Holding capacity for nutrients is like a bucket. Depending on soil type and organic matter content some plots will have a big bucket….some plots will have a small bucket. Either way you still want to try and keep a balanced ratio of all nutrients within your bucket. Take “K” as an example. The optimum “K” level for my plot right now is around 210 lbs/ac. I tested my plot a couple falls ago after having added some 0-0-60 and I was running 220 lbs/ac which is great. Cut to the following spring when I did another soil test and my levels had dropped to around 180 lbs/ac. You’ll often here people talk about adding 0-20-20 in the spring to fertilize their clover. That really misrepresents what’s going on though. You don’t really fertilize the plant….you fertilize the soil. That following spring I added another dusting of potash (0-0-60) not to “fertilize the clover” but rather to get my K levels back up into the optimum range. Your nutrients such as Ca (lime), P, and K will stay in the soil for long time periods if soil conditions are good. It is very possible that if you keep those levels in check during May, June then at most you will probably only need a small dusting at fall planting to bring levels back up or maybe even none at all. Again, change the way you think about fertilizing. We’re not fertilizing the plant….we’re adding nutrients to the soil. The soil “fertilizes” the plant.

Nitrogen is a little different beast. It has a very short life compared to the other nutrients. From what I can tell, I get about 5-6 weeks out of a nitrogen application. Adding nitrogen to a plot is like giving an engine more gas. All of those other nutrients are like the individual components of the engine. If you get them in proper balance with one another then when you give the engine gas….it’ll go! Adding nitrogen to your plot is like stepping on the go, go, grow gas pedal. It needs to be added to produce more yield.

Let me stop right there for now………..Questions?