As the saying goes, ‘it’s important not to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire’. This is very true when it comes to getting the right combination of fertilizers with peat free and peat reduced growing media, according to Steve Chapman − technical area sales manager for the South East.

Peat free and peat reduced growing media can grow just about every crop I can think of, however, with these non-peat ingredients comes a new set of challenges. Until recently it has been standard practice to include a readily available Nitrogen product, Calcium Nitrate, to compensate for the breaking down of the peat free ingredients.

While helping to provide a supplementary Nitrogen source to boost the levels provided by a controlled release fertiliser, the instant availability can add to rootzone conductivity early on, stressing young roots.  

Nitrogen of this type clearly lacks the longevity needed for just about all crops.  What is not used early on is usually leached out within the first few weeks of production − washed down drains or recycled back to water storage areas. To ameliorate this situation, ICL developed Osmocote CalMag – providing controlled release Nitrogen, Calcium and Magnesium over 3 to 4 months.  This year we’ve further enhanced the range with two new innovative Nitrogen products relying on slow, or controlled, release technology.  

Osmoform High N is a slow release fertilizer, with a longevity of 8 to 10 weeks, which is ideal for short-term crops like bedding.  In contrast to controlled release products such as Osmocote, which have a coating around the granules, slow release fertilizers rely on long Nitrogen chains breaking down slowly. This process is influenced by temperature, microbiological activity and humidity.

In addition, we now have Osmocote N, which relies on our controlled release technology, with a guaranteed longevity of 5 to 6 months making it more suited to long-term crops. A fully coated product, Osmocote N also contains 5% Potassium as trials showed woodfibre absorbs both Nitrogen and Potassium.  

So now growers opting for peat-free or peat-reduced mixes have a choice of three ICL supplementary Nitrogen products.  For advice on which one best suits your Levington Advance or Levington Sustain growing media mix, and the crops you’re producing, talk to your technical area sales manager who will be happy to help.  

Top Tip

Do you want to be able to manipulate growth from a single incorporation of fertilisers?  If so, add Osmocote Exact Hi-K with either of these two new N products.  This will promote fast establishment early on in the cropping cycle and then later on, after the N products have finished, you will move on to a High-K analysis leading to more compact growth for the duration of the crop - so less costly trimming or spacing.