spreading granulated fertilizer

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spreading granulated fertilizer

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Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 06 8:31 pm Post subject: spreading granulated fertilizer
in the back of the stone barn we have found one of those huge bags of granular fertilizer that are normally hauled around by tractor it is going to have to be put on the paddocks by the shovel full and out of a wheel barrow anybody able to tell me when you should fertilize the grass land?

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 06 8:56 pm Post subject:
just before you want it to grow. We put ours down in early spring as soon as the grounds dry enough. Justme

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 06 10:10 pm Post subject:

When it is actively growing (soil temp +5 degrees), so you will have to wait until Spring now, as the temp.s are only dropping. There are certain important guidelines regarding fertiliser use: https://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/forms/agri_env/nvz/nvz4.pdf This is for NVZ's in England, but there's plenty of useful info that applies anywhere. Ideally you want it just before some light rain- too little rain & it sits on top defusing into the air, too much and it is lost to groundwater leaching. Be careful about calibrating your application too- too much will adversely affect growth (scorching) immediately & for years to come.

Is it straight nitrogen fertiliser or a compound (NPK)? The latter is not recommended for early Spring application for grazed forage. And rather than putting it on just before the spring peak, you are better putting it on just after the peak- late May/early June, to even out the supply over the summer trough, unless you specifically want loads of bulk in early spring.

I'd say not at all, but then we're that way out here

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 06 7:16 pm Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

ooh uh

complicated

don't know what it is really, i will try and have a snout at the bag properly tomorrow

one of the grooms said she had been told to spread it in the rain and i didn't think that was correct but maybe it is

sorry if i dont come back to you all immediately but this computer is on tiscali and frankly i don't rate it much, either drops out completely or takes so damned long that you have died and gone to heaven before you can submit anything

i am told that broadband arrives on monday so soon it will be sorted......then it will be eat my dust with replies......

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 06 10:05 am Post subject:

Nanny. Don't do it before a heavy down pour because obviously it will get washed away before it has time to work.

I'm an orrible dad I am ! I arm all four kids and myself with buckets and line them up across the field before marching them across it.
I make them scatter the fertilizer by hand from the bucket as we go. Perhaps thats why they tend not to come home very much in early spring and after that first flush of grass has gone .

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 06 10:25 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

I'd say not at all, but then we're that way out here

Do you just rely on muck then?

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 06 11:18 am Post subject:

On a muck only method arnt you always taking nutrients away from the land?

What I mean is say the land has a nutrient value of 100
As all your feed is from your own land that value is reduced (some goes into the feed some is used up) & put into the feed. That feed is then eaten. Again some is used up for the needs of the animal & some is passed out as muck. Then you take that animal away (so removing large amounts of nutrients). Net result lower ground nutrients even after the muck has been put back.

Or am I missing some thing?

Justme

PS I know you can add nutrients with the correct crops but surely not in large enough amounts

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 06 2:28 pm Post subject:

judith wrote:

Do you just rely on muck then?

I note your use of the word 'just'. See below.

Justme wrote:

On a muck only method arnt you always taking nutrients away from the land?

Or am I missing some thing?

Justme

To say that we are taking nutrients away is true, but then what are you returning to the land with artificial fertiliser? You are generally returning N, nitrogen, or maybe P & K, which, unless utilised at exactly the right time in the plants physiological cycle, will be lost to some degree to water or air, not to mention the things it doesn't even attempt to put back.

Although N, P & K are the most commonly recognised soil nutrients, but they are not the most important, in a healthy soil every element is as important as the next, and our understanding of how these nutrients & organisms interact is no where near fully understood.

In a healthy soil nutrients are being fixed in ways we can't see (or in many cases, appreciate) by microorganisms. Nitrogen is probably the most easily understood and applied, but despite us being constantly surrounded by a rich (78%) nitrogen source, we still feel the need to import vast amounts (and thus supressing the actions of the plants that nature put there to do the job for us).

Science cannot easily measure or quantify these natural systems, and therefore we start thinking of feeding the plant, while the soil provides support. If we feed the soil instead, it will sort itself out and we need not worry about erosion, leaching, flooding, or any of the other problems as a result of poor soil management.

BahamaMama

Joined: 21 Sep 2006
Posts: 2315
Location: Away with the fairies

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 06 3:24 pm Post subject:
How old is this bag of fertiliser? If it is past the sell by date it might not be worth the effort or the results might be patchy at best. May be better to dispose of - ethically of course.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 06 6:11 pm Post subject:
back again it is indeed NPK, 20% nitrogen is the first thing i can read i don't know how old it is, i believe it to be less than one year old from what one of the girls said she said she was told to spread it on the fields in the pouring rain last summer and did a couple of fields before it got too wet to carry on is there such a thing as a use by date on that sort of thing i have no idea

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 06 9:49 pm Post subject:
See: https://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/environment/land-manage/nutrient/fert/rb209/section1.pdf

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