nitrogen training slides2
TRANSCRIPT
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
1
Nitrogen Technology Training
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Types of Nitrogen
• Quick releaseexamples: urea or ammonium sulfate
• Slow release or CRNexamples: SCU, MU, IBDU, organic
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Benefits of Quick Release • Instant gratification• Quick response from the plant• Necessity for more frequent apps• More apps = more revenue in some cases?
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Benefits of CRN• Reduced loss to leaching• Reduced loss to volatilization• Increased utilization by plants• Release is matched to demand• Reduce excessive growth• Reduce disease and abiotic stress factors
associated with excessive N
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Stabilized Nitrogen
• Some examples: UFLEXX, UMAXX, LSN
• What is it? Chemical inhibitors(not a coating) are applied to the fertilizer to reduce the rate at which the nitrogen will volatilize. Depending upon the type and strength of chemical will determine how long the urea will be effected.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
• Lebanon Stabilized Nitrogen is a technology that provides a cost effective nitrogen by reducing nitrogen volatility and maximizes nitrogen availability to the grass plant.
• LSN “buys time” for grass plant to take up Nitrogen
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Coated UreaSCU, PCSCU, etc……
Coating
Urea
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Coated Urea Products
• Controls the dissolution of urea• Cost effective alternative to fast N• Coatings vary widely in effectiveness and
reliability• Coatings can range from 5% to 9% of total• Average between 35% to 45% of the
particles are cracked or broken
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Speed of Release Varies for Each Particle
Thick Coating = Slowest Release including potential Lock Off
Medium Coating = Slow Release
Thin Coating = Slightly Delayed Release
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Speed of Release Varies for Each Particle
Uneven Coating – Release time based on thinnest point
Broken Coating = Rapid Release
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Polymer Coating Breaks During Handling
Dump Bag
Load
Mix
Spreader
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
PCU Contains Intact and Breached So Release is less “controlled”, and is more
haphazard and uneven.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
What is MESA?
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
What is MESA?MESA is a mixture of two different Nitrogen fertilizers in one. These are:
Meth-EX (Methylene Urea) (A slow-release fertilizer)
Ammonium Sulfate (A quick-release fertilizer)
+
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Each granule of MESA looks homogenous, and is composed of a tangle of METH-EX polymer strands trapping many granules of Ammonium sulfate.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Even if you split a granule, you cannot release all the ammonium sulfate from it’s tangled trap.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Methylene Ureas• Homogeneous particles with complete mix of
individual oligomers (chains)• Good green-up and sustained color and healthy
growth• Stimulates microbial activity and provides food
source (CHO) for soil bacteria• An organic N source produced by man (synthetic)
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Methylene Ureas• Influenced by chain length (degree of
polymerization• Influenced by microbial degradation• Influenced by soil moisture and temperature• Not influenced by cultural practices -- traffic,
mowing height, verticutting, or aerification
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
The chain can go on forever to make any length.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Microbes break these chains slowly, into small, water-soluble bits.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
If you could see the molecules, they would look like tangles of spaghetti noodles.
METH-EX
Like this: Or this:
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
During production of MESA, ammonium sulfate is mixed with METH-EX while the latter is still wet and soft.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
The two are mixed thoroughly until the granules of ammonium sulfate are evenly speckled throughout the polymer.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
On a molecular level, the granules of ammonium sulfate are intertwined with polymer strands, and become trapped in the tangled mesh.
The blue dots represent ammonium sulfate granules trapped in the polymer mesh of METH-EX.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
So how does the Ammonium Sulfate get released?
In the soil, water will slowly enter the MESA granules, penetrating in just a bit.
Ammonium sulfate located near the edges will dissolve and escape.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
As time goes by, the edges of the polymer mesh biodegrade, converting into urea, and dissolving away.
As this happens, water approaches the interior of the MESA, and finds more Ammonium sulfate, which then dissolves on contact.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
So MESA provides Nitrogen at various rates:
Slow-release Nitrogen from METH-EX
Quick-release Nitrogen from some of the Ammonium sulfate
Controlled-Release Nitrogen from trapped ammonium sulfate
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
The result is a single fertilizer that provides a quick nitrogen greenup on turf that lasts and lasts and lasts. You get controlled release nitrogen that doesn’t quit until the last granule of MESA has disappeared.
More brands.Better
performance
Best of All Worlds™
Thank you!
Questions???