TURF FERTILISER.
Using the right turf fertiliser technology is crucial to get the best results from your lawn fertilizer.
As sports turf consultants and turf agronomists, we believe that turf nutrition is the cornerstone of turf management.
This same principle applies whether you use a sports turf fertiliser or lawn fertiliser. Get turf nutrition right and it saves you a considerable amount of stress and money. This is especially the case when you bare in mind that fungicides now cost around AUS $1000/Ha.
The choice of lawn and turf fertiliser technology available has made turf nutrition more complicated than ever before. However, this increase in choice, means that there is always the right solution to meet your needs.
Just like the human body, if you eat badly, you are more prone to disease and don’t perform at your best. This same principle applies to a lawn, golf course or a stadium.
When you get turf nutrition right, there are several other less obvious benefits:
- Less disease. This means big chemical savings. It costs less to get your turf nutrition right if you use the right lawn fertiliser than if you have to spray a fungicide.
- Safety. When you use a turf fertiliser, it’s is a lot safer than when you spray turf chemicals.
- Better water efficiency. The right nutrition means that your turf is more efficient in its water use, as it has a deeper root network.
- Aesthetics. Your lawn and turf look better.
Fertiliser Technology.
As turf and lawn fertiliser suppliers, we have access to a wide range of fertiliser technologies. These range from mini prill lawn fertilisers ideal for golf greens to fairway and sports turf fertilisers.
The following are some articles that explain how some turf fertilisers work, and how to get the best from them.
- How to improve fertiliser efficiency using Aquimax.
- Magnesium turf fertilisers.
- How to choose a good fertiliser.
- What are Slow release fertilisers and what are your options?
- Cost effective fertilisation strategies.
- Turf nutrient management.
Quick-Release Sports Turf Fertiliser.
Straight NPK’s:
‘Straight’ lawn and turf fertilisers are your go to options if you are on a budget. These turf fertilisers tend to have a high salt index (burn potential) and so tend to damage turf if you do not water them in straight away. They also cause growth surges, which means you have to mow more often.
Water solubles:
These are a much better quality product than ‘straights’ fertilisers. In comparison to “straights’ they tend to be on the expensive side, and are also prone to “cake” or go hard once you expose them to the air and open the bag.
To overcome this, manufacturers use anti-cake agents that tend to be abrasive to spray equipment.
However, an advantage of the water solubles is that they allow you to “spoon-feed” turf. Spoon feeding means you are able to apply a little nutrient more often so turf grass is able to be fed what it needs, when it needs it.
Some products contain a small amount of surfactant to increase the leaf uptake of any foliar turf or lawn fertiliser.
Enhanced Efficiency sports turf fertiliser (EEFs).
EEF‘s limit nutrient losses and so improve nutrient use efficiency. You can divide this fertiliser technology into two groups:
- Synthetic slow-release turf and lawn fertilisers and
- Nitrification and urease inhibitors, like Alzon Neo N.
Slow-release sports turf fertiliser.
IBDU and urea-formaldehyde turf fertilisers fall under this heading. For more information check out this book.
| Technology. | Factors influencing release. |
| IBDU. | Particle size, soil moisture, and temperature all play a role. For example, release is 2 to 3 times faster at 27°C vs 10°C. |
| Ureaformaldehyde and Methylene urea. | The release rate of these is 10 to 12 times faster at 27°C vs 10°C. Also a large particle size and low soil pH have less of an effect in comparison to IBDU. |
| Sulphur-coated urea/Polymer sulphur-coated urea. | Coating thickness, quality, and the temperature all play a role in N release. |
Table showing common EEFs.
Product | Analysis. | Percent slow release. | Salt Index. | Mode of action. | Longevity. |
Entec® N. | 46-0-0 | 100% | 81 | Inhibited nitrogen | 6-10 |
Alzon Neo N. | 46-0-0 | 100% | 81 | Inhibited nitrogen and urease inhibitor. | 8-12 |
Green Urea | 46-0-0 | 100% | 81 | Urease Inhibitor NBPT | 6-10 |
Uflexx and Umaxx | 46-0-0 | 70-100% | 81 | Nitrification inhibitor DCD plus urease inhibitir NBPT | |
PCSCU (various | 39-0-0 | 100% polymer sulphur | Osmosis and | 8-12 | |
Poly S | 39-40 | 100% polymer sulphur coated urea | Osmosis and temperature | ||
X Cote | 43-0-0 | 100% polymer sulphur coated urea | Osmosis and temperature | ||
XCU | 38-43 | 100% polymer sulphur coated urea | Osmosis and temperature | ||
Ureaformaldehyde | 38-0-0 | 66% water | Soil microbial | 12-14 | |
Sirflor | 38-0-0 | Soil microbial | 12-14 | ||
IBDU. | 31-0-0 | 90% slow | 5 | Hydrolysis. | 6-12 |
Liquid triazone | 35-0-0 | 21% urea; 79% | Soil microbial | up to 6 | |
Coron. | 35-0-0 | 50% urea and 50% methylene ureas. | 5 | Soil microbial | up to 6 |
Liquids.
Liquid sports turf and lawn fertilisers give instant growth and colour response. This happens because with this fertiliser technology nutrients are immediately available, and leaves and roots quickly take up nutrient.
