Plant Propogation and Nursery Management

Exercise 14

Exercise 14: To demonstrate application of nutrients and plant protection measures in fruit nursery

Exercise: To demonstrate application of nutrients and plant protection measures in fruit nursery.

Part-I Application of nutrients

Materials required: Specific fertilizer, or nutrient source, hoeing tools, spraying equipments, weighing machine (balance).
Procedures:

The choice of method of application of nutrients to the nursery plants depends on the nutrients and their ability to be effectively absorbed, effect on soil environment, equipment availability and the relative cost of nutrients. Three important methods of application are:

• Surface application: The required quantity of fertilizer is weighed and applied in band along the rows. It is an effective and efficient method for the application of nitrogen, because nitrogen fertilizers move into the root zone with the downward movement of water. However, direct surface application is not advised for the application of phosphorous, potassium and other nutrients because they may get fixed on the exchange complex.
• Sub-surface application: Addition of the fertilizers into the soil by surface application is the most effective method of application of nutrients that are fixed (P&K etc) on the exchange complex or are slow to move into the soil solution. The manures/fertilizers are incorporated into the soil prior to planting the nursery.
• Foliar application: Nutrients can be applied through foliar application immediately, after the symptoms are observed. For nursery plants, foliar application is more effective because nutrients are absorbed at faster rates and wastage of nutrients can be avoided. The nutrients should be applied in the morning or late evening hours by using some wetting agents like Tween-20, Titron-X-100 etc. in the solution, as these help to absorb the nutrients even more effectively.
Precautions:

• The nutrient quantities must be calculated and weighed exactly.
• The basal applied nutrients should be mixed thoroughly.
• For foliar spray, the nutrient source should be dissolved properly.