Basic knowledge of farming

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GARDENS:

If we want lush plants and successful farming, it is important that we spend time taking care of them. This helps us detect adverse phenomena and find ways to prevent them. Prevent or treat before it becomes a serious problem. Early detection of abnormal phenomena will help us repel outbreaks of harmful causes in the simplest way and destroy them.

It is necessary to recognize plant diseases from the beginning, do not wait until your garden is seriously damaged and it is best to create favorable conditions for plants to grow.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PLANTS:

Regardless of technical requirements, plant growth depends first of all on factors such as air, water, light, temperature and many nutrients for roots to absorb. revenue from land. Moisture and oxygen from the air are essential for seeds to germinate. The process of germination and plant growth will stop when the temperature falls to freezing point. Light also affects plant growth by activating chlorophyll in leaves to combine with carbon dioxide from the air and water absorbed through the roots to form sugars. These sugars are in turn converted into starch or other carbohydrates to establish plant structure. These carbohydrates then combine with N and Mg to form chlorophyll, or combine with P and S to form various complex protein structures. Calcium plays a role in the structure of plant cell walls similar to the bone structure of animals. Some minerals act as catalysts to support the formation of plant compounds and tissues. Even though they are only needed in a small amount, they play a very important role because without them, plants cannot grow, they are micronutrient elements.
In this article, there will be a section on how mineral deficiency symptoms manifest in plants, describing the role and necessity of minerals in the soil. Accurately diagnosing nutritional deficiency symptoms solely from symptoms on the plant is extremely difficult because the plant can be deficient in many different nutrients at the same time. Improving the symptoms of nutritional deficiency by applying the correct nutrients is not always possible because sometimes these missing substances are already present in the soil but they are not able to be converted into a form that the plant can use. absorbable. Insoluble minerals can be due to too acidic or too alkaline soil or even an excess of certain minerals in the soil. Deficiency symptoms also often occur in soil that is too wet or soil that is too compact because plant roots cannot function well in these conditions.

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT LAND:

Knowing about soil is as important as knowing about plants. These are two closely related problems because if the soil is in adverse conditions then the plant roots are also in adverse conditions and cannot function effectively to transport minerals. You can improve soil containing clay, including potted soil, by adding more organic matter.

Peat mixed into soil helps increase water holding capacity but must ensure the peat has been treated. Covering the soil surface with a layer of organic material such as humus, leaf litter, or chopped grass will help maintain the necessary soil moisture. There is no need to bury these materials because then the smaller organic samples will burrow deep into the soil. In addition, the activity of earthworms is also very good because they will mix these materials with the soil, making the soil loose. This mulch is valuable as an insulating layer to prevent too hot or too cold conditions, minimize evaporation, retain moisture, and completely improve soil conditions.

If your soil is sandy, the important thing that determines success when growing crops is to fertilize regularly but at a low level, dividing the recommended amount of fertilizer into two or three times for nutrients. Nutrients are easily washed away in sandy soil. Sandy soil has the ability to dry quickly and will not cause waterlogged plants, but it is also a danger to plant roots because soluble salts in the soil will accumulate during prolonged dry periods.

WATER:

Water makes up the majority of plant cells and tissues and is used to form sugars. Water is also the vehicle that transports nutrients from the roots to the plant parts. Symptoms of water deficiency appear when enough water is not supplied to the cells to transport elements to where they need to be supplied; Excess water will escape through small holes in the leaves. This is a continuous process so plants in the growth stage need a lot of water. It is estimated that a large tree in its growing stage can use 360 ​​liters of water per day.

HOW SHOULD I WATER?

Although water is essential for plant life, too much water will be harmful. As mentioned about soil, for plant roots to function well, there needs to be oxygen in the spaces between soil particles. If these spaces are full of water, the soil will be waterlogged, then the air will escape, toxic gases will be released. prevent it from escaping, then the plant roots will suffocate, cannot breathe and die. Fungi that cause diseases on plant roots also often appear in wet, oxygen-deficient soil.

No one can determine how much water a plant needs because this depends on the temperature, light the plant receives, and air humidity. In the dry season, plants need more water because more water transpires from the soil and leaves, and in warm conditions, plants grow faster, so their need for water also increases. Therefore, it is necessary to water when the soil surface is dry and the amount of irrigation water needs to be enough for the water to penetrate into the soil layers with plant roots.

SOIL ACID LEVEL:

The acidity of the soil is expressed through the pH index. The pH index starts from 1 which is the highest acidity to 14 which is the highest alkalinity, neutral will have a pH index of 7

The acid or alkaline factor is very important because only in the neutral range can the elements easily dissolve in the soil for plants to absorb, so soil that is too acidic or too alkaline can cause symptoms of nutritional deficiency in plants. Although these elements are still present in the soil, for example, essential elements such as K, P, B, Mo lose their solubility when acidity increases (pH less than 5.0), similarly when the soil becomes alkaline. (about > 7.0), manganese (Mn), especially iron (Fe) will not dissolve. Symptoms of iron deficiency often occur when soil is fertilized with too much lime because lime increases alkalinity. Symptoms of iron deficiency cause yellow leaves, especially in new growth areas.

