Fertilizer and Fertilizing
Fertilizer and fertilization is another piece of the sports field puzzle and you need to understand how it fits into your situation at your location on your fields.
Fertilizer is food for the plant and the soil. It can be in granular or liquid form. We usually think of fertilizer as feeding the plant, when in reality it feeds the soil and the soil thus feeds the plant. The soil is where the microbial activity is that breaks down the “food” to a form that the plant can use. The microbes themselves require certain amounts of air, food and water since they are living organisms. Thus the fertilizer you are putting down serves both purposes of feeding the organisms and adding nutrients to the soil. A compacted soil (very little air or water) will not have a very high level of microbial activity and these areas may not have much grass.
On a sports field (or any field for that matter), the organic matter is an important source of natural nitrogen, carbon and micronutrients. Because a typical soil situation is not one of balance, additional nutrients are needed to have just a normal rate of growth. Because a typical sports field is way beyond most normal growing situations, it will usually require specific attention to additional fertilizers and the scheduling of the applications. Heavy usage and/or environmental excess (wind, sunlight, temperature, water etc) will damage organic matter and is another reason a sports field is “not normal”. Organic materials can be added to the soil or they can be developed naturally with good growth and good maintenance practices.
Fertilizer needs can be generally figured from a good soil test. You’ll be able to see what the mineral balance is and which minerals need to be added to get the best growth. You’ll be able to find a blend of fertilizer already made up which will work best for you and each of your fields.
Frequency of application and the amounts used are very important because the type of soil has everything to do with how long the fertilizer works. Sandy soil will “leach” the fertilizer out of the root zone quickly and soils with more clay will hold fertilizer longer. You may have to feed a sandy soil every two weeks while 4-6 weeks may work better on the heavier soils. To help with this problem, some fertilizer is a slow release type and will help you to be more precise in timing your applications.
Liquid fertilizers work both on the soil and the plant materials. The micronutrients in the liquid materials are usually of the type called “chelated” which means that they are in a form easily absorbed by the plant. When soils are not balanced or are otherwise bound up, the micronutrients aren’t released completely and the plant doesn’t get the nutrition it needs, thus growth suffers.
Fertilization benefits are entirely dependent upon the health of the bacteria in the soil. These little animals break down nutrients for uptake by the plant whether the nutrients (minerals) are naturally in the soil or added as granular or even liquid fertilizer. A healthy plant absorbs foliar applied nutrients at best when the biology of the soil AND the plant are both working correctly.
SO, if the field stay wet, it shuts off air to the soil microbes and the fertilizer won’t break down and if it stays dry the microbes have no water and the fertilizer won’t break down. When the soil situation is right, the additional minerals from the fertilizers also need to be the minerals that are needed or that particular fertilizer won’t work here either because of an unbalanced situation!! Building higher levels of unneeded minerals is not the answer and is a waste of time, money and effort.
When considering nitrogen amounts (southern Bermuda grasses), it is a good rule of thumb to put down 1 lb of Nitrogen per 1000 sq ft per application. You might be able to use 1.5 lbs the first time and then cut back to 1 lb on subsequent apps. The plant will absorb or take up nitrogen until it burns up, so a heavy green color is not the best indicator of a healthy field (the plant uses up stored reserves in conjunction with processing the nitrogen “fuel”). Slow release fertilizers can usually be alternated with normal “quick release” fertilizers in order to control your color and mineral release.
Through experience, I have come to believe that granular fertilizers should always be the base of any field maintenance program. Liquid fertilizers, which are considered “foliars”, should be used mainly as the “frosting on the cake”. They are an excellent way to carry the micronutrients into the plant and they are an excellent way to get a quick “green up”. However, to rely upon liquid fertilizers for your complete soil amendment program is not recommended by me. I believe that “if you feed the soil, the soil will feed the plant” and the best way is to always us granular fertilizers (in conjunction with a soil test) as the base of your fertility program.
Fertilizer is food for the plant and the soil. It can be in granular or liquid form. We usually think of fertilizer as feeding the plant, when in reality it feeds the soil and the soil thus feeds the plant. The soil is where the microbial activity is that breaks down the “food” to a form that the plant can use. The microbes themselves require certain amounts of air, food and water since they are living organisms. Thus the fertilizer you are putting down serves both purposes of feeding the organisms and adding nutrients to the soil. A compacted soil (very little air or water) will not have a very high level of microbial activity and these areas may not have much grass.
On a sports field (or any field for that matter), the organic matter is an important source of natural nitrogen, carbon and micronutrients. Because a typical soil situation is not one of balance, additional nutrients are needed to have just a normal rate of growth. Because a typical sports field is way beyond most normal growing situations, it will usually require specific attention to additional fertilizers and the scheduling of the applications. Heavy usage and/or environmental excess (wind, sunlight, temperature, water etc) will damage organic matter and is another reason a sports field is “not normal”. Organic materials can be added to the soil or they can be developed naturally with good growth and good maintenance practices.
Fertilizer needs can be generally figured from a good soil test. You’ll be able to see what the mineral balance is and which minerals need to be added to get the best growth. You’ll be able to find a blend of fertilizer already made up which will work best for you and each of your fields.
Frequency of application and the amounts used are very important because the type of soil has everything to do with how long the fertilizer works. Sandy soil will “leach” the fertilizer out of the root zone quickly and soils with more clay will hold fertilizer longer. You may have to feed a sandy soil every two weeks while 4-6 weeks may work better on the heavier soils. To help with this problem, some fertilizer is a slow release type and will help you to be more precise in timing your applications.
Liquid fertilizers work both on the soil and the plant materials. The micronutrients in the liquid materials are usually of the type called “chelated” which means that they are in a form easily absorbed by the plant. When soils are not balanced or are otherwise bound up, the micronutrients aren’t released completely and the plant doesn’t get the nutrition it needs, thus growth suffers.
Fertilization benefits are entirely dependent upon the health of the bacteria in the soil. These little animals break down nutrients for uptake by the plant whether the nutrients (minerals) are naturally in the soil or added as granular or even liquid fertilizer. A healthy plant absorbs foliar applied nutrients at best when the biology of the soil AND the plant are both working correctly.
SO, if the field stay wet, it shuts off air to the soil microbes and the fertilizer won’t break down and if it stays dry the microbes have no water and the fertilizer won’t break down. When the soil situation is right, the additional minerals from the fertilizers also need to be the minerals that are needed or that particular fertilizer won’t work here either because of an unbalanced situation!! Building higher levels of unneeded minerals is not the answer and is a waste of time, money and effort.
When considering nitrogen amounts (southern Bermuda grasses), it is a good rule of thumb to put down 1 lb of Nitrogen per 1000 sq ft per application. You might be able to use 1.5 lbs the first time and then cut back to 1 lb on subsequent apps. The plant will absorb or take up nitrogen until it burns up, so a heavy green color is not the best indicator of a healthy field (the plant uses up stored reserves in conjunction with processing the nitrogen “fuel”). Slow release fertilizers can usually be alternated with normal “quick release” fertilizers in order to control your color and mineral release.
Through experience, I have come to believe that granular fertilizers should always be the base of any field maintenance program. Liquid fertilizers, which are considered “foliars”, should be used mainly as the “frosting on the cake”. They are an excellent way to carry the micronutrients into the plant and they are an excellent way to get a quick “green up”. However, to rely upon liquid fertilizers for your complete soil amendment program is not recommended by me. I believe that “if you feed the soil, the soil will feed the plant” and the best way is to always us granular fertilizers (in conjunction with a soil test) as the base of your fertility program.
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