Fertilizer and method for foliar treatment of iron-deficient plants

US5019149A · kind A · utility

Inventors

• Edwin F. Hawkins · Baton Rouge, US
• John G. Clapp, Jr. · Greensboro, US
• James E. Sansing · Chester, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 23, 1985
• Grant date: May 28, 1991
• Expiry date: Sep 23, 2005

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S71/02
• WIPO field: Basic materials chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A foliar fertilizer specifically for iron deficient plants which contains a complex of various ingredients such as citric acid admixed/reacted with ferrous sulfate previously converted at-least predominantly to ferric sulfate by oxidation at about 90 degrees or more centigrade or a neutralizing amount of ammonium ion, to a pH ranging from about pH 6 to about pH 7, the ferrous sulfate being typically produced by reaction of iron metal with sulfuric acid, excluding the presence of any phosphate salt, neutralized with NH.sub.4 OH, then admixed with urea and/or ammonium nitrate, the total mixture critically having a nitrogen-to-iron ratio of not less than (i.e., at least) 3/1, preferably within a range of about 4/1 to about 5/1, in aqueous solution, and the method including using the above-noted fertilizer complex as a source, diluting with water such that the source as a percentage ranges from about 5% to about 40%, followed by foliar spraying onto plant foliage, up to an application of about 5 lbs. of iron per acre, the chemical composition including typically about 60% citrate by weight relative to iron, total nitrogen being typically about 10-30 wt. % of the chemical composition.