According to Table 1, the soils have a pH between strong and moderately acidic. They have low phosphorus contents. With respect to exchangeable bases, they have low levels of calcium in two localities and low in magnesium and potassium in all localities. In terms of minor elements, they are low in all localities, except for iron. In general terms, they are soils of low to medium fertility.

When performing a combined statistical analysis of the five crops, Table 2 shows that the dry matter production per meter and per hectare was affected by the amounts of chemical and organic fertilizer applied. Significant differences were observed between localities, being localities 1 and 2 statistically equal and different from locality three with productions of 1,055 and 1,146 kg of dm ha^-1, respectively. Work carried out by (Pedraza and Henao 2008) in Cundinamarca found high environmental variability (climatic and edaphic factors), it differs greatly in the nutritional requirements of the crop.

Table 2

Franco et al. (2023) evaluated in mint, the effect of the application of chemical synthesis compounds and organic matter, and determined that the crop is highly extractive in nitrogen; in addition, found that the chemical composition of the soil had a direct relationship with the dry matter contents in the plants obtained at harvest, which was similar to that reported in the present research, where significant differences were obtained with increasing doses of complete fertilizer (10-30-10), in combination with applications of organic matter.

According to Table 3, the simple factor of crops, presented differences between the crops carried out, the highest production of dry matter of mint per square meter and per hectare was observed in the first harvest, 158 and 1,141 kg ha^-1 after the first harvest showed a significant decrease in yields until harvests four and five.

Table 3

Table 4 shows the different combinations of chemical and organic fertilizer, this factor presented statistical differences between the different doses applied, being the one with the highest yield of dry matter when it was fertilized with 50% chemical fertilizer and 50% organic fertilizer (158 and 1,138 kg ha^-1 of dm). This treatment was statistically equal to the application of only chemical (1,090 kg ha^-1) and to the combination of 75% chemical fertilizer and 25% organic fertilizer (1,124 kg ha^{- 1} of dm). It should be noted that Henao-Rojas et al. (2022) reported that combined chemical and organic fertilization doses improve secondary metabolites and increase the yields of oils and volatile compounds, which is similar to those found in this study where the combined doses increased yields and improved the quality of the mint.

Table 4

In general terms, the order of nutrient extraction per ton of dry matter was N>K>Ca>Mg>P>S>Fe>Mn>Zn>B>Cu, which implies careful nutrient management to balance a high biomass growth and high production (Jiménez-alonso et al. 2012). Cano-Gallego et al. (2022) found significant differences with increases in soil fertilization (10-30-10), observing the highest expression of dry matter when between 120 and 180 kg ha^-1 are applied; within the study carried out, it was found that dry matter increases with the increase in edaphic fertilization (10-30-10), the same as reported in this research.

According to Table 5, it is observed that as the amount of chemical fertilizer decreases, the concentration of nutrients in the tissues decreases. Work carried out by Avelar et al. (2015) in the Mentha aquatica variety, found this same situation when organic fertilizer increased. The element that presented the highest concentration in the leaves and stems was nitrogen. N is one of the nutrients responsible for vegetative growth; however, it does not follow an infinite linear trend, but the crops reach a saturation point of the element (Alejo-Santiago et al. 2015); in second order there are potassium and calcium, this agrees with that reported by Castro et al. (2005) in dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis Weber). However, works carried out by Giraldo and Henao (2019), in absorption curves carried out in the greenhouse, found that the element that was most extracted was Ca, followed by K and N (58.87, 36.97 and 26.92 kg ha^-1 per production cycle, respectively).

Table 5

Work carried out by Ozcan (2004) in a local market in Turkey, in leaves and flowers of M. spicata, found that the tissues contained among major elements such as KYP, percentages of 2.47 and 0.22%, respectively. Among secondary elements they had concentrations of 1.13% Ca, 0.5% Mg and 0.31% S, and between elements less concentrations of 97.6, 18.7, 47.6, 8.48 mg kg^-1 of Mn, Zn, B and Cu, respectively.

In investigations carried out by Hart et al. (2003) during 3 years in six different locations, they found that the accumulation of biomass and concentration of nutrients in M. piperita fluctuated between 3.85 to 4.41% for nitrogen; 0.40 to 0.63% for phosphorus; 3.65 to 4.77% for potassium; 0.36 to 0.48% for sulfur; 0.88 to 1.52% for calcium; 0.28 to 0.45% for magnesium; and for the minor elements between 20.24 to 27.8; 1.25 to 19.4; 77.5 to 119.9; and 28.0 to 45 mg kg^-1 for B, Cu, Zn and Mn, respectively.

The minor elements are notable for the concentration of boron that exceeds zinc and copper. For phosphorus, the concentration was similar among all the applied doses, its content was between 0.38 to 0.56%. A similar situation occurred with magnesium (0.32 to 0.37%). The lowest concentration was presented for sulfur (0.34 to 0.37). Work carried out by Torres et al. (2013) on the species Satureja macrostema (Benth) Briq. found that the increase and yield of volatile compounds can be favored, which is closely related to the increase in biomass in plants treated with chemical fertilization. Franco et al. (2022) reported that the most relevant nutrients in the cultivation of Mentha, in their order were N, K, Ca and Mg, being similar to what was found in this study. It should be noted that the excess of Zn presented antagonism with B, showing a differential when making foliar and/or edaphic applications with this element.

In five harvests, it was determined that the removal of nutrients requires the application of at least 35 kg of N for each ton of dry matter of production; thus, 28 kg of K are required for each ton of extracted dry matter, Ca and Mg follow in their order (8.9 and 4.2%, respectively). In these soils derived from volcanic ash with low phosphorus content, a positive response to the application of this element can be expected, this is confirmed by the low concentration for the treatments of only organic and/or biological matter. To obtain good crops and maintain soil fertility, it is necessary to apply the following elements for each ton of dry matter (N 40, P 10, K 35, Ca 45, and 35 of Mg kg). According to Brown et al. (2003), to obtain high yields the mint crop requires between 250 and 300 kg ha^-1 of N, between 55 and 110 kg ha^-1 P₂O₅, and about 375 kg ha^-1 of K₂O.

In this research, it was found that the combination of chemical and organic fertilization in equal proportions increases crop yields. Likewise, the increase in chemical fertilization is proportional to the increase in dry matter in the mint crop, where the order of total nutrient removal per ton of dry matter was N>K>Ca>Mg>P>S>Fe>Mn>Zn>B>Cu.