However, you do not need to test the soil regularly, many successful gardeners do not care about testing the soil pH. The main purpose of the problem is that you are aware of how acidity and alkalinity affect plant nutrition and health. Do not let the soil be too acidic or too alkaline, except in the case of some acid-loving plants.< /p>

There are plants that are considered pH indicator plants, such as lettuce, cabbage, radishes, onions, carrots, beans… which are suitable for slightly acidic soil.
Hydrangea is often considered a plant that indicates the acidity or alkalinity of the soil because the flower color depends on the Al content in the soil. When flowers are pink, the soil is alkaline; when flowers are green, the soil is acidic. You can increase the acidity in the soil by applying aluminum sulphate or iron sulphate, and peat is also effective in increasing acidity.

GENERAL FERTILIZER:

To have a good garden, it is not necessary to use a lot of fertilizer. In nature, plants grow and develop thanks to plant residue falling to the ground, decomposing and converting organic matter into soluble inorganic salts. These salts will be absorbed by the plant through the roots, this cycle occurs. continuous. People, animals, birds, and insects all eat plants, the substances excreted from the body and their corpses are also decomposed and returned to the soil, this process completes the ecological cycle.< /p>

In addition to using plant residue and household organic scraps as humus, using animal manure, especially poultry and sheep manure, is very effective. However, the nutritional content of manure depends on animal food and how the manure is treated because the loss of nitrogen and other minerals often occurs during periods of rain and sun.

Manure has its own unique values ​​and features. Plants fertilized with inorganic fertilizers combined with organic humus still cannot give the same results as plants fertilized with manure even with the same reasonable nutrient ratio.

When using chemical fertilizers, be very careful because they often cause harm if used in excess of the necessary dosage. Inexperienced gardeners often think that recommendations such as a handful of fertilizer per square meter are not enough nutrients for the plant and they will apply a larger amount of fertilizer or some people think that if they apply a little fertilizer, it will be good, so they apply it quickly. two times, the plants will be twice as good. This concept is not true in using fertilizers.

You must carefully review the instructions for use of any fertilizer. You should only fertilize when the soil is moist and water after fertilizing because the salt solution will be more concentrated when the soil is dry. dry and then it will cause serious problems. People often over-fertilize when the soil does not have the right moisture, causing plants to decline during the dry season or many weeks after fertilization.

Plants grown in pots are often susceptible to fertilizer damage because soluble salts cannot diffuse into the surrounding soil when nutrient concentrations increase, especially when the soil in the pot is dry.</p >

The danger of soil with excess nutrients from organic fertilizer is negligible because organic materials must go through the process of decomposition by soil microorganisms to convert organic salts into soluble inorganic salts. for the plant to absorb. Due to the slow decomposition of organic materials, the release of nutrients for plants also happens slowly, so the harm to the roots is much less than using inorganic fertilizers.

WHEN SHOULD YOU FERTILIZE?

Only need to fertilize when the plant is in the growth phase, do not fertilize when the plant is in the dormant phase because then the plant is not able to use fertilizer and These unused nutrients will accumulate and harm the plant. Do not fertilize when the plant is injured or weakened, to avoid confusion with symptoms of nutritional deficiency. Most plants grow strongly in the spring and this is a good time to fertilize, but in any case, fertilize only when the plant shows signs of growth. Do not fertilize more than recommended or only fertilize half the amount of fertilizer on dry sandy soil, the amount of fertilizer is also reduced when applied to pots.

When fertilizing, spread fertilizer right under the outer ring of the foliage because this is where the most suction roots are concentrated compared to the area near the tree trunk. Fertilize when the soil is moist and water after fertilizing.

The next fertilization depends mainly on the growth rate of the tree. Applying fertilizer once in the spring will provide adequate nutrition for small trees. Fruit trees are often suitable for a second fertilization while the fruit is forming. Citrus trees use fertilizer to stimulate growth, so the first application should be in early spring, the second application in mid-summer, and possibly the next application in the fall. Vegetable and flower plants grow quickly from the second fertilization, 6 to 8 weeks after the first fertilization.

Water-soluble fertilizers used to spray onto plants should be applied more frequently than base fertilizers. Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, should be fertilized once a week to avoid over-watering. However, it should be noted that most fertilizers diluted with water often contain very high amounts of N because N tends to stimulate strong green leaf growth. Legumes and flowering plants should be fertilized with less fertilizer than usual. until flower buds or young fruits appear, then fertilizer will increase the size of flowers and fruits. The amount of fertilizer that the plant absorbs is affected by the amount of water that the plant receives, but prolonged rain will wash away nutrients from the soil, so it is necessary to fertilize earlier than usual./.