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Controlled release fertilizer gives lawn care operators a myriad of choices when it comes time to apply. There's dry, liquid, slow release, controlled release and a ever-changing selection to choose from.
Buckeye EcoCare in southern Ohio uses both liquid and dry fertilizer applications, based on the other ingredients they’re mixing, or not mixing in the case of dry materials. “Our technicians can use either a liquid application or a dry application,” says owner Mark Grunkemeyer. “So they have the capability of using liquid time release fertilizer or dry time release fertilizer and it’s all based on the weather.”
If the temperature is above 80 degrees, technicians will use all time release fertilizer, but it’s below 80, they’re using all regular fertilizer. It’s important to watch the skies as well since rainfall and humidity – the amount of moisture around the plant – are important factors for fertilizer release.
So if there has been a lot of rain, Buckeye EcoCare changes its plans. “If it’s below 80, we use a higher rate of nitrogen to get it to release right away because the moisture is there and it will impress the customer more.”
Regulating day by day.
By watching the thermometer, Buckeye EcoCare can regulate how much nitrogen is released on nearly a daily basis. "We are able to, when it’s warmer out and there’s no moisture available, put the same rate of fertilizer down and have it release slower based on the percentage of nitrogen that’s controlled or slow releas," he says.
Here’s an example from Grunkemeyer:
It’s 70 degrees in Ohio today and there’s plenty of soil moisture, and we want to put down X rate of fertilizer. We go ahead and put it down. Tomorrow, it’s 80 degrees and we want to put that same X rate of fertilizer down to make the customer happy and make his yard green. We will use a 20 percent slow release, so in other words, 20 percent of the nitrogen will release over time, over 8-10 weeks. And the other 80 percent of the nitrogen will release right away.
Let’s say the next day, it’s 90 degrees. We will use a 50 percent controlled release or slow release fertilizer. Because the temperatures have gone up, we don’t want the salt, the nitrogen to release all at once if it rains tomorrow or the next day or the next week. So 50 percent, as much as 50 percent, we’ll go up to 50 percent. We usually don’t use much more than that. It usually doesn’t get much above 90 degrees here in southern Ohio.
Taking inventory.
Grunkemeyer says he sees no downside to using controlled release fertilizer, but it does require a lot of inventory. When the seasons start to change, like in May or September, Buckeye EcoCare has to keep different percentages of controlled release fertilizer on hand.
In Ohio, where the temperatures can fluctuate from 85 to 70 in just one day, and then drop suddenly, it pays to be prepared. “On the dry side, we have to keep inventory that’s 20 percent, 30 percent slow release and no slow release,” Grunkemeyer says.
That’s not a problem when it comes to liquid applications since the company keeps a regulator on hand, and then applies it as needed to the tank with the nitrogen.