Greetings!
A few days ago, I applied for the second time an organic fertilizer to a single section of our rice farm that I am experimenting with, the rest of our rice farm received a common commercial fertilizer in the form of 16-20-0 and UREA (5 bags of 16-20-0 and 1 bag of UREA, each bag weighs 50 kgs). This is the first time that I am using an organic fertilizer which is why I decided to test it in one section of our rice field to see what its difference is from those that received 16-20-0 and UREA. As far as the first application of common commercial fertilizer and organic fertilizer it seems to me that there is no difference at all in the effects of both. Our rice crops' age as of today (July 25, 2022) is 24 days old.
In applying the organic fertilizer, I used a rechargeable sprayer with a 16 Liters capacity (photo below). The sprayer is carried like a backpack.
In measuring the amount of organic fertilizer that needs to be used I used an empty can of sardines (as instructed in the packaging of the organic fertilizer). The empty can of sardines has a capacity of 5.5 oz. I shook well the organic fertilizer container then I put two full cans of organic fertilizer into the sprayer (see gif image below).
Then I put 16 liters of water into the sprayer. It is a good thing to put the organic fertilizer first followed by the water so that the organic fertilizer will be mixed well when putting water.
And then it is time to spray the organic fertilizer on the rice crops. The section I am experimenting with is just located beside one of our house's concrete walls. As can be seen in the gif image below, I am wearing a long sleeve, a hat, parachute pants, and an overall face cover. I did not wear any footwear because it is hard to walk on the rice field when you have footwear on. In the gif image below I am wearing slippers, but I removed it prior to entering the rice field.
Below is the gif image while I am starting spraying the organic fertilizer. At first, it is quite hard to walk on the rice field because of the deep puddled mud and because of the heavy sprayer I had on my back. At first, I have to find my balance because the sprayer on my back is unstable because of the water inside it but after a couple of minutes I already got my balance quite well.
A few more steps into spraying, I noticed that I am putting the nozzle of the sprayer too low, which is wrong, the exhaust should be clearly seen for optimal distribution of the fertilizer (see gif image below). Also, at this point in time, I noticed that the full face cover that I am wearing is not enough to block the chemical from entering my nose so I asked my wife to get me the medical face mask that I am wearing whenever I am spraying on our rice farm.
Then another few more steps into my first return path into spraying I adjusted the nozzle a little bit higher from the tip of the rice crops' leaves (as can be seen in the gif image below), which distributes the fertilizer a lot better than when it is too low.
By the way, guys, spraying an organic fertilizer is a little bit harder (especially when the sprayer is full) than applying pellet fertilizers such as the 16-20-0 and UREA.
Below are short videos of me while I am doing the job.
That is all for now guys, catch you up with the next rice farming blog. Wishing you all safety, good health, and abundance.
