 2.) synthesis of defense compounds that protect against pathogens (Spann and Schumann, 2010). The role of specific elements and their compounds is much more complicated. Certainly deficiencies of molecules such as Calcium and Potassium can interrupt either of these defense mechanisms.
Root rot is a disease of thousands of ornamental plants and a serious problem in most nurseries. Root rots caused by Phytophthora spp. occur in a range of nutritional environments and pH’s. While some studies have implicated nitrogen compounds in the control of Phytophthora these probably involve the release of ammonia which is also toxic to plant roots (Zentmeyer, 1963). Lee and Zentmeyer (1982) later showed that both ammonium and nitrate reduced disease caused by P. cinnamomi , and that low levels of nitrate stimulated production of sporgangia. Most studies have found no relationship of nitrogen source to root rot disease development. Zentmeyer’s early work also suggested a role for calcium in disease reduction caused by Phytophthora root rots. Calcium increases disease resistance to root rot in Avocado (Duvenhage and Kotze, 1991). While it is understood that calcium has direct effects on plant membranes, root cell membrane leakage, cell wall thickness and many other host factors, Messenger (2000), later showed that the calcium ion also has direct effects on Phytophthora, reducing its sporangia size and zoospore mobility. Soils and media low in soluble calcium or where calcium is easily precipitated out of solution, or where pH is high and limestone minerals decrease the availability of calcium, are conducive to Phytophthora root rots.
Wilt diseases have also been studied in relation to disease occurrence. Keim and Humphry (1984) showed that nitrogen source reduced the incidence of wilt cause by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. hebe in Veronica. In their system ammonium sulfate promoted disease and calcium nitrate prevented fusarium infections. In later work on the Fusarium oxysporum wilt disease of Canary Island date palm, Downer and others (2012) found no effect of fertilizer source on disease development (2013 ). Every disease system must be considered independently to determine if nutrient relationships are part of that system.
While it is easy to see a role for essential elements in plant defense, non-essential elements may also play a role in some systems. Silicon increases resistance of plants to powdery mildew (Kauss and others, 2003) and root roots (Cherife et al., 1994) and to stress in general (Ma, 2011). Silicon is implicated not only in strengthening cell walls but in defense protein production in plants (Faufeux et al., 2006). Not all plants are capable of utilizing silicon, so its role in plant defense is limited to those species capable of metabolizing it. Much more study is necessary to understand silicon’s role with ornamental plant –pathogen systems.
Nutrient exchange in container media is complicated-- it is mediated by the substrate, water chemistry, temperature and the applied ion sources as well as by plants growing in the media. Growers are well served to apply fertilizers that can supply a constant nutrient charge. Supply of extra soluble calcium, may be helpful in managing root rots. Avoidance of salt built up or high salinity situations that can occur when plant dry out will also help keep plants from
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Downer, A.J., D.R. Hodel, D.M. Matthews, and D.R. Pittenger. 2013. Effect of fertilizer nitrogen source on susceptibility of five species of field grown palms to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. canariensis. Palms 57: 89-92
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Early onset root rot in color or bedding plants.
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