Soil School: How nutrients move and the impact on fertilizer management

Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous move quite differently though the soil and understanding how they travel is key to helping growers choose the best application strategies.

Phosphorous, for example, tends to be more like a tortoise, moving slow and methodically through the soil. Nitrogen, on the other hand, is the hare, racing quickly through the plant root zone and the soil profile.

On this episode of RealAgriculture's Soil School, University of Guelph associate professor Dr. John Lauzon looks at how root interception, mass flow and diffusion transports nutrients in the soil to the root surface.

When it comes to phosphorous, Lauzon notes that nutrients can move as little as 1/16 of an inch over the course of the growing season. With such little mobility, he notes that it's important for growers to adopt the right application strategies.

Lauzon explores why there is an advantage to banding low mobility nutrients, particularly phosphorus, close to the seed. He also offers tips on how close is too close when it comes to banding and why ammonium phosphate is used as a banded fertilizer or in blends.

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