Whenever I get the chance to speak I always like to use illustrations to point out key principles. One of my favorites is to ask a mixed audience if anybody likes to make cake from scratch. Without fail, several people will raise their hands.
Then I ask the cake makers what would happen if the liquid ingredients in a cake batter were doubled while the dry ingredients were cut in half. What would you take out of the oven? It is fun to watch the look of horror and disgust on their faces.
Then comes the punch line: There is an ideal ratio between liquid and dry ingredients in a cake batter. Would you agree that ratios are important when making a cake? The answer, of course, is full agreement. Ratios matter.
The next question hits home when I ask: Can I tell you that ratios are important in soil just as they are in cake batters? Again -- full agreement. Then I lay out the final objective of enhanced human health coming from the consumption of nutrient dense foods raised on soil with the right ratios of available minerals. The ratios of minerals in soil could be an entire book. But, since this is a course of foliar feeding plants, let's look at ratios in foliar sprays.
Just as ratios are important in cake batters and soil minerals; so are they important in foliar sprays. The most important reason why ratios matter is because it determines the effect the foliar spray has on the crop.
A foliar spray that is dominated with growth energy nutrients will push a plant to growth and bulking. A foliar spray that is dominated by reproductive energy elements will push a plant toward flowering and pod set. This makes product formulation very important and also highlights the significance of using the right nutritional spray at the right time in the plants' life cycle.
The concept of certain nutrients promoting growth and other nutrients promoting reproductive energy is actually quite simple. There are only a few growth promoters and everything else is reproductive.
Growth Energy Comes From:
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Nitrate Nitrogen
- Some Plant Growth Regulators found in Seaweed
Reproductive Energy Comes From:
- Nitrogen in the Urea, Ammoniacal, Protein, and Amino Acid Form
- Phosphorous
- Sulfur
- Magnesium
- All Trace Minerals
- Carbon and all Organics
Most foliar sprays are formulated with a mix of both growth and reproductive energy but are usually dominated by reproductive energy.
The best growth and bulking foliar sprays have calcium in them because calcium is needed to build healthy cell walls. If calcium is critically deficient plants can substitute potassium for calcium when constructing cell walls but this creates integrity issues. Ultimately these cells die an early death and all you have left is rotten lettuce in your refrigerator -- it couldn't last 2 days without spoiling.
Let's Review
- Ratios Matter
- Nutrients affect Plants 1 of 2 Ways
- Some Elements Promote Growth Energy
- Some Elements Promote Reproductive Energy
- Ratios Matter in the way Foliar Sprays are Formulated
- Mineral Ratios Determine the Difference Between Quality Food or Food that Rots in 2 Days
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Can International Ag Labs Help You?
International Ag Labs has extensive experience formulating liquid nutrient drenches, foliar sprays, microbial inoculants, and biostimulants into a comprehensive suite of products. If you are interested in having IAL custom manufacture your product line under your label please email the office
