Educational Diagrams

Original WAFRA CITY illustrations explaining where fertiliser goes, how to read a label, what over-application looks like, and how to plant and measure safely.

Where fertiliser goes

Diagram showing where to place fertiliser around a tree A tree in cross-section. The band hard against the trunk is marked incorrect. The band extending towards and beyond the canopy edge is marked correct, because the absorbing roots are there.
  • Correct — across the root zone, towards and beyond the canopy edge
  • Wrong — hard against the trunk: outside the active zone, and it concentrates salt at the stem base
  • Drip line — the line beneath the canopy edge
The absorbing roots are away from the trunk. Fertiliser placed at the trunk therefore sits outside the active zone and can damage the stem base.
An important limit: under drip irrigation roots do not necessarily follow the canopy edge but concentrate where the water wets the soil. On a drip-irrigated tree the wetted pattern is the better guide.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. No distance or quantity is shown — those depend on species, age and irrigation system, and are settled by a site assessment and the product label.

Reading the label

Anatomy of a generic fertiliser label A generic unbranded fertiliser bag divided into four parts: the three numbers, the declared analysis, the method of application, and the safety block. 20 – 20 – 20
  1. The three numbers Nitrogen, then phosphorus as P₂O₅, then potassium as K₂O — percentages by weight, not a quality score. The last two are oxides, not elements.
  2. The declared analysis Every nutrient and its proportion, including what the three numbers omit — sulphur, calcium, magnesium and micronutrients.
  3. Amount, method and timing The crops named, the amount, and whether it is applied through irrigation water or to the soil. This is the binding reference.
  4. Safety and storage Precautions, protective equipment and storage. Completed by the safety data sheet.
The label is the binding reference for amount, timing, method of application and safety precautions. Any figure that contradicts it — whatever its source — should not be relied on. The bag drawn here is entirely generic: no brand, no real product.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Source for the facts: FAO Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bulletin 16 (2006), Chapter 5.

Macro and micro — the difference in scale

  • N · K about 80% of the plant's mineral nutrients
  • P · S · Ca · Mg 19% together
  • All micronutrients under 1% combined — the thin sliver at the end

To put the gap in scale: the ratio of nitrogen to molybdenum in plants is about 10,000 : 1, and plants need roughly forty times more magnesium than iron.

A small requirement does not mean a small consequence. Every micronutrient together is under one percent of the plant's mineral content, yet iron and zinc shortage is among the commonest problems on alkaline calcareous soils. The cause is usually not that the element is missing from the soil, but that it is not available to the plant.Original WAFRA CITY diagram. The proportions are stated verbatim in FAO Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bulletin 16 (2006), Chapter 3.

The damage that looks like hunger

Fertiliser burn — days

Fertiliser is salt. Applied heavily or onto dry soil, it raises the concentration around the root until water is drawn out of it. The plant wilts in moist soil and does not respond to watering.

Salt accumulation — seasons

Under drip, salts move to the edge of the wetted zone and concentrate there. The white crust appears at the rim, not at the emitter.

Same chemistry, different timescale. Fertiliser burn is acute, tied to an event and confined to where the product went; soil salinity is gradual, area-wide and accumulates over seasons.
Both are misread as hunger — and neither is ever treated with more fertiliser.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Sources: FAO Soils Portal, Salt-affected soils; FAO Fertilizer Bulletin 16, Chapters 3 and 4.

Planting depth

Correct

The root flare sits at surface level. The hole is wide, not deep, its sides broken, and it is backfilled with the original soil.

Wrong

The trunk enters the soil like a post and the flare is buried. A narrow deep hole acts as an underground pot and invites settling.

Planting depth is decided once and its effects last years. FAO's golden rule for date palm is: ensure the greater diameter of the bulb of the plant is at the same level as the soil surface — and the principle of not burying the stem base applies generally. Before any of it comes the drainage test: dig a hole, fill it with water, and watch.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Source: FAO Date Palm Cultivation, Chapter VI.

The fertigation path

  1. 1Water sourceAnalyse it — it adds salts with every watering
  2. 2Highly soluble fertiliserThe only form suitable for drip
  3. 3InjectorAt a rate the label sets
  4. 4FilterThe first point of failure — check after every storm
  5. 5EmittersTheir position decides where roots grow
  6. 6Root zoneWhere the water actually wets the soil
Fertigation delivers nutrients with the water in one operation. FAO notes that where irrigation water contains dissolved salts, drip is particularly suitable because less water is applied than with surface methods — the same network suits both problems.
The cost is real: drip and sprinkler are technically more complicated, and sediments may clog emitters. Step 4 is the one that fails in practice.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Sources: FAO Fertilizer Bulletin 16 (Glossary) and FAO Irrigation Manual 5.

