Spring vs. Fall fertilizer apps Cancel The title field is required!

1. Sprague Lucas H

   
   6/6/2012 10:06 AM

   I've only been employed at this course for a very short three months and am facing several obstacles. One of them is convincing ownership and members that if we can only fertilize fairways one time each year then we should focus on a fall application. At Rutgers they explained that this will help shoot the roots into the soil before winter dormancy and then in the spring they will continue diving until summer stress, thus allowing maximum root growth before summer stress. If I've overlooked something or if you have any suggestions to why a spring application would be more beneficial then please share with me. The fairways are primarily Kentucky bluegrass but have a lot of annual bluegrass mixed with rye. We're located in south central Idaho.
   
   Lucas Sprague
   Canyon Springs Superintendent

   
   
   
   
2. Nowakowski Michael J

   
   6/6/2012 12:06 PM

   Not sure if you need the Poa annua to help fill in areas in the spring or not, maybe then I would consider a late spring/early summer app to encourage it.

   
   
   
   
3. Kevin Girt

   

   0 posts
   
   6/6/2012 12:06 PM

   I've been in the business a very long time. I've grown grass from West Virginia to Indiana, with stops in Kentucky, Tennessee and now in Louisiana. My advice to you with your locale is to make a spring app WITH a pre-emergent herbicide. Fall fert apps will encourage snow mold. Spring apps will help to heal and fill in areas and with the herbicide, reduce your crab and goose. Not to mention the beneficial effects it has against dollar spot. Mother nature has her way of growing grass and she does a wonderful job without our intervention. Take advantage of it and use your fertilizer app where it would do YOUR most good.
   Kevin

   
   
   
   
4. Zachary Wignall

   

   1 posts
   
   6/6/2012 3:06 PM

   Lucas, what's up man. Congrats on the job!

   
   
   
   
5. Churchill Kevin

   
   6/6/2012 4:06 PM

   Maybe you could do a fall application with a temperature dependent release product such as Polyon (releases at soil temp of 65 degrees and higher). That way, you could get some release in the fall to get what you want, then again in the spring once temperatures warm up. You'll lose it all in the summer if you put it out in the spring, but theoretically you'll be able to hit both seasons if you put it out in the late summer or fall, as its supposed to just sit in the winter. Just a thought.
   
   If they question the purchase of an expensive product such as Polyon or another slow release, sell it by explaining to them that it will give you extended benefits that will carry over for months, rather than just an initial flush of growth. As one of my mentors puts it......."what is the cost per month of being green and healthy?" Ammonium sulfate may only cost $5000, but you may only be getting 1 month of results from it. Another product may cost $12,000, but you could potentially be getting 4 month results from it.
   
   Kevin Churchill
   Kelly Plantation Golf Club

   
   
   
   
6. Churchill Kevin

   
   6/6/2012 4:06 PM

   I'm in the south however, so don't take my thoughts over Kevin Girts. If he says it will encourage disease, then take your safe bet.

   
   
   
   
7. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   6/6/2012 6:06 PM

   I would do what Kevin said and look at Polyon. Ignore the price. Tell them the cost went up. Then, apply a 180 day product, one time, in the spring. You will be good all year.

   
   
   
   
8. Sprague Lucas H

   
   6/6/2012 11:06 PM

   Sorry for the confusion with the poa annua. It is a weed in my opinion, not desirable at all.
   
   Thank you all for the input. Found it all relavent and usefull. Need to learn more about this Polyon product but also see the pre-emergent/spring app. theory as well.
   
   Wignall WOW! a fellow "Hairy Ligule" on the forum! need your info! email me: turfmanager@gmail.com

   
   
   
   
9. Churchill Kevin

   
   6/7/2012 7:06 AM

   Lucas,
   
   If this is your first super job, and you do not have much field experience, don't try to change agronomic practices from what the club is used to in the first years. The schooling that we have is a great tool, but its all theory. Experience like Kevin Girt's is invaluable, and its actuality. The last thing you need to do is change something that's worked for a club, as you're gaining experience, and then it doesn't work as planned or as thought it would. Stick with the basics and don't try to disrupt the club's trust in you. Once you gain some time and successes, then you can build off of that.
   
