What are the differences and uses of blended fertilizer, compound fertilizer, and foliar fertilizer?

Fertilizer refers to a class of substances that provide one or more nutrient elements essential to plants, improve soil properties, and raise the level of soil fertility, and is one of the material foundations of agricultural production.So what are the uses and differences of fertilizers such as blended fertilizer, compound fertilizer, and foliar fertilizer? Let's learn about them together below.

In the process of agricultural production, we use many kinds of fertilizers, and each kind of fertilizer has different uses and differences. Below is a brief introduction to the properties of various fertilizers:

(1) Formula fertilizer refers to a special fertilizer made by using soil testing and formula fertilization technology, according to the nutritional needs of different crops, soil nutrient content, and fertilizer supply characteristics, using various straight fertilizers as raw materials, adding appropriate amounts of medium and trace elements or specific organic fertilizers in a targeted manner, and processing them by blending or granulation, with strong targeted and regional specificity.

(2) Foliar fertilizer refers to fertilizer applied to plant leaves that can be absorbed and utilized by them.

(3) Seedbed soil acid regulator refers to a preparation used during the seedling raising period of crops to adjust the acidity (or pH value) of the seedbed soil.

(4) Microbial fertilizer refers to a product applied in agricultural production that contains specific living microorganisms and can achieve a specific fertilizer effect. This effect includes not only the supply of soil, environmental, and plant nutrient elements, but also the beneficial effects of the metabolites it produces on plants.

(5) Organic fertilizer refers to carbon-containing material derived from plants or animals that, after fermentation and decomposition, is applied to the soil with the main effect of providing plant nutrients.

(6) Refined organic fertilizer refers to commercialized organic fertilizer produced industrially that does not contain microorganisms with specific fertilizer effects.

(7) Blended fertilizer refers to fertilizer in which at least two of the three nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are indicated in amounts, made by chemical methods and physical processing.

(8) Compound fertilizer refers to blended fertilizer made only by chemical methods.

In addition, the types of fertilizers are now constantly increasing, and various organic fertilizers and chemical fertilizers are often found in the fertilizer market and in farmers' hands. How should they be mixed and applied?

(1) The nutrient ratio should adapt to crop needs: the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium nutrient ratio after fertilizer mixing should conform to the needs of one's own crops and soil characteristics.

(2) Most chemical fertilizers should be mixed and used immediately: chemical fertilizers are mostly salts and have a certain hygroscopicity. After fertilizers are mixed, their hygroscopicity will further increase compared with before mixing. Most fertilizers can be mixed and applied, but they should be mixed and used immediately.

(3) After mixing, fertilizer efficiency must not be reduced or lost: some fertilizers react after mixing, causing nutrient loss. For example, alkaline fertilizers such as plant ash mixed with ammonium nitrogen fertilizer will undergo a decomposition reaction, causing nitrogen loss; phosphate fertilizer mixed with alkaline fertilizer will reduce the solubility of the phosphate fertilizer, causing fertilizer efficiency to decline.