Foliar Nutrition: Why You Should Consider It for Your Next Spray Pass>>
For farmers, addressing every nutritional need of a crop is no easy task. Weather events can happen throughout the growing season that impact nutritional application plans and pressure growers to change or adapt their nutritional management strategy.
One of the ways to adapt to critical nutrient demands is to include foliar fertilizers in the standard spray program. This step can be thought of ahead of time, or adjusted later in the season, as a response to specific nutrient needs and added in to grower standard practices.
Foliar fertilizers supplement soil nutrition, providing macro and/or micronutrients for plants, and are absorbed through the leaves. They should be considered as a complement to a complete nutritional program and be applied in critical periods of plant growth, in times of specific nutrient demands, or in case of adverse soil conditions that compromise the plant’s ability to uptake nutrients through the roots.
What is Foliar Nutrition?
Instead of applying nutrients to the soil to be absorbed by the roots, foliar nutrition aims to provide nutrients through the aerial parts of plants, primarily leaves. This strategy complements soil nutrition, adding an opportunity for management later in the season when plants are already established and may be lacking some nutrients to further develop.
Foliar nutrition guarantees a quick response from plants, in addition to contributing to increased productivity. Micronutrients such as zinc, iron, copper, and boron can be impactful in the volumes applied through this type of fertilizer application.
How to Know if a Crop Needs a Foliar Application?
Test, test, test! Visual aspects can indicate a lack of nutrients in a plant or crop, but only foliar analysis will enable growers and agronomists to identify nutrient deficiency or toxicity in a developing field. Leaf tissue tests can guide growers in deciding whether to add or not a fertilizer to the tank mix on their next spray pass.
Foliar Nutrition with TimaUp
TimaUp is a plant extract-based bio nutritional that is designed to address foliar nutrient uptake and improve the plant’s ability to utilize those nutrients inside the plant itself. To address foliar nutrient challenges, TimaUp employs two modes of action. In TimaUp, foliar nutrients are complexed with amino acids, and a marine sea plant extract called IPA. The amino acids in TimaUp weakly bond to the charged nutrients to create a neutral charge. They are also small which enables rapid entrance through the pores. This allows the micronutrients that TimaUp supplies (Mn, Zn, S, B, Mo, and Cu) to quickly and efficiently enter the plant.
Linked with an improved metabolic activity, IPA stimulates and improves absorption of the three major elements (N, P & K).
The better migration of the AA through the plant thanks to IPA is proof of a better assimilation of elements.
The natural complexation of the trace elements with IPA facilitates and improves trace elements absorption, but also their transport within the plant.
Foliar micronutrients are commonly chelated with EDTA. While this is helpful for tank mix compatibility, the large chelation molecule makes it harder for the nutrient to enter the pores. Smaller molecular weight molecules like those used in TimaUp help get the nutrients where they belong.
TimaUp activates a carrier system in the plant. This allows for a more systemic nutrient delivery. Research has shown improvements of up to 54% in some nutrients. This has impacts on other nutrients that are also taken in by the plant’s roots like N, P, and K.
TimaUp also has been shown to increase photosynthesis by positively acting on the chlorophyll. Addressing both the challenges of foliar nutrients’ entrance into the plant and their activity inside the plant enables TimaUp to perform consistently over a wide variety of crops and weather situations.
TimaUp can be used independently or in combination to address foliar crop nutrition quickly. This helps address both yield and quality and maximizes growers’ returns.
Over two years, TimaUp was tested in 94 trial sites, accounting for 349 replicates. The product showed a 90.4% positive yield response and an average yield increase of +4.49%.
Contact a TIMAC AGRO sales rep to discuss how to add this tool to your nutrition program.