Nutrition in living organisms is understood as increasing material through food. If we apply this definition to the plants and we stop for a moment to consider: What kind of foods are needed by plants? The following chart shows a clear indication of the response.

As you can see, among the constituents of the plant, 85% of its weight is water, another important part is the content of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, elements that are present in the atmosphere, and just a small part are mineral elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium.. elements that the plant takes almost entirely dissolved in water.

Another argument that strengthens the evidence of the importance of water in the nutrition of our crops is perspiration, and indeed there is an index that relates the amount of water that the plant needs transpire to produce a kg of dry matter. The range of this index is very large and they are normal values, 700 to 15 kg of water per kg of dry matter produced.

Irrigation, Fertigation or Both?

If we combine these concepts: water as the main constituent of the plant, transpiration and the need for mineral elements are present in the soil solution for the plant's can take, we need to consider providing water to our crops as fundamental to our strategy of fertilization and to understand that fertigation refers not only to the application of fertilizers through irrigation located as a vehicle, but the very importance of water as a "nutrient", so we must pay the utmost attention and proceed with appropriate treatments since the water reaches our farm until we place in the root zone.

Key points to consider about water:

Availability:

Enough quantity throughout the culture and homogeneity of the sources.

Chemical composition:

The total amount of dissolved salts gives us an idea of the feasibility of their use to irrigate our crops, but it is essential to know the exact composition to adjust the final nutrient solution and to provide possible toxicities by high concentration of some unwanted desire.

Health status:

Besides serving as transportation for nutrients, in irrigation water can incorporate a pathogen, living organisms and suspended elements that can cause illness or limit the normal distribution of water by sealing issuers.