Fertilizers: Plant Nutrition and the Nursery Infrastructure
Fertilizers: Workshop 1
Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Management in Nursery Operations
Workshop series number 1 (English and Spanish sessions) where UC Cooperative Extension advisors Donald Merhaut and María de la Fuente presented plant nutrition and fertilizer management information useful to nursery growers, managers, and personnel.
English session,
Moderator/Presenter: Donald Merhaut, UCCE Specialist, for Nursery and Floriculture Crops. UC Riverside
Spanish session,
Moderador: Maria de la Fuente, County Director, UCCE Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties
This workshop focused on plant nutrition in a nursery production system. The program was divided into two topics: The first half was dedicated to essential plant nutrients. We described the essential nutrients, their role in plant growth, how they move in the container media, and how they are taken up into the root system and transported throughout the plant. We finished this topic by training individuals on how to identify plant nutrient deficiency and toxicity symptoms in the plant. The second half of the workshop provided an overview of a nursery production system, from the perspective of developing a profitable and sustainable fertilizer management program. We discussed production practices such as propagation, canning, bed design and management, media management, and irrigation water management and how they affect fertilizer inputs, outputs, and fertilizer performance in a nursery. After completion of this second half of the program, the individual had the basic information to help design and optimize their fertilizer management program and troubleshoot fertilizer management problems, as it relates to overall nursery operations.
Workshop “Key” Learnings:
- Identify and understand the role of plant nutrients in plant growth and their role in plant growth.
- Identify plant nutrient deficiency and toxicity symptoms.
- Understand the sources and movement of fertilizers in a nursery production system.
- Develop the groundwork for optimizing fertilizer use in a container nursery operation.