Foliar analysis: Detecting nutrient deficiencies in your crops

The foliar analysis are a powerful tool to determine the health status of a turfgrass and possible nutritional deficiencies.

A well nourished plant will more effectively deploy its natural defences against pests and pathogens.

In addition to nutritional analyses of soil and saturated extract they can also be used as diagnostics. The soil can be in a good nutritional state and the plant can be deficient. And of course, this deficiency in a rich soil is a symptom of a biotic problem such as water stress, radiation, or temperatureor an abiotic problem such as disease development, nematodes hindering root nutrition.

With a pH greater than 7.5 it is more efficient to treat iron chlorosis with a foliar application than through the soil.

Foliar analysis makes particular sense in soils with low cation exchange capacity (CEC).

Low nutrient concentration in the tissue can occur for a variety of reasons:

• Stress due to any abiotic factor. Excesses or deficiencies are never conducive to plant health or growth.
• Excessive traffic over the area where the sample was collected. Therefore the sample should be from a representative area of the field.
• Atmospheric weather very favourable over a very long period of time.
• Uncontrolled growth due to high rates of nitrogen assimilable in soil.
• Conflicting relationships between soil elements that hinder nutrient assimilation.
• The existence of nematodes. This is usually the alarm when the available concentrations in soil are adequate, but not reflected in the tissue.

Pitches and stadium turfs are generally built on sandy bases with high infiltration capacity but very low infiltration capacity. CIC. This constructive characteristic leads to frequent imbalances in soil chemistry, with high levels of one nutrient causing low levels of others, these imbalances are transferred to the plant tissue and analysis helps to correct them.

Nutrition should be measured. Always supplying the plant's needs but avoiding excessive levels that will produce plant toxicity. Reducing the turf's ability to recover, increasing the cost of field maintenance and causing environmental pollution.

Both excesses and shortcomings in nutrition have an unfavourable effect. In balance there is virtue.

The following table shows the normal values for the concentration of elements in the dry matter of plant tissue. Source: Maryland Golf Course Best Practices Manual.

The values are indicative, but they are of great interest because if any value in the analysis is out of range, it is very necessary to correct it and take appropriate measures quickly.

At Tiloom we can help you to optimising fertilisation and we can give you the best agronomic support for your fields.