blueberry cultivation water and fertilizer: How to determine whether the nutrient solution is nutritious enough?

blueberry cultivation water and fertilizer: How to determine whether the nutrient solution is nutritious enough?
The supply of water and fertilizer to blueberries in matrix pots is mainly achieved through drip irrigation of water, fertilizer and nutrient solution. The fertilizer is "fed" to the blueberries every time watering. However, this involves a very critical and important issue - every time watering and fertilizing the blueberries in the matrix pots, how to judge whether the amount of fertilizer we add to the water (i.e., fertilizer solution concentration, nutrient solution EC value) can meet the nutritional needs of blueberries for growth and development?
If too little fertilizer is applied to blueberries, they will not have enough nutrition to grow normally, while too much fertilizer can easily cause root and seedling burns.

First point: The growth and development of blueberries in the matrix is ​​closely related to the EC value
The growth and development of substrate potted blueberries, as well as the annual water and fertilizer consumption, are all accurately determined by the fertilizer and nutrient solution that we drip into the substrate pot each time. We can quantify this substrate blueberry fertilizer and nutrient solution with a specific EC value. The EC value can help us quantify the amount of fertilizer used for blueberries, as well as the total concentration of various nutrients in the fertilizer and water used, and can also help us determine whether the blueberry roots are in a suitable substrate growth environment. But everyone should pay attention: the EC value of the nutrient solution used for substrate blueberries is not only directly affected by the quality of the raw water, but is also closely related to the composition of the fertilizer we use.

Second point: The EC value of the matrix blueberry fertilizer and water directly determines the growth and development of blueberries
In most cases, the EC value of the fertilizer and nutrient solution that is most conducive to the growth and development of blueberries is around 1.0. If the EC value of the nutrient solution is too low or too high, it will lead to poor growth and a significant reduction in yield of blueberries. In severe cases, it will cause yellowing of branches and leaves and death of roots of blueberries. If the EC value of the nutrient solution for the matrix blueberries is too low, it means that the amount of fertilizer is insufficient and the nutrient content in the nutrient solution is too little to meet the nutritional needs of the normal growth and development of blueberries. If the EC value of the matrix blueberry fertilizer and nutrient solution is too high, it means that the amount of fertilizer is too large and the nutrient concentration in the fertilizer and nutrient solution is too high. In this way, the blueberry roots will not only be unable to absorb and digest a large amount of surplus, but will also cause the blueberry roots to form reverse osmotic pressure and dehydrate, brown and wither and die.

This is the fundamental reason why we require everyone to test both the EC value of the inlet liquid and the EC value of the outlet liquid every time we drip water, fertilizer and nutrient solution into the substrate blueberry.

The third point: The EC value of blueberry fertilizer and water must be flexibly adjusted within a reasonable range according to the actual growth period
Although EC1.0 is the most comfortable growth state for blueberries, this EC1.0 is equivalent to diluting blueberry fertilizer with water 500 to 1000 times. However, if the EC value of 1.0 is used to drip-irrigate blueberries throughout the year, the blueberries will definitely not achieve high yields. Because the appropriate EC value required by blueberries fluctuates significantly in different growth stages throughout the year, the normal fluctuation range of the EC value of blueberries during the annual growth period is between 0.6-1.5. When the EC value of the matrix blueberry nutrient solution is lower than 0.5 or higher than 1.5, it will lead to poor growth and development of blueberries and a significant reduction in yield.