How long does fertilizer enhance growth?

[herofan]

I was recently talking to a guy who said his in-laws fertilized his lawn while he was away in the spring, and now he had to mow about every five days, and he didn't like it.
I asked, "How long does that last?" He said with a frown, "About two years." Is that true? Will the appropriate fertilize affect growth for a couple of years. Of course, I'm thinking hay fields.

 

[Bigfoot]

N doesn't hang around very long at all. P and K, can be fairly long lived.

 

[Jogeephus]

What Bigfoot said. Rule of thumb I use is one day of grazing for each pound of N applied.

 

[torogmc81]

14-14-14, 100% slow release, the N still only lasts 4 months. Two years???

 

[1982vett]

If your not carrying the clippings off you end up recycling nutrients. But I'll also say water is the main reason grass grows. Fertilizer and no water doesn't grow grass.

 

[Deepsouth]

What Bigfoot said. Rule of thumb I use is one day of grazing for each pound of N applied.

Jo are you working that off of the actual nitrogen or the total pounds of fertilize you put out?
Ex: 100 lbs of ammonia nitrate per acre. 33% actual nitrogen.
I assume you are saying that the nitrogen will last 33 days.

Does rain amount, plant type or length of day affect it?

 

[Bigfoot]

What Bigfoot said. Rule of thumb I use is one day of grazing for each pound of N applied.

Jo are you working that off of the actual nitrogen or the total pounds of fertilize you put out?
Ex: 100 lbs of ammonia nitrate per acre. 33% actual nitrogen.
I assume you are saying that the nitrogen will last 33 days.

Does rain amount, plant type or length of day affect it?

Just a wild guess, I'd say a sandy soils would loose N much faster, than a clay soil. It would leach out with the water.

 

[greybeard]

I was recently talking to a guy who said his in-laws fertilized his lawn while he was away in the spring, and now he had to mow about every five days, and he didn't like it.
I asked, "How long does that last?" He said with a frown, "About two years." Is that true? Will the appropriate fertilize affect growth for a couple of years. Of course, I'm thinking hay fields.

With rain, mine has to be mowed every 5 days due to height no matter what, but with rain and fertilize, it grows much much thicker and takes longer to mow than in times we just have rain and no fertilizer added.
More 'blades per sq foot" so to speak.

I did my lawn with 13-13-13 this last spring and it really made a difference, but by the end of August, it wasn't doing nearly as well as it was in June and early July, even tho Aug was a wet month.

If your not carrying the clippings off you end up recycling nutrients.

My sister, about 5 miles from me, bags all her clippings and uses them as garden compost, but her yard looks like hammered dog shyt. I try to get her to mulch in the clippings or just leave them laying in the grass, but she said she doesn't "like the way it looks" when she does that. She can't understand that she is taking and taking and taking and giving nothing back and her yard now consists mostly of just mowed down weeds.

 

[Jogeephus]

What Bigfoot said. Rule of thumb I use is one day of grazing for each pound of N applied.

Jo are you working that off of the actual nitrogen or the total pounds of fertilize you put out?
Ex: 100 lbs of ammonia nitrate per acre. 33% actual nitrogen.
I assume you are saying that the nitrogen will last 33 days.

Does rain amount, plant type or length of day affect it?

Yes, 100 lbs of nitrate would give you 33 days of good growth when all things are equal. This comes in handy when you are growing something like millet. or some other cover crop. No need to dump 100 lbs of N on the ground and have it volatize or leach away. Best growth is seen when you apply say three applications rather than just one heavy one. It also hedges your bet in the event it doesn't rain.

 

[herofan]

For those of you that experience a good dose of all four seasons, like here in KY, in what spring month do you fertilize your hay fields?

 

[dun]

For those of you that experience a good dose of all four seasons, like here in KY, in what spring month do you fertilize your hay fields?

The first one that is dry enough to not rut the fields when driving on them.

 

[Bigfoot]

For those of you that experience a good dose of all four seasons, like here in KY, in what spring month do you fertilize your hay fields?

Not sure if money is a deciding factor for you like it is for me, but I've started putting some nitrogen on in the spring, and if it rains, I'll put some on later. I've gotten tired of paying my fertizer bill to see it go to no use in a drought.

 

[Louthelivestockguy]

Fertilizer will enhance growth for as long as it is available to the plants that are growing. Some plants require a lot of nutrients while others not so much. The units you put down depend on the unit requirements of the forages that are growing. If you get nutrient removal app., it will tell you how much of each species of forage will remove. The problem I find is it is only for monocultures. It is hard to calculate needs for diverse forages like most livestock guys are using. Best bet is to figure the most dominate species in the field and estimate yearly needs from your tonnage goals using nutrient removal charts.

I really have great luck with putting down 9-23-30 with an additional slow release nitrogen (ESN) of 50# on top of the 150 #'s of 9-23-30 at end of winter near the last frozen days before spring. I am very flat and have clay, wet ground. If a waited till spring, it usually ends up being early summer before you can get in without rutting it up. My parents farm is hilly and you can get in there during spring time just watch out for low lying ditches or you will be stuck!!