Extra growth support for grass now is energy gain later

The green resurgence we saw on golf and sports fields shortly after the first rains made us quickly forget the arid desert plains of the past few months. Water was king, this summer, and even for those fields that were sprinkled, growth clearly lagged behind because of the intense stress conditions. 

The grass plants thus enter the winter with a smaller amount of plant reserves, so they all benefit from a fertilization strategy that provides appropriate nutrition on the one hand and sufficient reinforcement on the other.

Customized nutrition

What do you mean, adapted nutrition? This is because in the later fall, nitrogen (N) is no longer emphasized, but rather potassium (K). The rain in early autumn and the still relatively high soil temperature mean that a considerable amount of N will still be released through mineralization of the organic matter present. 

Robin Van Havermaet, product & crop manager: "Consequently, many new plant cells can be formed by the grass plants, but we also need to make these cells robust. Potassium will help with this, as it maintains cell tension and thus better arms cells against an upcoming frost and other abiotic stress factors. Putting this theory into practice, we end up with Fertilis® Swing NK, a fine-grain fertilizer with the composition NK(+Mg) 8-24(+5.5). In addition to a very suitable nutrient ratio for autumn, this fertilizer also contains the beneficial soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis strain E4-CDX®, which colonizes the plant roots and provides the grass with biostimulants."

Stressful period

The grass has already had to fend for itself over the past few months, and with winter approaching, another stressful period is coming, characterized by dew, cold, treading ... That is why this season it is even more worthwhile to include biostimulants in the fertilization strategy. 

Robin Van Havermaet: "Vitanica® P3 Extra is a unique, versatile fertilizer solution with NPK 5-9-10 that is based on two seaweed extracts, namely from the giant kelp (Ecklonia maxima) and clubweed (Ascophyllum nodosum), and also contains all the micronutrients. Thanks to this specific formulation, Vitanica® P3 Extra is suitable, on the one hand, to preventively keep the grass vital and nicely colored in harsh conditions, due to the presence of anti-stress molecules. On the other hand, it also creates a strong recovery effect thanks to its growth stimulating substances." 

"Finally, to further arm the grass plants against external abiotic stressors, we can also deliver more silicon to the grass plants with Vitanica® Si, in such a way that it can be co-built into the cell walls and physically strengthen the leaf discs even more."

"With these three strongholds for fall and winter to fill in basic nutrition and plant reinforcement, we can give the grass plants the support they need to get through this winter healthy and green as well," Van Havermaet concludes.