JBG Fields. Photo by Scott David Gordon

One my favorite things about being a farmer is learning the science behind growing vegetables; I really love examining what makes plants thrive.  When I first started farming, I focused on adding all of the nutrients into the soil through compost prior to planting.  This worked well, but now we have experimented with something a little different that is working even better.  That's another thing I love about farming - being able to design and implement creative solutions.  Instead of just adding all of the nutrients to the soil before anything is planted, we now use a system of fertigation that lets us inject nutrients into the irrigation water to feed the plants' roots directly.  This season, we did some test plots and noticed a tremendous difference between those fields where we added organic fertilizer to the drip irrigation system as compared to those in which we only utilized compost prior to planting.  Those that received the fertilizer through the drip tape did much better.  Also, the process of fertigation is more efficient, and we ultimately use less fertilizer inputs and can apply small amounts each week.  Plus, we can change what we add to match the plants' requirements as they grow.  For example, early in the season, the plants require more nitrogen for growth, while latter in the season, most typically utilize more potassium as they start to fruit.   Being the farmer geek that I am, I have a spreadsheet to help calculate fertgation recipes based on the various crops, their stage of growth, and the area to be irrigated.  The nice thing about this spreadsheet is that it automatically generates a recipe so we know what quanties to mix into our mobile fertigation unit.  Beth, my wife, likes to feed our kids green smoothies from our veggies - I like to think of our fertigation setup as a way to feed our plants "organic smoothies"!, too  Steve Diver, our horticultural consultant, has really helped us develop this more efficient and effective system of fertilization - thank you, Steve!  Due to our collaboration with him, our plants are looking better than ever.  Be sure to read Steve's detailed description below of how we use fertigation at JBG.

Noe prepares to feed the plants "organic smoothies" through the drip irrigation system.

Fertigation

By Steve Diver

JBG uses an integrated approach to provide soil fertility and pest control and to promote crop quality. Soil fertility is achieved through pre-plant and sidedress fertilization, plus fertigation and foliar fertization.  Fertigation is the practice of injecting soluble nutrients and bio-stimulants, such as liquid fish and humic acid, through the drip irrigation system. Farmers like fertigation because it delivers nutrients and biological stimulants next to plants roots. Fertigation can also be timed to deliver plant foods at critical stages of crop growth, such as fruit set, when nutrient demand is highest. This year, Brenton and I have ramped up the fertigation program. New injection equipment has been added to the farm, and we also developed a spreadsheet to manage the fertigation schedule and keep track of all the inputs, depending on the crop and what it needs.  As Brenton pointed out, we are seeing really good results from fertigation as the crops look strong and healthy.

Checking out the fields with Steve Diver. Photo by Scott David Gordon