The concepts of nutrition and nutrients are often overlooked, merely blended together, or considered as the same or interchangeable idea. Mengel and Kirkby (1982) best described the difference between nutrition and nutrients as nutrition being the "supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed for growth and metabolism" and nutrients as simply being "chemical compounds required by an organism" for whatever undefined reason.
All essential nutrients required by higher plants, in this case tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, are exclusively inorganic in nature. Conversely, animals (including man) and some micro-organisms need, in addition to inorganic nutrients, a supply of organic foodstuffs. This essentially distinguishes animals, including Man, from plants. Plants cannot work with organic nutrients. Therefore, growing plants with purely "organic" nutrients is not only a misnomer but it is also misleading. Higher plants can only absorb and metabolise inorganic nutrients.
Only 16 elements, of the 92 natural mineral elements known, are considered essential nutrients for the growth of higher plants:
Bracketed elements are considered important, but not essential, for plant growth.
The classification of nutrient elements into the macro- or micronutrient category is purely arbitrary at best if based solely on the physiological requirements of the plant. For example, often the leaf tissue content of Mn is far in excess of the plant's physiological requirements for Mn . The classification of elements into macro- and micronutrients, based on biochemical concerns, is probably more sensible and appropriate.
Living plants consist of 27% organic matter (stems, roots, leaves, flowers and fruit), 70% water and 3% minerals (inorganic ions) (Mengel and Kirkby, 1982).
Successful culture of greenhouse vegetable crops on Grodan® requires an understanding of plant nutrition. It is beneficial to understand the role(s) of each essential mineral within the plant in order to detect early symptoms of nutrient deficiency. Early detection depends on two key factors:
1. The role of a particular nutrient within a plant
2. Whether or not that element can be translocated from one area of the plant to another.
The guide has been written to provide greenhouse owners and managers with an overview of current best practice.
Do you want to learn more about Grodan? Feel free to sign up to our newsletter. Grodan ensures that growers can make optimum use of its products and services by interpretting the company’s knowledge of and experience with substrate cultivation in terms of up-to-date, crop-oriented advice. Ranging from tailor-made advice from crop consultants to newsletters, seminars and training courses and articles in trade journals.
Horticulture offers sustainable agriculture through Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), growing diverse crops in high-tech greenhouses. Explore innovative technologies and practices in commercial greenhouse projects.
Grodan and G-STAR unveil Homegrown Denim on May 29, 2024, a sustainable fashion milestone in collaboration with Wageningen University, Dutch Cotton, and Inno Growers.
It wasn’t that long ago, in the early 2000s, that greenhouse growers were working without climate screens or even lighting crops over winter. Andrew Lee, Knowledge Manager at Grodan, says that energy efficiency was nowhere near where it has come today.
There is mounting evidence that stone wool offers clear benefits for strawberry cultivation growers in high-tech greenhouse environments. But how easy is it to achieve those benefits in practice? And what are the biggest challenges? We asked Vera Theelen, Researcher Soft Fruit at the Delphy Innovative Soft Fruit Centre (ISFC), to share details of her own experiences.
We are a global leader in the supply of innovative stone wool substrate solutions for the professional horticultural based on Precision Growing principles.
