FERTILISERS

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

As a grower what bothered me the most was FEEDING of my plants. What to feed, when to feed and howmuch to feed.
In various forums, I find others are as confused. Here is jist of my experience.

Plant Food
Fertiliser

Basic intake is through ROOTS, it can also absorb some through leaves.
Foliar feeding is resorted to as a booster or when the roots are not performing well.
All plant foods organic or inorganic are taken up by the plant as inorganic chemicals.
The organic fertilisers take longer time to break up in to absorbable form so are longer lasting on the other hand water soluble fertilisers (commonly used for containers) get leeched down in soil to an in-accessible depth. The granular forms are in-between.
The organic fertilisers are also good soil amenders.

The requirement of plant is divided into MACRO and MICRO nutrients.
The elements required in larger quantity are macro nutrients. These are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (commonly referred as N P K).
Micro nutrients are essential but required in very small quantity. These are Sulphur, Magnesium, Iron, Copper, Zinc, Boron, Borax, and Molybdenum etc.
Most soils have adequate micronutrients and some inorganic fertilisers also have them as impurity. The organic fertilisers are the end product of plants so they have all, a plant requires.

REQUIREMENT OF PLANTS
Almost all plants have their own choice of food, qualitatively/quantitatively. You have a choice of formulating your own mixture or buy one of the readymade mixturesat10-100times the cost.


FERTILISERS
Name N% P% K% S%

Urea N46 %
Ca. Ammonium Nitrate N26%
Ammonium Sulphate N21 % S24 %
DAP N18 % P46 %
Nitro Phos N22 % P20 %
Sing Phos P18 %
Trip Phos P46 %
Pot Sulf K50 % S24 %
Pot Nitrate N20 % K46 %
NPK N10-17 % P10-17 % K10-17 %

REQUIREMENT

AMARYLLIS
Seedlings NPK 4-1-4 50 PPM Dilution
Pot. Sul. .75Kg
NP 0.5Kg in 10 L (Stock) 15cc in 10 L
Ca. Amm. Nit. 1Kg

Mature NPK (2-1-3)
Pot. Sulph. 1Kg
NP 1Kg in 20 L 500cc in 10L (can)
C A N 0.5Kg
Mixture 2.5Kg =N P K 14-8-20 %

Roses NPK 4-3-2
Pot Sul 0.4 Kg
N P 1.5 Kg in 20 L 200cc in 10 L / Sq.M= 4.6gm N/ 5 times a year
C A N 0.5Kg

Gerbera NPK 1-2-4
N Ph. 1Kg
S Ph. 1Kg. in 10 L. 100cc stock in 10 L =220 PPM N(pot)
Pot. Sul. 1.5Kg
2gm N/M Sq.
GRAPES
Early spring NPK 10-10-10 200 GM/plant

PAPAYA
Pre-planting NPK 12-15-10 125 GM/M2
Early spring // 10-10-10 annually 100GM N/group

Mulberry early spring High N water well during fruiting


CITRUS NPK 1-1-1
Pot. Sulph. 0.5Kg
Nit. Pho. 1 Kg
PLANTING APPLICATIONS N / YEAR MIXTURE/application
1St year 6 70 – 140 gm 80 – 150 gm
2nd Year 6 140 – 280 160 – 320
3rd Year 6 210 – 420 250 – 500
4th Year 6 375 – 450 400 – 500
5th Year onwards 6 450 – 600 500 – 650
Spread from drip line of foliage to one foot per year of age of plant up to 10 feet
250 GM Mag. Sulphate /plant

Spray 10% zinc sulphate5% hydrated fresh lime
Annuals NPK = 1-2-1
N Ph. 1Kg
S Ph. 1Kg In 20 L. 200cc Stock in 10 L = 220 PPM N (for pots)
Pot. Sul. 0.5Kg


TOMATO
Pre-planting NPK 5-7-4 100gm/m2 PH6.5-7
Pre-fruiting NPK 10-4-6 20-30 GM/plant

SPRAY

Pot Nitrate 2%
Urea 2%
Fe. Sulf 2%
Mag Sulf 0.2%


What I use
Fertilisation
LawnsRatio; 29-6-12 (4-1-2)
Requirement 450 Gm N/1000 sft
60 Gm Fe./1000sft

Mix N P K
Urea 4KG N1850 Gm
DAP 1KG N180 Gm P460 Gm
Pot M 2KG K920 Gm
FE 275 Gm

Mix 7KG N2030 Gm P460 Gm K920 Gm

Application
3/A-G 1000sft 1.5KG of mix
Archies F Lawn 15000 23KG
// Side Lawn 36000 55KG

APPLY TWICE A YEAR. MARCH AND SEPTEMBER
GENERAL PURPOSE FLOWER BEDS & Amaryllis
Mix A
Ratio NPK 18-7.5-15
Requirement 40 Gm N / 100 sft
N P K
Urea 2KG N920 Gm
DAP 1KG N180 Gm P460 Gm
Pot 2.5 KG K1120 Gm
Mix 5.5 KG N1100 Gm P460 Gm K1120 Gm
Add
Mag sulph 0.75 KG
Borax 11Gm
Zinc Sul, 5.5 Gm
Manganese sul. 4 Gm
Cu. Sul, 2.2Gm
Sodium Molibedate 2.5 Gm
Fe Sulphate 100 Gm
APPLY 250 GM OF MIX PER 100 SFT, TWICE A YEAR BEFORE PLANTING.


Mix B

Ratio NPK 26-10-20
Requirement 200 PPM N fortnightly
N P K
Pot Nitrate 1 KG N160 Gm K460 Gm
Urea 0.75 KG N345 Gm
DAP 0.5 KG N90 Gm P230 Gm
Mixture 2.25 KG N595 Gm P230 Gm K460 Gm
Add
Mag sul 200Gm
Iron sulph 2 tae spoon
Copper Sul ¼ //
Moli ¼ tae spoon
Manganese ½ //
Zinc ½ //
Borax 1 tae spoon
Add 15 L water STOCK
100 CC of STOCK in 10 Litter Can of water = 400 PPM N for potted mature plants
20-50cc of stock in 10 can of water = 80 to 200 PPM N for seedlings


WHEN CALCULATING THE QUANTITY DO NOT FORGET THE BIG TREES AND VINES IN YOUR GARDEN WHO HAVE THEIR ROOTS RUNNING UNDERNEETH YOUR FLOWER BEDS AND LAWN.
Please do comment.

[tweedle2009]

Pardon me, my chemistry and mathematics have always been very weak.I failed to understand these numbers against chemical names.

Urea 46
Ca. Ammonium Nitrate 26
Ammonium Sulphate 21 24
DAP 18 46
Nitro Phos 22 20
Sing Phos 18
Trip Phos 46
Pot Sulf 50 24
Pot Nitrate 20 46
NPK 10-17 10-17 10-17

[Izhar]

Adnan, following may help you in understanding. Dear Brig. sb, kindly do correct me if I am wrong.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Aoa Izhar you are correct. The confusion was the result in change of formate on submission. Anyway I have changed it to understandable form. I hope there is no ambiguity now.