# Adding Phosphorous



## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

Hi, 
My soil is phosphorus deficient. I'm considering adding phosphorous by itself as I have already dropped Urea. What type of phosphorous delivery should I use? I have read about a couple different phosphorous supplements and I'm not sure which is best. Is it okay to drop the phosphorus now? I live in Ohio and we only have a few more weeks of growth.

What's a good way to correct the deficiency?

Thanks!!!


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

1mjbrierley said:


> Hi,
> My soil is phosphorus deficient. I'm considering adding phosphorous by itself as I have already dropped Urea. What type of phosphorous delivery should I use? I have read about a couple different phosphorous supplements and I'm not sure which is best. Is it okay to drop the phosphorus now? I live in Ohio and we only have a few more weeks of growth.
> 
> What's a good way to correct the deficiency?
> ...


You should be able to get either Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) 11-52-0 or MESZ (Map, Elemental Sulfur, Zinc) 12-40-0 at a farm supply or Co-op.

Edit - put down 2lbs MAP or 2.5 lbs MESZ per 1000sf monthly until the deficiency is corrected, but not if the ground is frozen.


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## Jconnelly6b (Mar 4, 2018)

You could also if you can't find anything else, put down a starter fert.... they are high in P

Do you have soil test results you could post?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Milorganite helps, too! Takes longer, but if you use it a few times per year, it adds up faster.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

Green said:


> Milorganite helps, too! Takes longer, but if you use it a few times per year, it adds up faster.


Milorganite would take decades to raise the P level. Remember all organic wonder fertilizers take several months to break down and become available to the roots. So you apply Milo say tomorrow. 3-6 months later that app goes to work. NOT when you drop it tomorrow.

That is one main reason I've gone to liquid fertilizers. Instant plant uptake and results. Milorganite will take decades to raise the P level. Remember all organic wonder fertilizers take several months to break down and become available to the roots. So you apply Milo say tomorrow. 3-6 months later that app goes to work. NOT when you drop it tomorrow.

This is just one reason I've gone to liquid fertilizers, instant uptake and results. Plus they seem to be much cheaper for us with large lawns. Now I haul say 10lbs of fert instead of hundreds of pounds of say Milo.

slomo


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

Triple superphosphate is a mix of monocalcium phosphate and calcium dihydrogen phosphate which are both water soluble. In typical purity available as fert, it is > 90% water soluble. Widely recommended for phos deficient soil. You can apply even if the plants aren't taking it up, in a quantity depending on soil CEC and present exchange site saturation, as long as the ground isn't frozen. Don't overapply (phos is basically a pollutant if it runs off or leaches into ground water).

Since you already applied N, I would not recommend applying monoammonium phosphate (MAP) until the turf is ready for another shot of N.

If you know your soil is P deficient then you got a soil test. :thumbup: There should be recomendations provided with the results. If not, call the lab and ask. If they can't provide the calculations needed for how much P to apply, get a new lab.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Thinking long term, mulch in all of your leaves. Mulch your neighbor's leaves into your lawn. Steal bags of leaves from other homes and mulch those in, too. They're slow to raise phosphorus, but after a couple years, you'll have no phosphorus worries, without having to worry about fertilizer runoff being a pollutant.


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## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

slomo said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > Milorganite helps, too! Takes longer, but if you use it a few times per year, it adds up faster.
> ...


Where do you shop for liquid? Everything I come across is too expensive.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

1mjbrierley said:


> slomo said:
> 
> 
> > Green said:
> ...


Go to any walmart or home cheapo. Get some Miracle Grow Liquid Lawn Food. Stop lugging hundreds of pounds of inferior fertilizer around.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@slomo Miracle grow liquid lawn food for 3 acres?


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

I think any commercially available P source will do the business (DAP, MAP, triple superphosphate, abracadabra, whatever).

https://www.agprofessional.com/article/phosphorus-fertilizer-sources-0

If I were applying P in furrow, I'd look at going with liquid. On a field of turf, no.


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## 1mjbrierley (Sep 22, 2018)

g-man said:


> @slomo Miracle grow liquid lawn food for 3 acres?


Got my 12 100' hoses ready


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## ryeguy (Sep 28, 2017)

slomo said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > Milorganite helps, too! Takes longer, but if you use it a few times per year, it adds up faster.
> ...


This is quite the exaggeration. Anyone using organic fertilizer can attest to the fact that it doesn't take 3-6 months to work. It takes maybe 1-3 weeks to see results, and it lasts 6-8 weeks or so. I agree that milo isn't a good tool for raising P levels, but that's just because of the low amount in it and cost reasons.

I also don't understand the comments about liquid fertilizer. It isn't cheaper, isn't easier or faster to apply, and isn't significantly faster than granular quick release.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

g-man said:


> @slomo Miracle grow liquid lawn food for 3 acres?


