Phosphorus in Turfgrass Management

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Facts known about phosphorus that should be of importance to those who manage fine quality turfgrass for a living include:

Phosphorus is one of the six macronutrients required by turfgrass. The others are: nitrogen, potassium, calcium magnesium, and sulfur. Phosphorus is usually the most neglected by turfgrass managers, yet no element plays a more inportant role in the overall metabolic process of the grass plant.

Tissue content of the leaves should contain from a minimum of 0.40% to 0.60% in the dried tissue or 10% of the nitrogen level.

Although the roots absorb phosphates, the concentration of P in the soil is usually very low because P has low water solubility. There are basically three valences of P in a soil solution and all three are anions. Therefore they are attracted to the cations and form many insoluble salts. Many of the granular fertilizers containing phosphorus are ineffective because the P in the fertilizer
forms these insoluble salts quickly in the soil. This is especially true with Ca in high calcareous soils.

Phosphorus can be quickly absorbed by the tissue and is very effective when applied as a foliar.

Artificial rootzone mixes high in sand such as U. S. G. A. greens are often low in exchangeable P.

A good distribution of N-P-K in a tissue test is a 10-1-8 ratio. Do not rely totally on a soil test to determine the amount of P in the plant. Many times the plants have a hard time with the uptake of P. Phosphate absorption by roots is a complicated process.

The highest distribution of phosphorus within the plant is in the cell plasma and it is a key ingredient in the photosynthetic process needed to do the cells work. It is a building block for the amino acids.

Plants with high levels of phosphorous have an increased tolerance to many stress conditions. Good phosphorus levels also help turfgrass recover from stress or injury more rapidly. There are also some indications by several researchers that P plays a key role reducing disease infections.

It is well known that phosphorus is very important in turf establishment, especially from seed and it commonly has the highest nutrient value in a grow-in fertilizer.

Since most golf greens, especially those grown on a sand base rootzones, are usually maintained under some degree of stress it is safe to assume that adequate levels of P in the plants will beneficial in your program. As uptake
of P by the roots can be limited, one of the best ways to keep adequate levels of P in the plant is with regular foliar applications of good quality products such as Grigg Brothers Nutra Green™ or P-K Plus™

Gary holds a BS degree in Agriculture and Entomology from Utah State University and a Master of Science degree in Agronomy from Michigan State University. After a 34 year career as a golf course superintendent he retired to become co-founder of Grigg Brother Fertilizers.


	release 1/19/2011

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