Fertilization.

The crop eats through the dripper

In a modern greenhouse the plant is fed through the irrigation water, not the soil, so fertilisation and irrigation are effectively one system. Concentrated nutrient stocks are held in separate A and B tanks — kept apart because calcium from one and sulphates or phosphates from the other would react and precipitate if mixed at full strength — and are dosed into the irrigation flow in precise proportions on every irrigation turn. The result is that each dripper delivers not just water but a complete, dissolved meal tuned to the crop.

The recipe itself is built from the major nutrients — nitrogen, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium — together with the trace elements such as iron, manganese and boron that a crop needs in tiny but essential amounts. The dosing system continuously measures the electrical conductivity (EC) and pH of the mixed solution and corrects on the fly: EC tells it how concentrated the feed is, pH keeps the nutrients in the chemical form the roots can actually absorb. Hold those two values steady and the crop gets exactly what the grower intends, drip after drip.

Crucially, the balance is not fixed — it shifts with the growth stage. Young, vegetative plants want a nitrogen-led recipe to build leaf and structure; at flowering and fruit set the emphasis moves toward potassium and calcium to support fruit quality and prevent disorders; in full production the feed is balanced to sustain a heavy, continuous crop load. In recirculating systems the calculation is more subtle still, because the returning drain water already carries residual nutrients that must be measured and accounted for before fresh fertiliser is added, so nothing is wasted and nothing accumulates to toxic levels.

Getting fertilisation right is one of the highest-leverage decisions in the whole operation: it drives yield, quality and shelf life directly, and it is where a skilled grower earns their keep. We engineer the dosing installation — tanks, injectors, measurement and control — around the crop and water source, and through our grower support help build the recipes that make it perform. Get in touch to design fertilisation for your greenhouse.