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CULTAN(Controlled Uptake Long Term Ammonium Nutrition) is a relatively rare form ofsub-soil fertilisationused tosupply nitrogento crops. It was developed in the late 1960s by the Bonn-based agricultural scientistKarl Sommerand is used, amongst other things, ongrassland, inarable farmingfor cereals, maize, potatoes and beet, as well as inviticultureand intree nurseries.

In this method – unlike conventional fertilisation methods – plants are supplied with nitrogen only once pergrowing seasonusingammonium(^NH₄⁺) instead ofnitrates(_NO₃-N). Thefertiliseris not spread over thesoilor incorporated over a wide area, but is applied to the soil at specific points or in strips^[3].

A special injection technique is used to place the fertiliser solution 7 – 20 cm deep in the soil, slightly offset to the side of the seed or plant rows. For row cropswith wider row spacings, such as potatoes, beet or maize, this can be achieved technically with some effort. As a rule, however, the Cultan method is used for cereals and rapeseed, which have row spacings of around 10 cm. In these crops, off-centre application is not possible; on the contrary, a proportion of the plants – albeit a small one – is affected and destroyed by the injection technique.

(Excerpt from Wikipedia)