Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Turf Nutrition and Fertilization
The Essential Nutrients
Unlike animals, which must digest proteins, carbohydrates, fats and
other organic nutrients, plants require only inorganic mineral nutrients.
Sixteen chemical elements have been identified as necessary for the
growth of turf-grasses: carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen
(N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg),
sulphur (S), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), boron (B), copper
(Cu), molybdenum (Mo) and chlorine (Cl). These are the
essential nutri-
ents
, those that are required for growth and development of turf and
without which the grass plant cannot complete its life cycle. Carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen are taken from the air and water. These elements
play an important role in photosynthesis, the process of forming carbo-
hydrates (i.e. compounds consisting only of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen) from carbon dioxide (CO
2
) and water (H
2
O). The other 13 essen-
tial elements are categorized into two groups:
macronutrients
and
micro-
nutrients
. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are frequently called
primary macronutrients. Turf requires them in the largest quantities,
and they are usually the first in which the plant becomes deficient.
The secondary macronutrients - calcium, magnesium and sulphur -
are just as important, but they are required in smaller quantities and
seldom produce symptoms of deficiencies. The micronutrients - iron,
manganese, zinc, boron, copper, molybdenum and chlorine - are re-
quired by plants in only very small quantities. Iron is the only micronu-
trient
in which turf-grass plants are likely to become deficient.
