Nitrogen
Phosphorus
recommend the use of foliar phosphorus, as this will be taken up by the leaf and promote root development. This will, in turn, help the plant to utilise the phosphorus within the rootzone.
Potassium (K) - Potassium is essential for disease management, as it will not only help with disease recovery but also with disease resistance. Potassium will combine with calcium to form calcium pectate which is required by the plant to form a ‘scab’ over wounds. These wounds can have been caused by either mechanical or fungal attack.
I have known several course managers who have resisted using a fungicide and applied a high rate of potassium when they first identify disease. This has been successful in terms of the plant, the environment and also, importantly, their budget. Potassium is available in many forms and these include potassium nitrate, potassium sulphate, potassium oxide and potassium chloride. For cool season grasses the chloride, which is widely used in agricultural fertilisers, should be avoided as the salt index is too high. The sulphate should be avoided if you have a medium to
Potassium
Calcium
high risk of black layer although, as I will discuss later, sulphur is a vital part of the process.
Calcium (Ca) - Calcium is the single most controversial element in turf management. For many years, if anyone had suggested to a course manager that he should apply calcium he would have been escorted from the premises. However, it is now widely accepted that the turf plant has a requirement for calcium, which should be balanced against the risk of making the rootzone so alkaline that the coarser grass varieties are encouraged.
Calcium is essential in the formation of
strong cell walls that are better able to withstand disease attack - the thicker cell walls also ensure that the plant has a stronger more upright leaf which will help to provide a better surface. As mentioned in the section on potassium, calcium also helps the plant to recover from disease attack. Having outlined the importance of calcium I would stress that, in twenty eight years in the industry, I have never seen a soil analysis that I felt indicated the use of bulk calcium. The normal requirement for turf is a liquid at 20 litres per hectare. If
Magnesium
Nitrogen
this is a 10% calcium, this will give two kilos of calcium per hectare, this will not effect the pH.
Calcium comes in many forms from the highly soluble and, consequently, instantly available to the virtually insoluble forms which will give a slow release. Calcium is also available linked to other nutrients, such as calcium nitrate, which is linked to nitrogen and is a good source of calcium for the turf. Or, it can be calcium chloride which, generally, is not a good source for turf as it has too high a salt index and can desiccate the leaf.
Magnesium (Mg) - Magnesium is required for chlorophyll production and root development. Particular care should be taken when tank mixing magnesium as it tends to react with potassium and goes thick in the tank.
Sulphur (S) - Trials at the Yara Phosyn laboratories demonstrated that sulphur is essential for the health of the turf plant and, without sulphur in the rootzone, the plant could not take up the nitrogen and growth was limited. But, once again, turf management is a complex balancing act because too much sulphur within the
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