Containers — the two failure modes

Heavy watering → leaching

Small volume, free drainage — soluble nutrients leave through the base.

Sparse watering → salt build-up

Salts have nowhere to go and concentrate in a small volume — the white crust is the sign.

Two opposite failure modes in the same vessel. That is why container feeding is a matter of consistency and small quantities at label rates, not of one correct dose. A container behaves like a very sandy soil with a hard boundary: what is not taken up promptly is not banked.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Source: FAO Fertilizer Bulletin 16, Chapters 3 and 4.

Mulch placement

Correct — an open ring

Bark visible and dry at the base. The layer is even and spread wide towards the canopy edge.

Wrong — piled at the trunk

The bark is buried and permanently damp — the commonest and most damaging error.

Mulching is not fertilising. It reduces evaporation, moderates soil temperature and suppresses weeds — it does not correct a nutrient shortage.
Note: coarse un-decomposed material can temporarily lower available nitrogen, so yellowing after a heavy dressing may be tie-up rather than a soil shortage.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. No depth is shown — we found no sourced figure for one. Source: FAO Bulletin 16, Chapter 3.

Measuring and applying safely

  1. Read the label firstIncluding the safety section, before opening the bag
  2. Measure by weightAn unmarked scoop does not tell you a weight — bulk density differs between products
  3. Work out the actual nutrientQuantity × percentage ÷ 100, then convert the oxides
  4. Apply in the root zoneNot at the trunk, and never into a palm crown
  5. Water it inSurface nitrogen on alkaline soil is lost as ammonia
  6. Reseal, store and labelDry, closed, in the original container, away from children and animals
No quantity, dilution or protective-equipment specification is given here. Safety precautions, protective equipment and first-aid information are stated on the product label and its safety data sheet, which are the authorities. Regulatory requirements in force in the State of Kuwait take precedence over anything on this page.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Source: FAO Fertilizer Bulletin 16, Chapters 4, 5 and 7.

What the three numbers mean

Nitrogen

Leafy growth and green colour

Nitrogen is part of chlorophyll — the green pigment in leaves — and an essential constituent of all proteins. FAO records it as responsible for the dark green colour of stem and leaves, vigorous growth, branching and tillering, leaf production, size enlargement and yield formation. It is the most abundant mineral nutrient in plants.

Phosphorus

Roots, energy and fruit formation

Phosphorus is essential for growth, cell division, root lengthening, seed and fruit development, and early ripening. It is part of several compounds including oils and amino acids, and its compounds ADP and ATP act as the energy carriers within the plant. It is far less abundant than nitrogen or potassium — about one-fifth to one-tenth the concentration of nitrogen.

Potassium

Water, quality and resilience

Potassium is the second most abundant mineral nutrient in plants after nitrogen. It is involved in the working of more than 60 enzymes, in photosynthesis and in moving its products to storage organs — seeds, tubers, roots and fruits — in water economy, and in providing resistance against a number of pests, diseases and stresses such as frost and drought. It regulates stomatal opening and therefore the plant's internal water relations.

The three numbers are always in the same order: nitrogen, then phosphorus, then potassium. They are not a quality score — they are three different jobs. The right bag is the one that serves the job you actually need, not the one with the biggest numbers. Quantity is not decided here: that comes from the product label and your own soil analysis.Original WAFRA CITY diagram; function text is read from the nutrient records. Source: FAO Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bulletin 16 (2006), Chapter 3.

Where a deficiency shows — and why there

Diagram showing where nutrient deficiency appears on a plant A plant divided into four zones from top to bottom: growing points, younger leaves, middle leaves, older leaves. Immobile nutrients show their symptoms at the top; mobile nutrients show theirs at the bottom.

Direction mobile nutrients travel under shortage

  1. Growing points

    • B Boron
    • Ca Calcium
    • Cu Copper

    The nutrient cannot move at all — new growth is hit first and cannot be rescued from the old leaves.

  2. Younger leaves

    • Cl Chlorine
    • Fe Iron
    • Mn Manganese
    • S Sulphur
    • Zn Zinc

    The nutrient is barely mobile in the phloem, so the plant cannot draw it out of an old leaf to feed a new one.

  3. Middle and older leaves

    • Mo Molybdenum

    Moderate mobility — the symptom appears in the middle of the plant rather than at either end.

  4. Older leaves

    • Mg Magnesium
    • N Nitrogen
    • P Phosphorus
    • K Potassium

    The nutrient is mobile, so the plant moves it out of the old leaves into the new ones — the old yellow first while the top stays green.

Where the symptom sits narrows the list before anything else does. Ask first: is it at the bottom of the plant or the top? That answer alone rules out half the nutrients. Position on its own is still not a diagnosis — salinity, irrigation faults, root damage and pests produce similar-looking symptoms.Original WAFRA CITY diagram. The facts depicted are documented on each nutrient record — source: FAO Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bulletin 16 (2006), Chapter 3.

