preventing phosphorus from leaching

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HoosierLawnGnome
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preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » December 5th, 2017, 11:33 am

Great article on how cranberry farmers mitigate the leaching of phosphorus from their wetlands by applying things like aluminum sulfate to bind it up in a way that is cost effective.

https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/st ... phosphorus
The researchers concluded aluminum sulfate seemed to be the best salt suited to the task. Aluminum sulfate was effective in reducing phosphorus by 78-93% when applied at a concentration that is cost-effective for farmers to use.

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andy10917
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Re: preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by andy10917 » December 5th, 2017, 12:35 pm

Yeah, I get it - but I don't think this has any practical application in any lawn or garden scenario...

Phosphorus binds well in the soil, so the amount of true leaching is pretty small. Runoff is a much bigger problem - notice the number of people here (and farmers!) that wait for a pending rain to apply fertilizer. If the rain is heavier than expected, there will be runoff.

And in a lawn/garden, I certainly wouldn't be adding Aluminum salts to my soil, except for a few square feet around a favorite plant that requires it. That part of the article that speaks to unintended side effects has me asking who thinks that pouring Aluminum salts into holding ponds year after year is smart.

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Re: preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by rtomek » December 5th, 2017, 3:20 pm

This really isn't some big revelation, it's been known since at least 1974: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/edocs/edocs ... r=09773927

I guess this is potentially a new application though, using it with cranberries instead of fish ponds. I don't see where they mention using it year after year, since a single application can do the job of reducing P from the excess runoff for 10-15 years.

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Re: preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » December 5th, 2017, 5:20 pm

Indeed - I've never had to worry about leaching, and most of us aren't growing turf on a bog :D

I use aluminum sulfate around some hydrangeas, that's about it.

I wonder what the rate they recommend is at the point of economically viable and effective? Is it of any significance? Like an annual copper sulfate treatment for algea buildup?

P.S. Spelling :banghead:

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Re: preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by Green » December 6th, 2017, 12:41 am

My soil has tons of aluminum naturally...it has one of the highest levels of anyone on here.


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Re: preventing phosphorus from leaching

Post by rtomek » December 6th, 2017, 1:12 pm

The paper used 15 mg L−1 (ppm) Aluminum Sulfate, which is why they deem it as probably safe for cranberries. This chemical doesn't quite work the same as copper sulfate, the copper actually kills the algae and reduces water oxygen - the lack of oxygen can kill fish if too much is used at once. The Aluminum sulfate causes floating particles to flocculate and sink so it is normally used to clear up cloudy water. The algae reduction from aluminum sulfate is a bonus side effect but it's not a significant reduction if that's the goal.

The purpose of the paper was to demonstrate how one could fertilize cranberries with P, and avoid having too much P runoff during harvest and flooding. The Aluminum Sulfate helps keep the P localized rather than flowing downstream into protected wetlands. Maybe it could be beneficial when there's standing water in the yard, you recently fertilized with P, and heavy rains are expected to continue.

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