‘Ideas to grow with’ a blog by David Hutchinson

In this, my first blog, I take a look at how top flight growers approach the need for greater precision to meet the nutritional requirements of their crops.   

With temperatures rising to 23°C plus under protection, container grown crops need measured amounts of quality water and nutrients matching the plants’ demand.

In the past, growers have generally taken a step back in time to review relevant nutritional R&D on their particular crops, from around the world, to help devise a programme.  Some can remember ‘mile stones’, such as in the 70’s, when great strides were made with the launch of new products using controlled release fertilizer (CRF) technology.  While simplifying the process, these helped ensure customers and consumers received top quality plants, that not only arrived on time but gave lasting pleasure in the garden or landscape.

Today, managing the vast array of different technologies – not to mention products  – creates its own challenges. However, there is a solution using made-to-measure software.

However, before we can start, we must first take a close look at the nursery’s water supply.

Over the last 20 years growers have shifted from taking water from the mains supply, which was very costly, to investing in rainwater collection from glasshouse roofs to storage tanks and land based butyl lined reservoirs.  This water needs to be treated via reliable biological filters; either slow sand filters, where water is passed through 1.0m deep filters and stored in tanks with a cover or Iris bed bio-filtration systems.

For those of you supplying the multiples, all water supplies must be monitored and checked for water borne pathogens as this Quality Assurance forms part of your nursery’s annual BOPP Inspection.

I usually send water samples to be tested at NRM Laboratories (www.nrm.uk.com), which is fully accredited – although, of course, there are other laboratories offering this service. To get bio-filtered water analysed, I routinely send samples to Dr Tim Pettitt - senior research scientist at the University of Worcester. 

Accurate water sample results are essential if you want to take advantage of the Angelweb precision nutrition system – a free service provided to ICL customers.  Grower-friendly software, AngelaWeb 2.0 takes into account the crop type, cultivar, growing media and growth phase to displays the plants specific nutritional demands.  By inputting information regarding your nursery’s analytical results (such as conductivity and hardness, as well as how it is applied) and selecting the fertiliser products of choice, Angela Web 2.0 calculates a regime tailored to the exact needs of your crop.   Simple!

There are numerous benefits. It not only reduces wastage of NPK and water, but also saves lots of valuable management time while, of course, optimising crop performance.  The programme even recommends changes to the fertilizer regime at different growth stages.  Taking the headache out of precision nutrition, it frees up time for the production team to focus on other important production challenges on the nursery.

To find out more about AngelaWeb 2.0 click here