MAGIC RECIPES?
Strawberry Fertigation
in the UK
John Atwood
Senior Horticultural Consultant
Conférence présentée lors des journées horticoles régionales
du MAPAQ à St-Rémi, le 8 décembre 2005
www.adas.co.uk
Strawberries in the UK
Raised beds, polythene mulch, trickle line
+ fertigation
Introduced 20 years ago
Production in soil-less media
e.g Table top, troughs, peat bags
More widespread in last 10 years
Why Fertigation?
The only method possible for plastic
mulched beds
Increased yield and fruit quality
Improved efficiency of application
Flexibility to control plant growth
response
Strawberry Nutrition
Major Elements
N, P, K, Ca, Mg
Micronutrients
Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, B, Mo
Nitrogen
Most important element in leaves and
roots
Highest uptake from start of growth to
flowering
Excess N causes vegetative growth,
softer fruit, more Botrytis
Phosphorus
Important for root development and
flower initiation
Highest uptake following planting and
flowering
During fruiting P is accumulated in fruit
(in seeds) at expense of leaves, petioles
and roots
Potassium
Regulates stomatal activity
Important for sugar production
Highest demand during flowering and
fruiting
Fruits accumulate most of the K
Does not necessarily increase fruit
firmness
Calcium
Important for development of roots,
young leaf and buds
Important for fruit firmness
Shortage causes tip burn
High K, NH4 antagonistic to uptake
Peak demand from planting to flowering
2 tank system needed to supply
Magnesium
Important for chlorophyll synthesis
High levels of K are antagonistic
Most uptake takes place during vegetative
growth and flowering
Iron
Important for the synthesis of chlorophyll
Highest uptake during early development
High pH, reduces uptake
Waterlogging, loss of fine root hair,
reduces uptake
K, NH4, reduces pH increases uptake
NO3, SO4, PO4, + pH less Fe uptake
Manganese
Catalyst for enzyme systems
Essential for uptake of P and Mg
High pH inhibits uptake
Uptake is constant during growth
Boron
Important for root development,
vegetative growth and pollen fertility
Uptake increases during flowering
Narrow band between deficiency and
toxicity
Excess causes tip burn, leaf scorch, soft
fruit
High P inhibits uptake
Fertigation guidelines
Soil-grown crops
Initial check
Soil indices
Water analysis
Fertigation equipment limitations
Varieties
Protection
Nutrient off-take from a 20 t/ha crop
N P2O5 K2O Mg
Fruit 30 17 49 3
Leaf & 29 12 27 5
Crown
Total 59 29 76 8
Nitrogen
2.5 - 4 kg/ha/wk for June Bearers
3 - 6 kg/ha/wk for everbearers
Sources, KNO3, Urea phosphate
Initial growth start with higher ratio of N
for June bearers
Tunnel crops - avoid excess N
Everbearers increase N ratio after 1st
flush of fruit
Phosphorus
Fertigation useful as PO4 fairly immobile
Generally only apply maintenance levels
to avoid blockage problems -
1.5 - 2 kg/ha/wk
Application at onset of growth important
Use Urea phosphate if bicarbonate >175
mg/l, otherwise MAP
Phosphite formulations now available
Potassium
Generally 4 - 8 kg/ha/wk
Higher rates on light soils, low indices,
tunnel crops
Increase K:N ratio from flowering
Typical Programme
June Bearers
Early growth - 1st fruit set - 3 :1 :4 :0.5
1st fruit set - end harvest - 2 :1 :4 :0.5
Post Harvest - 2 :2 :3 :0.5
All at 2.5 - 3.5 kg/ha/wk N
Application
Twice per week
Towards end of irrigation cycle leaving
10-15 mins to flush through
Apply in 20,000 - 40,000 L/ha = 2 - 4 mm
Feed Recipe Choices
Proprietary
Often supplied in bags of 25 kg
Often designed to be used at rate of 1 bag
per ha per week
Example - Kemira 13:4:42 at 1 bag per ha
per week
Divide by 4 to give rate of N per ha per wk
= 3.25 kg N per ha per wk.
Feed Recipe Choices
Straights
Typically use:
Potassium Nitrate (13.5% N, 46% K2O)
Urea Phosphate (18% N, 44% P2O5)
Ammonium Nitrate (34.5% N)
Magnesium Sulphate (16% MgO)
+ traces
Feed Recipe Choices
Using ADAS Nutriplan
Takes into account water & soil analysis
Gives an estimate of feed conductivity for
checking
Clear presentation of recommendations
Nutriplan
Customer A Grower
Farm The Fruit Farm Area 1 ha Volume of diluted feed/feed/ha 50000 litres
Field Elsanta Stock tank 100 litres Stock Use (litres/ha/week) 250
Crop Strawberry Dilution 1 in 200 Stock Use (litres/crop area/week) 250
Growth Stage Period N rate Nutrient Ratio Feed Number Nutrients applied
(kg/ha/week) N P2 O5 K2 O MgO of weeks N P2 O5 K2 O MgO
(kg/ha)
Early growth -
Flowering April - Early May 3 3 1 4 0.5 A 4 12 4 16 2
Fruiting Mid May - End July 2.5 2 1 4 0.5 B 6 15 8 30 4
Post Fruiting August - Early Sept 3 2 2 3 0.5 C 6 18 18 27 5
TOTAL 45 30 73 10
Note Fruiting = from1st green fruit set
Nutriplan recipe
Customer A Grower Crop Strawberry
Field Name Elsanta Crop Area 1 ha
Feed A
Nutrient N P2 O 5 K2O MgO
Ratio 3 1 4 0.5
Volume of stock tank 100 litres
Dilution rate 1 in 200
FEED COMPOSITION
Add the following fertilisers to your stock tank (all figures in the table are in kg)
Target kg N/ha/week 3 6 9 12 15
Potassium nitrate 3.5 7.0 10.5 14.0 17.5
Calcium nitrate 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Magnesium nitrate 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Magnesium sulphate 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Ammonium nitrate 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5
Mono ammonium phosphate 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Mono potassium phosphate 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Urea phosphate 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Conductivity of feed @ 20 °C (µS) 590 1180
Conductivity of feed @ 25 °C (µS) 650 1298
TRACE ELEMENTS
Iron EDTA 154 g
Manganese sulphate 31 g
Copper sulphate 4 g
Zinc sulphate 17 g
Solubor 19 g
Do not vary these weights
More Later…..