   The spring fertilizer and pre-emerge program is pretty much an agronomic staple throughout the world. My advice for what it's worth........don't change too much right from the start, just look to enhance it. Then you can build off of that.
   
   Kevin Churchill
   Kelly Plantation Golf Club

   
   
   
   
10. Baker Daniel

    
    6/7/2012 9:06 AM

    Don't look at just polyon if your looking for a long term fert. It seems like every distributor out there has a couple of these 180 day products they can price you. Bid them all against eachother and make them earn the business.

    
    
    
    
11. Keith Fellenstein

    

    0 posts
    
    6/7/2012 11:06 AM

    What product and rate will you be using? Might be worthwhile to consider a split app. Part in the spring and part in the fall. All depends on what you're using. I like to give my cool season turf a small shot in the arm in the spring but do most of my fertility on Bent/Blue/Fescue in the fall. Of course, I'm growing grass in a completely different zone. We worry more about summer diseases than winter. Lot's of ways to get the job done.

    
    
    
    
12. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    6/7/2012 1:06 PM

    Man it has been 17 years since my rookie year. I really do not know where you are located but I am in the south and I use a product from Regal Chemical that has a 9-12 month fertility window. it is based on urea formaldehyde (spelling) formulation. Within the last 7 years I have had to go from three applications to one per year when I can get it. This year I went with the better stuff because I know it will last the rest of the year and since it is broken down by microbes, when it get cold it stays in the soil waiting for a warm up.
    
    My first advice is do not believe everything a salesman tells you. Do NOT under any circumstance tell a salesman how much your chemical budget is (they will spend it all for you). get information from your salesmen as well as prices.
    It is very easy to let yourself be led in a new job but be careful there are a lot of people that will try to sell you snake oils.
    
    Remembering back to my first year the biggest lesson I learned was that when I saw something that did not look right and thought I should do this or that, I hesitated, second thinking myself only to end up doing it in a week or two anyway. so always go with your first thought or at least come on hear and ask questions. You have already gotten over the initial road bump by seeking experienced help from your peers. While we may not know it all or have all of the right answers we can collectively give you enough choices to choose from. Remember that there is a personal message function on this forum so you do not have to broadcast every issue you may have. certain members on this forums have different specialties and you may want to seek out information from those individuals through the PM feature or from emails. One thing about our organization that always makes me proud is our ability and desire to help others in the business. very seldom do you come across this, take advantage of it.
    
    when figuring out how much it will cost remember to figure in how long it last. a longer lasting fertilizer will cost more but if you divide the amount of weeks it is supposed to last with the cost you can decide how much per week it cost for the fertilizer. sometimes this becomes a better selling point then the bottom line. for instance a fertilizer costing $75 acre that last 8 weeks will cost you $9.40 acre per week. but a fertilizer that cost $84 acre that last 12 weeks will only cost you $7 week. we have 25 acres of fairways so that is a cost of $175 week over 12 weeks compared to an 8 week fertilizer which would cost us $235 a week. While the cheaper fertilizer cost less up front you actually save in the long run by spending the extra $9 acre for the 12 week fertilizer. my point is that cheaper is not always better. (please feel free to correct me if these figures are not right)

    
    
    
    
13. James Smith

    

    112 posts
    
    6/7/2012 1:06 PM

    Lucas Sprague said: I've only been employed at this course for a very short three months and am facing several obstacles. One of them is convincing ownership and members that if we can only fertilize fairways one time each year then we should focus on a fall application. At Rutgers they explained that this will help shoot the roots into the soil before winter dormancy and then in the spring they will continue diving until summer stress, thus allowing maximum root growth before summer stress. If I've overlooked something or if you have any suggestions to why a spring application would be more beneficial then please share with me. The fairways are primarily Kentucky bluegrass but have a lot of annual bluegrass mixed with rye. We're located in south central Idaho.
    
    Lucas Sprague
    Canyon Springs Superintendent

    
    Remember that timing is everything, if you use a fall application and you get an early winter you may lose half of the timing to "shoot the roots into the soil"

    
    
    
    
14. Kim Brock

    

    3 posts
    
    6/7/2012 11:06 PM

    Lucas, Poa annua can be your friend. Don't ever forget that.