Success StoryScience-based nutrient management in a commercial greenhouse operation



Science-based nutrient management in a commercial greenhouse operation

Author: Russell Muntifering

Planning Unit: Nicholas County CES

Major Program: Horticulture, Commercial

Plan of Work: New Agriculture Opportunities

Outcome: Initial Outcome

A small-scale greenhouse operation in Nicholas County does not have an injection system, and the owner/operator and his family for the past 5 years have been watering and fertilizing out of plastic buckets and empty milk jugs. Their standard liquid-fertilizer mix consists of several commercial products that they had been measuring painstakingly in ounces, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. of individual product, and then compositing these into a single fertilizer formulation. We have since assisted him on simplifying his nutrient management by using a single commercial granular fertilizer for which the nutrient ratios are already well aligned with nutrient requirements of the plant species that he grows. The operator is very happy with this more science-based, simplified and efficient approach to nutrient management. Furthermore, we taught him how to use a pH meter and properly interpret water and soilless media analyses, and we are currently teaching him elementary concepts of soil-solution chemistry such as acid/base equilibria, buffering, cation exchange capacity and electrical conductivity.






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