The planting sequence

  1. Wide, not deep

    Width helps roots spread; extra depth makes the tree sink. Roughen the sides.

  2. Check the roots

    Tease out or cut circling roots now — they will not correct themselves after planting.

  3. ✓ ✕

    Root collar at the surface

    The trunk flare visible at or slightly above the surface. A buried collar is close to irreversible.

  4. Backfill, water, mulch

    Backfill with the soil you removed, water the root ball, leave a gap at the trunk. No fertiliser yet.

This figure deliberately shows no dimensions. The correct hole is measured against the root ball in front of you, and printing a number here would invite the very habit the planting guides warn against.
And no fertiliser in the hole: roots at planting are damaged, are not absorbing efficiently, and fertiliser in contact with them can cause injury.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Planting mechanics are horticultural and arboricultural common ground, labelled as such in the planting guides. Soil source: FAO Bulletin 16, Chapters 4 and 5.

The fruit-tree year — nine stages

  1. Before planting Drainage; soil and water analysis
  2. Establishment Water continuity
  3. Bud break and shoot growth Nitrogen supports canopy build
  4. Pre-flowering Excess nitrogen delays maturity
  5. Flowering A sensitive window — heat and wind disrupt set
  6. Fruit set Water consistency
  7. Fruit development Potassium removal is high
  8. Post-harvest Canopy recovery
  9. Dormant period Deciduous trees only

Stage 9 does not apply to every tree. Grape, fig and mulberry are deciduous and have a genuine dormancy; citrus, mango and olive are evergreen and have no equivalent. Calendar feeding of a bare tree is a listed mistake in those guides — a dormant tree is not using nutrients as a growing one does.

The stages are ordered, not scaled, and the figure states no month and no date: no Kuwait fruit calendar exists in any reachable institutional source, and we do not invent one.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The nine stages are those used in the fruit-tree guides' own stage tables. Source: FAO Bulletin 16, Chapters 3, 6 and 7.

The seven vegetable families

Fruiting

Grows and fruits at the same time — management is a constant choice between the two jobs.

Cucurbits

Separate male and female flowers — failed set may be pollination, not nutrition.

Leafy

The one family where nitrogen is the yield — and bolting ends everything.

Brassicas

Named by FAO: N, P, K plus sulphur and boron. Boron only after analysis.

Root and bulb

Soil condition beats nutrition — and excess nitrogen actively spoils the product.

Legumes

They make their own nitrogen — and generous feeding switches that off.

Culinary herbs

A kitchen shelf, not a family — half want water and richness, half are harmed by both.

Each card carries one defining fact rather than a summary. A summary would either repeat the family page or replace it, and neither is useful.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. Facts drawn from the family hubs and crop guides in this library.

Where the crop is decided — by family

Fruiting vegetables

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growth
  3. Flowering
  4. Fruit set and fillThe crop is decided here

Decisive stage: Fruit set and fill. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Cucurbits

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growth
  3. Flowering and pollinationThe crop is decided here
  4. Harvest

Decisive stage: Pollination, then fruit fill. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Leafy vegetables

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growthThe crop is decided here
  3. Flowering
  4. Harvest

Decisive stage: The vegetative phase IS the crop. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Brassicas

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growth
  3. Flowering
  4. Head or curd formationThe crop is decided here

Decisive stage: Head or curd formation. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Root and bulb

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growth
  3. Flowering
  4. Storage-organ bulkingThe crop is decided here

Decisive stage: Storage-organ bulking. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Legumes

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growth
  3. Flowering and pod setThe crop is decided here
  4. Harvest

Decisive stage: Flowering and pod fill. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

Culinary herbs

  1. Establishment
  2. Vegetative growthThe crop is decided here
  3. Flowering
  4. Harvest

Decisive stage: Repeated cutting — no single yield stage. Before it, nitrogen builds the frame; from it, nitrogen is restrained.

The boxes are ordered, not scaled — they do not represent durations. This figure states no planting date and no stage length, because our institutional sources contain no validated Kuwaiti crop calendar. WAFRA CITY's own preferred sowing windows are recorded separately as field knowledge.Original WAFRA CITY illustration. The decisive stage follows FAO's critical-stage ordering where one exists (Bulletin 16, Chapter 6) and the crop guides in this library.

About these illustrations

Every illustration here is an original WAFRA CITY illustration, built from the same identity colours the site uses. No commercial graphic or external source is copied, so there is no external licence to record.

Their text is real text rather than image, so it translates, selects, is read aloud by a screen reader, and adapts to right-to-left.

No illustration here states a quantity, a rate or a product. The authority for quantity is the product label and the result of your own soil and water analysis.