liquid fertilizer?

[Deaf jeff]

any of you food plot growers have experience using liquid fertilizer instead of granular with the extreme cost of granular this year it seems to be a good year to experiment but i dont know anything about the liquid stuff

[janesy]

any of you food plot growers have experience using liquid fertilizer instead of granular with the extreme cost of granular this year it seems to be a good year to experiment but i dont know anything about the liquid stuff

It has it ups and downs. One benefit is that it's easier to apply evenly across the soil or the foliage. Depending on the time it needs to be applied. Possibly the most important benefit is that it is impossible to have a "hot" spot or batch with liquid. A lot of people don't know this, but a plant will actually turn its roots away for an area or soil that is overly saturated with Nitrogen. And that is a possibility with granular, especially if hand applied.

The down side to liquid, which is also it's benefit, is that it's equally as easy to NOT distribute it evenly. With granular, you can physically see the distribution. So a proper spraying system is critical to even distribution across the soil. The other downside to Liquide is the weight once mixed to its proper concentration. People often under estimate him much they need versus how much the think they need and it doesn't get mixed correctly for lack of water. Not a problem if you have machinery, extremely problematic if your doing acres in remote areas. Which leads directly back to the whole nitrogen issue.

I do not claim to know much more than the average farmer about fertilizer, however I am a distribution point for the residential side if a commercial fertilizer operation. The only companies that get into Liquid are golf courses, for obviously esthetic reasons. Sod companies and all farmers use granular, and the gypsum or lime to go along with it every year. Now, that's probably very regional I'm sure.

With that said, the same ingredients go into Liquid fert, so I'd think you'd be hard pressed to find much of a difference price wise if you are comparing apples to apples. My best advice is to find a commercial distributer and go straight to the source. Not only will it be far far more cost effective, but they will also be able to tell you what the locals are using for the given soil conditions.

[Farmer]

liquid Fertilizer tends to be more expensive than granular ...Nitrogen / and formulations with N P and K in Liquid form are usually knifed into the ground along the row of seed to get it in the root zone ..

28 % ( nitrogen ) is being applied using special dribble bars on field sprayers to fertilize winter wheat in the spring ....( a few advantages for its use ....ie ...use your own equipment , some of the guys I know using it have sprayer booms in the 90 and 100 + foot range = less compaction in field over all as they follow tram lines....most pull type spreaders are 40 or 50 foot spread )

Applying on a food plot would be difficult in liquid form ...you need some type of sprayer .....you would need to calibrate the unit ...nozzle out put to a specific speed . Over applying is expensive and can do more harm than good ...( burn the roots and stunt or kill your crop )

I would look at using a pull type spreader or one mounted on tractor or atv ... If plots are smaller and atv, sxs , or compact tractor makes this fairly easy

And all fertilizer is corrosive but Liquid tends to get into places on equipment easier is harder to clean up making for more problems in my experience .

[Deaf jeff]

liquid Fertilizer tends to be more expensive than granular ...Nitrogen / and formulations with N P and K in Liquid form are usually knifed into the ground along the row of seed to get it in the root zone ..

28 % ( nitrogen ) is being applied using special dribble bars on field sprayers to fertilize winter wheat in the spring ....( a few advantages for its use ....ie ...use your own equipment , some of the guys I know using it have sprayer booms in the 90 and 100 + foot range = less compaction in field over all as they follow tram lines....most pull type spreaders are 40 or 50 foot spread )

Applying on a food plot would be difficult in liquid form ...you need some type of sprayer .....you would need to calibrate the unit ...nozzle out put to a specific speed . Over applying is expensive and can do more harm than good ...( burn the roots and stunt or kill your crop )

I would look at using a pull type spreader or one mounted on tractor or atv ... If plots are smaller and atv, sxs , or compact tractor makes this fairly easy

And all fertilizer is corrosive but Liquid tends to get into places on equipment easier is harder to clean up making for more problems in my experience .

will be using atv 16 gallon sprayer and these are 1/2 acre plots not farm fields. and from what i have read so far liquid would not be nearly as costly as granular at today's prices. would be applying very little if any nitrogen to clover plots so any burning is not much of a concern

[Farmer]

Getting your set up calibrated will be key to success .maintaining output and speed while applying are very important...clover would not need much if any N as it will fixate its own ...over application can still cause problems ...less is more more or less ...have seen some that that think if a little is good a lot more is better ...their results were