Farmers who are just starting their career often believe in false principle: “the more you put in, the more you get out”. All farmers, of course, like everyone else, want to get the most out of their fields. At the same time, unfortunately, they do not devote enough time to preliminary study of the issue and preparation for sowing.
This trend is reinforced by the bold statements made by some manufacturers about their products, they call them “secrets of success”. Various forums claim that buying one product will give you an incredible effect that even your neighbor will envy.
In order to understand the “Law of the Minimum”, we need to learn about how plants use nutrients for growth and development. Our task is to find additional solutions to improve the results.
At Wonder, we make products that we are proud of and can assure benefits of each. However, before we consider adding certain inputs to a classical growing system or hydroponic system, we will look at Liebig’s Law.
Liebig’s law “Principles of Liebig’s law of the minimum” also known as the law of limiting factors, comes from a discovery made by a famous German botanist named Karl Sprengel. This discovery was later popularized by the German chemist Justus von Liebich. This law states that plant productivity is affected by the element that is in the most deficit. This means that the plant will produce as much as the smallest available nutrient allows. Although this law ultimately had far-reaching biological consequences, this publication is based on lessons learned from practical experience related to plant nutrients.
Liebich illustrated the concept of limitation by using a metaphorical barrel, where each rivet represents a separate element. It is the sector where the section is the shortest that is responsible for the “leakage” of useful elements; this position of the board will cause the liquid contained in the barrel to spill out at this level. In other words, a carpenter who made his barrel 3 meters high would be working in vain if his last plank was only 1.5 meters long. With this scientific concept of limiting factors, it is intuitive and almost obvious how everything works. However, it is easy to overlook it when trying to fix problems or increase yields.
To illustrate this concept, let’s look at such macronutrient as phosphorus. Phosphorus (P) is crucial for a variety of plant functions, and it is also the basic building block of ATP, the energy-producing molecules in mitochondria (the energy-producing organelles of plant cells). Phosphorus has been shown to promote seed formation, root growth and early plant development. However, despite its biological importance, phosphorus is often over-applied to compensate for low plant productivity.
But despite the above, we want to warn that phosphorus is an important macronutrient, but not a panacea. As stated in Justus von Liebich’s “Law of the Minimum”, a plant can only metabolize a limited amount of phosphorus in proportion to other nutrients. At the same time, its excess will have no effect and can lead to burns of the plant during irrigation. You should be aware that excessive amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen run off into waterways and cause algae blooms. This process is known as eutrophication and leads to a lack of oxygen in water bodies, which leads to fish starvation.
Even worse, excessive amounts of certain nutrients can interfere with the absorption of other nutrients. Pay attention to the barrel: if you make one section too long, there will be less wood left to create other rivets and further reduce the barrel’s ability to hold liquid. Excessive phosphorus can interfere with iron absorption, excessive nitrogen can interfere with calcium absorption, and so on. These equally charged ions compete for space and displace others, which leads to inhibition of absorption by the vascular tissue of the phloem.
The attraction of introducing a large number of different substances into the plant’s nutritional system in the hope of increasing growth is real. But finally, one of the most difficult skills to master during cultivation is correctly identifying the true “limiting factors” of growth.This ability is developed by acquiring technical knowledge and paying close attention to plant performance before and after an application or treatment in your fields or on your farm. Adopting the paradigm of Liebich’s law of limitation in your production is an invaluable first step to solving many cyclical problems and reaching the full potential of your farm.
