Liquid Fertilizer Research

Being at the right place at the right time isn’t just for stockbrokers. Commonly applied by broadcast, fertilizer is best when placed directly in the soil. This allows it to get close to seeds or plant roots to ensure high nutrient availability (e.g. improved plant nutrient acquisition, uptake and content) and a better yield. There are a variety of fertilizer placement techniques available.

Liqui-Grow’s Liquid Fertilizer Distribution Tips:

• Liquid applicators are able to deliver the same rate of fertilizer from the first to the last foot of each pass
• Due to differences in granular fertilizer densities, product quality and ballistics, spinner disc spreaders cannot uniformly distribute dry granular fertilizers across a full spread pattern.
• Corn yield losses of 3% on average have been reported in University studies comparing uniformly and non-uniformly distributed P & K fertilizer (Virk et al., 2013)
• Fluid sources of fertilizer dissolve in solution, are held in high suspension by clay, agitated to keep in suspension
• The failure to maintain fertilizer blends causes some fertilizer sources to be spread at higher or lower rates than intended – reducing fertilizer efficiency & yield potentials
• Fluid suspensions allow for uniform application, targeted banding, and prescribed recommendations using standard high-capacity liquid flotation equipment.
• Micronutrients can be applied uniformly for crop nutrition, even at low rates, consistent with crop removal levels. Not necessary to over-apply micros in order to improve application pattern.
• Liquid suspensions have highly water-soluble nutrients which expedite movement into soil solution for improved plant uptake.