How Fertilizer Feeds Turf
The main course for turf is the fertilizer's Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (N-P-K) formula. However, there's also a variety of secondary and micronutrients needed to keep turf healthy and growing - Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, and Chlorine.
Primary Nutrients
- Nitrogen (N)
- Key element in turfgrass nutrition.
- Promotes vigorous leaf and stem growth to improve the overall quality of the turf.
- Essential component of the chlorophyll molecule which gives turf its dark green color.
- Involved in regulating the uptake of other key elements.
- Phosphorus (P)
- Used in the formation and transfer of energy within the plant.
- Influences early root development and growth.
- Encourages plant establishment.
- Potassium (K)
- Used by the plant in large quantities, second only to nitrogen.
- Key component in the formation of carbohydrates, or food for the plant.
- Encourages rooting and wear tolerance.
- Enhances drought and cold tolerance.
- Key component in cell wall strength and resistance to disease.
Secondary Nutrients
- Calcium (Ca)
- Strongly influences proper soil pH.
- Essential to strong cell wall structure and cell division.
- Can imporve soil structure, water retention and infiltration.
- Magnesium (Mg)
- Plays an important role in photosynthesis and chlorophyll production.
- A necessary component in many essential enzyme systems within the plant.
- Important in aiding the translocation of phosphorous.
- Sulfer (S)
- Works with nitrogen to produce new protein for plant growth.
- Plays an important role in the utilization of oxygen by the plant.
- Influences the level of activity of soil microorganisms.
Micronutrients
Iron (Fe)
- Necessary for the formation of chlorophyll.
- Iron deficiences are most common in wet, cold or high pH soils.
- Aids in the activation of a number of biochemical processes within the plant.
Manganese (Mn)
- Important to the formation of chlorophyll and the activation of the initial growth process.
- Generally available in sufficient quantities in the soil.
Zinc (Zn)
- Necessary for the production of chlorophyll.
Copper (Cu) -
- Important in the synthesis of certain plant growth substances.
- Serves as an activator for several essential enzymes.
- Needed only in small quantites; large amounts can be toxic to turfgrass plants.
- Deficiencies are usually only found in highly alkaline (high pH) organic soils or heavily leeched soils.
Chlorine (Cl) -
- Although essential for proper plant function, only small quantities are required.
- May help in the regulation of osmotic pressure within the plant cell.
- Deficiency is rarely observed.
Granular fertilizers can contain a blend of nutrient particles or each homogenous particle can be comprised of all the nutrients. Some fertilizers use both approaches; they contain a blend of different nutrient particles and individual homogenous particle nutrients.
Nutrient Release
The nutrients in the fertilizer are made accessible to the plant through a number of natural release mechanisms -- Microbial Action and Soil Temperature; Osmosis; Hydrolysis; and Physical Breakdown. As the structure of the fertilizer pellet melts away, minerals are released into the soil and absorbed by the plant.
