The Pour-through Nutrient Extraction Procedure

Abstract

Nutrient absorption and subsequent plant growth is related to an adequate supply of the nutrient in the soil solution. Thus, fertilizer practices in a nursery and greenhouse should attempt to maintain nutrient levels in the soil solution that promote optimal growth (2, 3). Maintenance of nutrients for greenhouse and nursery crops is usually via slow-release fertilizer or frequent additions through the irrigation water, where mass flow rather than diffusion is probably the predominant process by which nutrients move to plant root surfaces. In effect, the container medium serves primarily as mechanical support for the plant, and, in contrast to mineral soil systems, nutrients adsorbed to the medium are insignificant in relation to the rate of nutrient uptake and subsequent plant growth. This is particularly true for macronutrients, although the extent that it applies to micronutrients is still not clear.