Vineyard Nutrient Management
Essential Grapevine Nutrients
Except for a few minor crops or specific plant species, there are 16 nutrients that are considered essential for plant growth. Each of these 16 nutrients is equally essential for proper plant growth and development, yet they are required in very different quantities. These differences led to a natural grouping of the elements into three categories: primary plant nutrients (macronutrients), secondary plant nutrients, and micronutrients or trace elements. The primary nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). The secondary nutrients are calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S). Micronutrients or trace elements are those elements essential for plant growth that are needed in only very small (micro) quantities. The micronutrients are boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chloride (Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn). Some mineral nutrients have a structural function. For example, nitrogen is an integral part of plant proteins, and nitrogen and magnesium are structural components of chlorophyll molecules needed for photosynthesis. Understanding these basic functions has practical applications because a deficiency of either nutrient causes plants to be chlorotic (that is, yellowish in color). Other mineral nutrients have no structural role, but potassium, for example, is functionally important in causing the stomata in leaves to open and close.
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