Use liquid turf fertilisers:
- When you want a quick result.
- Before warm-season turf like couch goes dormant and
- If you want to avoid mower pick up of turf fertiliser on low cut turf.
The main drawback of liquid turf and lawn fertilisers is that they don’t tend to last very long. There are, however, some slow-release liquid turf fertilisers now on the market.
We believe the best approach is to use both liquid turf fertilisers and granulars. In combination you get better results than if you rely on only one approach.
Slow-release Liquid Sports turf fertiliser.
Liquid slow-release fertiliser technology is available under several trade names like Fertech®, Sirflor®, and Nitrosert®. This fertiliser technology offers the following when you use it as a lawn fertiliser or a turf fertiliser:
- Longevities of up to six to eight weeks;
- Low burn potential;
- A high level of tank mix compatibility.
- Only the N component tends to be slow release.
You can apply slow-release liquid nitrogen as a spray application onto turf grass, and as the N source in NPK liquid turf fertilisers.
Organics.
Poultry manure and organic fertiliser from bio-waste, are a low-cost alternative fertiliser technology to synthetic sports turf fertiliser. However, organic turf fertiliser does have issues with salt index, odour and weed seed content.
Organic fertiliser from poultry manure can have a high salt index due to bulking up broiler chickens with salt. As broiler chickens grow, they are fed a high-salt diet. The broiler chickens then drink more water, put on weight, and then get to market faster. This salt then passes into their droppings which are then used to manufacture fertiliser.
No matter what the marketing says, if there are claims that they only use free-range manure in their manufacture these are highly debatable. Is there really enough free-range poultry manure in Australia to meet the demand for these fertilisers?
Another major problem with organic fertiliser from manure, is that it tends to have a highly variable analysis. You can’t produce a consistent fertiliser analysis if you only use manure.
Organic fertiliser from manure has a low N content, and this tends to be below 3 to 5% N, also manure based organic fertiliser almost always tends contains phosphorus.
Moisture content can also be an issue. If the product has not been dried properly you can expect to buy a product that contains around 12% moisture. This means that when you spread it from a fertiliser hopper it tends to smear over the inside of the spreader.
There is one final point about this fertiliser technology. Anyone who uses manure based fertilisers in the belief that they are doing the right thing for the environment actually isn’t!
Manure based fertilisers are a big contributor to global warming due to CO2, methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.
FAQ
Why fertilize turf?
The main reason to fertilize turf is so that it can grow properly. Fertilizing is like eating a meal. If we don’t eat the right things regularly and in the right amounts then we will get sick or not grow properly.
The aim of anyone growing turf is to provide a healthy, stress-tolerant surface that can withstand a high level of wear. The key to achieving this is selecting the correct fertilizer. This has a major influence on turf health. Too much nitrogen and the turf can become extremely prone to disease and have a low tolerance to wear. Too little nitrogen and recovery and growth are limited.
All the major nutrients (N, P, K) and secondary (S, Ca, Mg) are required in larger amounts than the traces (B, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn) but all of important roles to play in the growth of the turf plant.
What do the letters and numbers on a fertilizer bag mean?
Every fertilizer bag should have the nutrient analysis marked as N, P, K, S, Mg, Ca, and whatever trace elements are present. These are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium respectively.
In Australia, we use the elemental labelling system for nutrient analysis. In Europe and the USA, they use the oxide analysis. This can lead to some confusion. The nitrogen figure is the same with both systems but P, K, etc. are different.
Using potassium nitrate as an example, this is labelled as 13-0-36 in Australia and 13-0-43 in the USA, even though it’s the same product.
Consequently, to go from:
- Elemental K to the oxide form divide by 0.83 (or multiply by the inverse, 1.2).
- To go from elemental P to the oxide form, simply divide by 0.44 (or multiply by the inverse, 2.27).
- Similarly, to go from Ca to CaO, divide by 0.715 (or multiply by 1.39), and
- Finally, to go from Mg to MgO, divide by 0.602 (or multiply by 1.66).
When is the best time to fertilize turf?
Generally, the best time for lawn fertilization is in the spring when the soil temperature reaches 10ºC. At this temperature things are just beginning to grow, so the turf needs feeding. Feeding at this time will get the turf growing nicely heading into the summer.
Autumn feeding of warm-season turf increases turf density. It encourages new tillers, rhizomes, stolons, and more shoot growth. If you overseed, it will also help promote the growth of the young seed and consequently promote the production of carbohydrates. This helps turf survive winter stresses and encourages spring growth.
On golf course greens, regular light feeding throughout the year can have benefits in helping to counter disease and encourage recovery.
How often should you carry out soil testing?
Soil testing identifies nutrient deficiencies, predicts nutrient needs, and identifies toxicity issues. You can take soil samples any time of the year but not within two weeks of applying a fertilizer.
The frequency can be every two or three years.
On sand or new sports turf constructions, the low CEC means that initially, we recommend testing every year.
Whats a quality fertilizer?
A quality fertilizer flows freely, isn’t wet and contains what it says on the bag.
With granular fertilizers, excessive dust, a lack of particle uniformity, being damp, and smearing inside the fertilizer hopper are all good indicators of poor quality or incompatible ingredients used in its manufacture.
Likewise, with liquids, any residue at the bottom of the drum and filter blockages indicate issues.
