We Ensure The Safety Of Fertilizers

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Fertilizers are indispensable helpers for any summer resident on the way to an excellent and rich harvest. Gardeners and gardeners who have purchased fertilizers for future use often wonder how to save them. After all, they can become damp, dry out or completely deteriorate. In fact, it is not so difficult to ensure the safety of fertilizers, the main thing is to own some of the simplest secrets

Fertilizer storage - how and where?

It is no secret that many fertilizers are highly hygroscopic, that is, the ability to quickly absorb moisture. To the greatest extent, this applies to nitrogen fertilizers, which are vital for most plants, which, having been sufficiently saturated with atmospheric moisture that are destructive for them, quickly turn into a huge unaesthetic lump.

Magnesium sulfate is endowed with the ability to dry out and turn into hardened stone, and superphosphate is often transformed into a very unsightly-looking porridge.

Thus, neither a basement nor a cold garage is suitable for storing fertilizers. If the temperature in the room where the fertilizers are stored is close to zero degrees, atmospheric moisture will immediately begin to form condensation on the crystals and granules, provoking their gradual caking. That is why, ideally, fertilizers should be stored in heated areas.

As a rule, unused fertilizers begin to be stored for storage in the fall, and the bags are pre-dried in an excellent breeze or in the sun. Then the packed fertilizers are folded into polyethylene bags, tied well and placed on shelves higher from the floor.

First aid for spoiled fertilizers

The result of improper storage of fertilizers is their inevitable caking, and this problem occurs quite often. Is it possible to somehow revive the injured fertilizers? Quite! Before starting to apply them to the soil (in the spring, of course), it is recommended to place the caked fertilizers on a wide board and crush them thoroughly with a hammer. And after their introduction, the soil must be thoroughly dug up.

Sometimes there are misunderstandings with ammonium nitrate - it often turns sour. Trying to dry it in this case is absolutely useless - this fertilizer will “melt” further, turning into a very saturated solution. So pouring ammonium nitrate into the soil will not work. True, there is a way out of this situation - a limp fertilizer can be diluted in water and simply watered growing crops with it. In this case, no more than two grams of ammonium nitrate is taken per liter of water. That's just to use this advice is really only in the spring and summer. If ammonium nitrate loses its original usable form with the onset of autumn, it will have to be thrown away - watering the garden with nitrogen-containing fertilizer in the fall is not only impractical, but also very harmful, because all vegetation at this time goes into a state of dormancy and begins to gradually prepare for wintering.

The soaked superphosphate, which resembles liquid clay in appearance, can be used for introduction into near-trunk circles or into planting pits. For this purpose, the fertilizer is combined with the soil (the latter needs to be taken quite a bit), and then slowly begin to fill up the soil and actively mix the loose substrate, carefully distributing it over the entire surface of the bottom of the planting hole or the trunk circle. This method will be equally suitable for both autumn and spring applications.

Do not despair if the stored fertilizers have acquired an unsightly appearance - in most cases they can be given a second life and used for the benefit of the future harvest!