SUNY Delhi MLSN discussion

26 April 2024

seminar MLSN
Micah Woods
2024-04-26
PDF

One of the things I’ve tried to explain about MLSN is that simply taking a soil test and comparing the result to the MLSN value is not enough. One also needs to consider how much of an element the grass will use. In a presentation for the Brookside Labs Amplify Network on April 25, and then a discussion with turfgrass students at SUNY Delhi on April 26, I explained why this is, and shared three distinct methods one can use to quickly get an estimate of expected plant use of an element.

Slides

You can download the slides here:

Key points and post-seminar questions

The reason one needs to account for plant use is simple. Grass is alive, the roots take up nutrients from the soil as grass grows, and therefore soil nutrient levels go down over time as grass grows. A soil with potassium (K) above the MLSN minimum today might be below the minimum six weeks from now. You can account for this by including expected plant use in the calculation of how much fertilizer to apply.

The One thing I’d like everyone to understand about MLSN article provides another explanation of the reason plant use of each element should be considered.

Figure 1. This chart uses temperature data from The College Golf Course at Delhi to calculate the growth potential (GP) and the expected nitrogen mineralization through the year. Based on these calculations, the expected annual N requirement for a creeping bentgrass green is 1.5 pounds of N per 1,000 ft2. These calculations are provided as a supplement to [ATC soil test reports](/project/soil-tests/).
Figure 1. This chart uses temperature data from The College Golf Course at Delhi to calculate the growth potential (GP) and the expected nitrogen mineralization through the year. Based on these calculations, the expected annual N requirement for a creeping bentgrass green is 1.5 pounds of N per 1,000 ft2. These calculations are provided as a supplement to ATC soil test reports.

In the presentation, I showed a slide with a predicted N use based on GP and mineralization for a location with creeping bentgrass in South Korea. I ran the calculation for Delhi and show those results in Figure 1.

The MLSN cheat sheet explains how to use MLSN and goes through many of the most frequently asked questions.

Notes

You can get new information from ATC through our email newsletters.

Find turfgrass reference information, site-specific weather and climate appraisals, and weekly updates at the PACE Turf information center.

For more about ATC’s soil testing services, and example reports, see our soil tests page.

See more about OM246 testing, including sampling instructions and a sample report, at the OM246 project page.

For even more information, see:

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