New research from the University of Florida highlights the most
effective strategies for applying fertilizer to produce more
consistent results with less environmental impact. Click on the
PDF in the LearnMore! box to view all figures, charts and
graphs. We surveyed several leading liner producers on how they
applied water-soluble fertilizer during a four-week cropping
cycle with vegetative annuals (Figure 1). While there are many
ways to deliver nutrients during cutting propagation, some
strategies for applying fertilizer produce more consistent
results with less environmental impact than others. This range
in the application of water and fertilizer raised several
research questions that have driven Kate Santos’ Ph.D. project
on cutting nutrition. In this article, we describe a few of our
findings from university trials and grower experience as part of
the Young Plant Research Center program. Nutrition Requirements
of Unrooted Cuttings Unrooted cuttings (URCs) require higher
tissue nutrient levels than finis