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Spring is always a busy season for USGA agronomists in the Southeast, with frequent Course Consulting Service visits to many different golf courses. Conversations during these tours often focus on common concerns, such as: "The grass hasn't fully recovered yet this spring," or, "I need a few more weeks for everything to grow back in after winter.” If you struggle with turf recovery after periods of heavy play, winter or drought conditions, a fertigation system can help. This innovative approach can boost turf recovery and increase the efficiency of your maintenance program by allowing you to apply fertilizers and other products easily and more regularly. Complementing granular fertilizer applications with fertigation allows for more uniform nutrient distribution over time.

What Is Fertigation?

Fertigation is just what it sounds like, integrating fertilization with irrigation, and it has become increasingly common in modern golf course maintenance. It allows superintendents to supply fertilizer, wetting agents and other products on short notice with ease and to water them in as part of the application. This can help extend intervals between granular fertilizer applications or sprays, correct urgent nutrient deficiencies, and deliver wetting agents more efficiently.

Benefits of Fertigation

Precise Nutrient Delivery: Fertigation allows you to deliver nutrients directly to the rootzone, providing consistent and precise nutrition to your turf. This approach reduces fertilizer waste and ensures that plants get exactly what they need when needed.

Increased Efficiency: By integrating fertilization into your regular irrigation schedule, fertigation can save time and reduce labor costs. Making fewer granular or spray fertilizer applications means your team can focus on other important tasks, enhancing overall productivity and making your job easier.

Improved Turf Health and Aesthetics: The uniform distribution of applying fertilizers through irrigation promotes even growth and consistent color across the course. This leads to healthier turf and creates an aesthetically pleasing golf course that golfers will appreciate, enhancing their overall experience.

Choosing the Right Products for Fertigation

Below are some of the standard products that can be used with fertigation and their specific benefits and applications.

Liquid Fertilizers: Liquid fertilizers are the most common products used in fertigation. They are easily mixed with irrigation water and provide uniform distribution. Examples include:

  • Nitrogen: The nutrient turf uses most. Common nitrogen sources for fertigation are urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), ammonium sulfate, and calcium nitrate.

  • Phosphorus: An important nutrient for root development and overall plant health. Including phosphorous in fertigation during a grow-in is especially useful. Monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and phosphoric acid are popular options. 

  • Potassium: An element vital for improving stress resistance and turf durability. Potassium nitrate and potassium sulfate are commonly used in fertigation.

  • Chelated micronutrients: Several micronutrients are required by turfgrasses for healthy growth including iron, manganese, zinc and copper. Chelated forms ensure these elements remain soluble in water and are readily available to plants. These are often used in small doses during fertigation to correct deficiencies or maintain turf health. 

  • Customized fertilizer blends: Superintendents can work with suppliers to create blends that address their golf course's unique requirements. These blends can include various nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrient ratios.  

Wetting Agents and Surfactants: Wetting agents and surfactants improve water infiltration, retention and distribution across playing surfaces. These products help address localized dry spots and increase the uniformity of water in the rootzone. Since wetting agents need to be watered in anyway, applying them with fertigation can be a big time saver and a good way to improve turf health in dry weather.

Summary

Fertigation can be a game changer for golf course superintendents, offering a flexible and efficient way to apply certain nutrients and products. However, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to fertigation and it may not be right for every golf course, especially those with older irrigation systems. If you would like to discuss fertigation or have any irrigation or nutrient questions, please reach out to your regional USGA agronomist.

Southeast Region Agronomists:

Jordan Booth, Ph.D., senior director, USGA Course Consulting Service – jbooth@usga.org

Chris Hartwiger, director, Agronomy – chartwiger@usga.org

Chris Neff, agronomist – cneff@usga.org

Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service

Contact the Green Section Staff