"Florikan's award-winning fertilizer products provide plants with time targeted nutrients in a single application, saving time, labor and money. The products also protect the environment from excess applications and runoff"

Stefan Jaeger, CAE
Senior Director,
Strategic Development & Planning,
National Society of
Professional Engineers

By adapting Best Management Practices when it comes to nutrient use, our industry can be a part of the solution. Reducing nutrient run-off is basic common sense. Here are six steps to follow:

General Guidelines

• Take soil and leaf tests before applying nutrients.
• Reduce the use of phosphate (P).
• Reduce the use of Nitrogen.
• Add fertilizer no more than twice per year and use controlled release fertilizer.
• Apply a minimum of fertilizer in the summer rainy season.
• Create a 10-15 foot border between areas where fertilizers are applied near bodies of water.

The Florida fertilizer industry advocates Best Management Practices (BMPs), and while not law, these practices are endorsed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. If we all do our part, we can contribute to sustainability.

From the Chesapeake Bay to the Adriatic Sea, and to the Seas of Japan, research has found:

• Many of these regions witnessed reductions in HAB incidence when nutrient controls were put in place.
• It is not too late to remove environmental damage. Everyone can be a guardian of their environment.

Fertilization Guidelines

• Minimize liquid supplements and apply only as warranted by testing.
• Fertilize with the appropriate analysis; higher P at the beginning of fertility cycle for root development; K for mobility of nutrients within the tissue and N for growth.
• Reduce N and P for finishing of plants and increase K for stress resistance.
• Fertilize with the appropriate duration of release and minimize the use of granular fertilizers.
• Place the fertilizer in the soil by incorporation, sub-dressing, or dibbling.
• Adjust soil pH based on crop to maximize nutrient availability.

Soil & Pest Control Guidelines

• Utilize Indicate 5 to acidify and buffer spray and drench water for chemicals that perform best in acid water.
• Use Florikan Shelf-Life™ to improve water penetration in soil.
• Increase the use of Target Horticultural Oil™ to reduce pest population prior to the use of chemical pesticides to reduce resistance.
• Use biological controls whenever possible such as predatory nematodes for fungus gnats and predatory mites for spider mites, etc.
• When needed, rotate chemical classes for pest control, as different modes of killing action must be used to avoid pests becoming resistant.

For 25 years, Florikan has not sold a chemical pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide. We advocate the use of Sustainable Pest Control (SPC) principles which are based upon a holistic view of crop production. Florikan provides live predatory insects, biological controls, and natural oils to its customers for use as alternatives to toxic chemicals.

TECHNOLOGY - Florikan's Patented Coating Technology
The company's signature technology, Staged Nutrient Release^® (SNR), is a cost effective and environmentally preferable alternative to traditional fertilizers. SNR works by timing the controlled release of nutrients to a plant’s needs so that Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium are available during the appropriate time of a crop cycle. If a fertilizer is feeding a plant nutrients that a plant cannot absorb then there is only one place for those nutrients to ultimately go, and that is eventually into the groundwater. [more]