Big yard, maybe too big for a liquid. You might want to use a crop duster LOL.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

ryeguy said:


> slomo said:
> 
> 
> > Green said:
> ...


For MY yard 1/3 acre, Miracle Grow Liquid Lawn Food is definitely cheaper. Compared to Milorganite it's less than HALF the cost. Compare it yourself.

Milorganite is a SLO release fert. As in you spread it today, three months later it finally breaks down and starts to become available to the roots. That's if the heavy Oklahoma (my house) rains haven't washed it down the street by then. Do your research on Milo. It's not the wonder fert everyone drools about. A whopping 5% Nitrogen as in really, again "if" it lasts that long on the lawn? Miracle Gro is 36% Nitrogen just to compare one nutrient.

Ok let's compare. For my 1/3 acre, I would need SIX 36 lb bags of Milo. That's 216lbs you have to lug off the shelf onto a shopping cart. Then push it to the register. Then you have to UNLOAD it again. Then from the car another 216lbs across the lawn. Miracle Gro Liquid is 10lbs for 14,400SF (1/3 acre is roughly 15,000sf). Advantage MG by a long shot. Cost, Miracle Gro is $29.78 (10lbs at 14,400SF) compared to Milo (6 bags at $14.98 Home Depot) at $89.99 per application. Again $29.78 compared to $89.88, winner again Miracle Gro. Now for what we all purchase fertilizer for RESULTS. Miracle Gro provides instant results compared to months later for Milorganite. Winner again to Miracle Gro. We can nit pick the ingredients if you want. I already know, winner Miracle Gro.

One last tidbit, my grass being Bermuda, it doesn't care if it gets organic or synthetic. It will eat all the fert you can afford to throw down. You can dump 46-0-0 weekly on Bermuda and it will love it. You'll be mowing rather frequently too. If you have bare spots, this is what you do. So for my grass type, Miracle Gro is a winner.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

I had never even considered Miracle Grow @slomo. How long have you been doing this and do you supplement with other things? Very interesting...


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## ryeguy (Sep 28, 2017)

@slomo, simply repeating the phrase that "milorganite takes months for results" doesn't make it any more accurate than the first time you said it. Again, anyone who has used it can attest that you start seeing a color pop within a week or two. Sure it's slow release over several months (as are most fertilizers), but it doesn't take that long to see visible results. If you didn't see early results, then maybe you applied it outside of the ideal temperature range (which is admittedly a downside to milo and organics). Also, it just doesn't randomly wash away unless you overapply it or have a monsoon hit after applying it.

I'm not posting to defend milo because I think it's the right fertilizer to use here (I no longer use it), I'm posting to correct misinformation. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was suggesting Milorganite. I'm saying it doesn't make sense to leap to liquid fertilizers from organics if you're looking for ease of use or cost. I personally find broadcast spreading granulars easier than using a backpack sprayer or lugging around a hose. But that's subjective, so let's concentrate on cost. Don't go based on miracle-gro's dosing, standardize on something like .75 lbs/k. If you follow miracle gro's directions you'll get a small dose of .25 lbs/k per app. It's not fair to compare to a milo dose to miracle gro since milo is giving you nearly 3x the amount of N. Miracle gro is also all quick release, so you'll be applying more often. Which is another point: Is lugging around a single 44lb bag of fertilizer one time more work than using a hose 3 times for the same amount of nitrogen?

So, a dose of .75 lb N/k on your lawn (calculated using $ per lb, so will include partial bags):

Milorganite is $84.26
Miracle Grow Lawn food (5 lbs) is $89.88
Vigoro from HD is $25.14
Carbon-X is $58.50

So in reality, even milorganite beats it. Or carbonx, even with inflated shipping costs. Or vigoro which is some generic fertilizer you can find at home depot. This doesn't even touch on how little it would cost if you found a feed store or turf supply place, or similar.

Only stick with miracle gro if you really hate spreading granulars so much that you want to overpay for liquid. If you want a super quick response, then just dissolve urea and spray that for like a tenth of the cost.

I hope this doesn't come across as combative, that's not my intention. I just want to make sure anyone else reading this has some numbers.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

ctrav said:


> I had never even considered Miracle Grow @slomo. How long have you been doing this and do you supplement with other things? Very interesting...


I do the liquid ferts because in Oklahoma, we have gully washer rains/tornadoes. I've had two Milorganite apps wash down the street. Not cool seeing over $100 x2 in Milo fert floating away. Liquids are basically instant uptake to the foliage and soil. I don't use granulars anymore due to heavy rains. I don't use any supplements far as ferts go. I do use a liquid beneficial bacteria with humic, Humic DG and Anderson's Black Gypsum for clay soil.


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## slomo (Jun 22, 2017)

slomo said:


> ctrav said:
> 
> 
> > I had never even considered Miracle Grow @slomo. How long have you been doing this and do you supplement with other things? Very interesting...
> ...


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