NITRO-STAR
Ideal blend of Urea and Calcium for optimal results and cost effectiveness
Nitro-Star®
Nitro-Star® combines three modes of action for an unmatched level of abiotic crop stress management. Minimize stress, maximize yield.
Crops: Alfalfa, Blueberries, Canola, Cherry, Cole Crops, Corn, Cotton, Cucumber, Dry Bean, Grass Seed, Potato, Pumpkin, Rice, Snap Beans, Sorghum, Soybean, Spring Wheat, Strawberry, Sugar Beet, Sugar Cane, Sunflower, Tomato and Pepper, Watermelon, Winter Wheat
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USE NITRO-STAR
To help reduce NH3 loss in the field. Proprietary ingredients assist early and late season stress mitigation.
Using Soluble Calcium and Nitrogen to Stimulate Plant Growth
Sam E. Feagley and Lloyd B. Fenn*
The increased ammonium absorption caused by calcium has interesting results. Photosynthesis increases (Fig. 1), and greater amounts of carbon dioxide are captured by the plant from the air, which increases the plant’s organic building blocks (Fig. 2). When plants absorb more ammonium, less nitrogen remains in the soil and is subject to leaching. Also, surplus nitrogen absorbed by plants is stored and is available to promote growth all season. In trials, both bermudagrass and ryegrass showed this effect, with denser growth and color (chlorophyll-photosynthesis) throughout the season.
Perhaps the most beneficial effect of applying calcium with ammonium is that plants change their normal pattern of depositing energy stores (carbohydrates, metabolites) (Figs. 4, 5). As Figure 4 shows, rice plants had progressively lower leaf weight and progressively higher grain weight as calcium levels increased. This increase continued with all calcium concentrations. One report showed that adding soluble calcium to rice paddy water resulted in up to 15 percent of the flag leaf’s energy production being transported to the filling seeds (as opposed to 5 percent without calcium). Rice weights increased 14 percent when extra calcium was applied at seed fill.
Research has shown that the optimum amount of calcium to apply is 1/2 to 1 pound of calcium chloride per 1 pound of urea (Fig. 6). This rate increases yields from 14 to 50 percent. However, the precise amount of calcium needed is hard to fix because when the plant absorbs ammonium it releases an equivalent amount of hydrogen. This hydrogen in turn solubilizes the precipitated lime (calcium carbonate), if present. Urea applied in a band will precipitate calcium even in an acid soil. Thus, there is a certain amount of this naturally occurring calcium that combines with supplemental calcium to stimulate plant growth.
*Professor and Extension Soil Environmental Specialist; andProfessor, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, The Texas A&MUniversity System.