Nitrogen is one of the most vital sources of nutrition for crops. It serves as a primary energy source, and the plant’s demand for nitrogen increases throughout the growing season. Unfortunately, it is often one of the most insufficient nutrients in crops.
Creating a proper nitrogen management program requires an understanding of nitrogen’s role in plants. First, nitrogen is a major part of the chlorophyll molecule, which is essential for photosynthesis. In addition, nitrogen helps create amino acids, also known as the building blocks of proteins. Amino acids are used in forming protoplasm, which drives cell division for plant growth and development. Since all plant enzymes are made of proteins, nitrogen is needed for all enzymatic reactions in a plant. Nitrogen deficiencies in plants will result in poor plant growth, and often leaves will look yellow because they are unable to make chlorophyll.
Most of the nitrogen applied in fall and spring applications is converted to nitrate (NO3- N) by June, and nitrate is highly susceptible to leaching and denitrification. To help with this issue, nitrogen should be split-applied throughout the growing season. Spreading out applications, and applying nitrogen as close to uptake as possible, can minimize the amount of time nitrogen is susceptible to loss in the soil. A split application allows for a consistent source of nitrogen, especially when the need for nitrogen increases in later growth stages.
Implementing a defensive nitrogen management program can help fill the gaps throughout the season. Split applications of nitrogen can easily be integrated into foliar applications to mitigate loss and risk. Helena recommends Coron® to meet the crop’s nutritional need for in-season nitrogen.
Coron is a controlled release foliar nitrogen (NH4+ N) that provides superior foliar fertility to address nutrient needs in-season. Because Coron has excellent tank mix compatibility, it allows you to fertilize your crops while applying crop protection products in one trip. Its adhesive properties keep the application on target to provide longer availability for plant uptake. With Coron, fine tune your nutrition program using timely applications during vital growth stages.