THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS 
By WapE W. McCa.Lu 
Assistant Professor of Soils 
College of Agriculture, University of 
Florida 
The application of fertilizers is fully 
as important as the choosing of fertilizers. 
The value of a properly chosen fertilizer 
may be greatly lowered by improper ap- 
plication to the soil. 
The application of fertilizers depends 
upon the fertilizer, the plant, and the sea- 
son. Nitrogen fertilizers should be ap- 
plied before or at planting time in a 
leaching resistant form and as a side dress- 
ing in the nitrate form when the plants 
are about six weeks old. 
Phosphates and potash should be ap- 
plied at the time of planting or just be- 
fore. Side dressings of phosphate ma- 
terials are not usually profitable, however, 
side dressings of potash are valuable for 
some plants. 
Lawns and golf greens should receive 
top dressings of nitrogen when it is appar- 
ent that it is needed. They should re- 
ceive a “complete” fertilizer early in the 
spring. 
As a rule fertilizers should not be ap- 
plied late in the growing season as it gives 
rise to secondary growth of leaves and 
shoots and may delay maturity. 
There are many ways of applying fer- 
tilizers, each of which has its advantages 
and disadvantages. The aim should be 
to get the fertilizer in the soil where it 
will do the most good. 
Some common means of applying fer- 
tilizers are in broadcast applications, lo- 
calized applications, and in starter solu- 
tions, and irrigation water. Generally for 
areas that are planted broadcast such as 
lawns, the fertilizer should be broadcast, 
for plants growing in rows the fertilizer 
should be applied in the row, for indi- 
vidual plants the fertilizer should be ap- 
plied around the specimen, and for irri- 
gated plants the fertilizer may be mixed 
with the irrigation water. Starter solu- 
tions may be used at transplanting time 
and will give excellent results if used 
properly. 
For most plants the best method of ap- 
plication has been found to place the 
fertilizer in a band 2%” below and 2%” 
on each side of the seed or plant. 
Variations and combinations of the dif- 
ferent methods of application may be 
used. Part of the fertilizer may be ap- 
plied broadcast and part in the row or 
hill. 
One new development in the use of 
fertilizers is the application of liquid nitro- 
gen directly to the soil. The type applied 
is usually ‘liquid ammonia or a_ solution 
containing ammonia and nitrates. These 
solutions require special pressure equip- 
ment in order to “inject” the solution 
where it is needed. On a large area a 
plow with a tube running down to the 
foot is used to place the solution; this is 
followed by another plow to close the 
furrow as soon as the nitrogen has been 
placed into the soil. For small areas or 
individual plants a machine similar io the 
one used for “injecting” insecticides into 
the soil for termite control may be used. 
The liquid nitrogen gives best results when 
applied to heavy soils. The light sandy 
soils of Florida are not too well adapted 
for this material. 
For the fertilization of shade or orna- 
rs i Nace Five Star Evergreen 6-8-4 
(with or without Chlordane) 
is probably the finest fertilizer a nurseryman can 
use for speedy, healthy and lasting growth. 
N A( GOMER ESR eel ZeE ReeG-OF 
Fort Pierce 
Jacksonville 
