How Long After Fertilizing Should It Rain to Ensure Fertilizer Effectiveness
No matter what crop you are planting, fertilizing is necessary, and the specific amount and timing are determined by the crop's growth conditions, so how long after fertilizing should it rain for the fertilizer to be effective?
1. How long after fertilizing should it rain for the fertilizer to be effective?
Generally, it is only effective if it rains 1 day after fertilizing. Because if it rains 1 day after fertilizing, most of the fertilizer has already been absorbed by the plants. But if it rains right after fertilizing, the rainwater will wash away a lot of the fertilizer, and after being soaked by rainwater, this fertilizer will dissolve, but it will basically remain on the surface of the soil, and only a very small portion can penetrate into the soil and be absorbed by the crop roots.
2. When is the best time to fertilize fruit trees?
1. Apply flower-preserving fertilizer before flowering. Fruit trees consume a relatively large amount of their own nutrients during bud break and flowering. If the nutrients stored in the tree from the previous year are insufficient and nutrient supply is not timely, the flowering period will be prolonged and the fruit-setting rate will be reduced. Therefore, before flowering, quick-acting fertilizer should be applied as a supplemental dressing, that is, 50% of the total annual nitrogen fertilizer and 20% of the total potassium fertilizer. If conditions permit, spray 1——2 applications of a 250-times borax aqueous solution during the flowering period, which can preserve flowers and fruit and greatly increase the fruit-setting rate and the rate of well-formed fruit shape.
2. Apply fruit-stabilizing fertilizer after flower drop. After flower drop, young fruit and new shoots grow rapidly. Applying fertilizer at this time can promote strong new shoots, expand the area and thickness of leaves, improve photosynthetic efficiency, and reduce physiological fruit drop. If sufficient fertilizer was applied during the flowering period, then after flower drop, a appropriately smaller amount of fertilizer should be applied.
3. Apply bud-promoting fertilizer before flower bud differentiation. At this stage, some new shoots have stopped growing, and the young fruit is rapidly expanding. If appropriate amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer are applied in time, it can effectively improve the photosynthetic efficiency of leaves, promote nutrient accumulation, and also benefit flower bud differentiation, and can noticeably reduce the occurrence of the “alternate bearing in fruit trees” phenomenon.
4. Apply fruit-thickening fertilizer in the late growth stage. Applying fertilizer at this stage can not only increase the yield of the current year, improve fruit quality, and enhance the market competitiveness of the fruit, but can also promote flower bud differentiation and strengthen tree vigor. Therefore, 60% of the total annual potassium fertilizer, 10% of the total phosphorus fertilizer, and 10% of the total nitrogen fertilizer should be applied in time.
5. Apply tree-preserving fertilizer before and after fruit harvest. Tree-preserving fertilizer is also called base fertilizer (that is, human and animal manure, and composted straw and weed materials). After a year of growth, flowering, and fruiting, fruit trees have consumed a large amount of nutrients, and in winter they urgently need timely supplementation, which is beneficial for restoring tree vigor and enhancing the tree's ability to resist freezing damage. Tree-preserving fertilizer should generally be applied 7——10 days before the fruit matures, and at the latest no later than November. At this time, the annual amount of organic fertilizer is applied all at once, with phosphorus fertilizer at 90% of the annual amount, nitrogen fertilizer at 40% of the annual amount, and potassium fertilizer at 20% of the annual amount, and they should be mixed evenly together before being applied to the fertilizer area.