Fertigation is a process in which fertilizer is dissolved and distributed along with water in your drip or spray irrigation system. There is abundant research available that supports the superiority of fertigation as compared to traditional fertilizing techniques. In order to get the greenest lawn possible and the healthiest plants and shrubs fertigation and micro-dosing is the way to go.
Fertigation is becoming widely accepted in the industry due to the fact that a properly designed system will perform accurately, is now economical, easy to install, saves time, labor and most importantly, will save you money. A proper system will eliminate waste, sludge and residues. It allows one to “fine tune” fertility levels, and will monitor the rates of fertilizer being applied.
Fertigation is a refined, simple solution to balance on a consistent basis nutrients in the soil. Fertigation will efficiently maintain an optimal supply of specific nutrients, particularly in sandy soils that have little native fertility and in addition, reduce nutrient leaching and volatilization normally associated with time release granular fertilizers, which at best will yield a 40-50% absorption rate.
Fertigation also reduces the need for fertilizer. Fertigation does that by proportioning low doses of fertilizer into the irrigation water stream. As noted previously, studies have shown that plants can much more efficiently absorb fertilizer nutrients when mixed with the water. Contrast this to bulk broadcast fertilization where excessive amounts of fertilizer are applied topically and only through rainfall or irrigation watering is the fertilizer dissolved into the soils.