Supplying Nutrients to
Floriculture Crops
Interest Approach
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What do vitamins do for you?
What do you feel like when your sick?
What are essential elements in fertilizer?
What do they do for the plant?
What does a plant look like when it’s
deficient in this nutrient?
Interest Approach
– Vitamins:
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C – health
D – strength
A – eyesight
Calcium-bones
Iron-blood
– Elements
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N – growth
P – blossoms
Ca – cell strength
K - roots
Student Objectives
After this lesson you CAN
1. Name the nutrients needed for plant
growth.
2. Describe pH and how it is modified.
3. Describe the components of a fertilizer.
4. Explain the methods of applying
fertilizers to floriculture crops.
Macronutrients - elements that are
needed by the plant in the largest amount.
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Primary macros
nitrogen (N)
phosphorus (P)
potassium (K)
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Secondary macros
calcium (Ca)
magnesium (Mg)
sulfur (S).
Micronutrients -Needed in Smaller
Amounts by the Plants, but Are Still
Essential
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Boron (B)
Copper(Cu)
Chlorine (Cl)
Iron (Fe)
• Manganese
(Mn)
• Molybdenum
(Mo)
• Zinc (Zn)
Soil Tests
• can be performed on the soil to
determine which nutrients are present
or deficient (absent or lacking).
• Are only as accurate as the test – you
get what you pay for
• Can confirm nutrient deficiency shown
by plant leaves.
Chlorosis
Generally begins in older leaves
Symptoms include poor plant growth, and leaves that are pale
green or yellow because they are unable to make sufficient
chlorophyll.
Nitrogen
Undersides of tomato plant leaves,
and the veins and stems, may turn
purple
often overlooked or misdiagnosed
as a nitrogen deficiency
weak thin stalks
may cause the plant to stop
producing blooms
Phosphorous
brown scorching and curling of leaf
tips as well as chlorosis(yellowing)
between leaf veins
Purple spots may also appear on the
leaf undersides
Potassium
Fertilizer
• Material provided to supply nutrients needed
for plant growth.
– 2 types of fertilizer
• Complete – contains the 3 Primary Macros
• Incomplete – missing 1 or more Primaries
• Fertilizer analysis states the percentage of
primary nutrients.
16 – 4 – 8
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16 % N
4 % P2O5
8 % K2O
Equals 28%??? Where is the rest?!?
• Salts and other fillers make up the
remaining 72%
Fertilizer
• Available in three phases
– Liquid, solid, gas (rarely used in floriculture)
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Applied by several methods
Premixed into soil.
Sprayed onto foliage.
Injected into irrigation water.
Slow release – dissolves over extended
period of time.
Organic vs. Inorganic
• First off, what does this mean??
– Organic is naturally occurring
– Inorganic is man made or produced
– CLIP
Review
What are the nutrients needed
for plant growth?
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Name the 3 primary macronutrients.
NPK
Name the 3 secondary macronutrients.
Ca
S
Mg
The micronutrients?
Fe., Cu B, Zn, Cl, Mo, MN
What is pH and how is it
modified?
• Define pH.
• Measure of acidity / alkalinity
– potential of Hydrogen
• Add limestone to _________ pH?
• Add sulfur to ___________pH?
What are the components of a
fertilizer?
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Incomplete vs. complete?
Complete has the 3 primary macros
Incomplete is missing some primaries
What is fertilizer analysis?
How are fertilizers applied to
floriculture crops?
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List the 3 phases of fertilizers.
Liquid, solid, gas
List the application methods.
Irrigation injection
Slow release
Premix into soil
Spray onto foliage