Fertilizer Granule Collection and Nutrient Removal from Putting Greens Following Mowing

Golf course superintendents, scientists, and fertilizer manufacturers are concerned about the quantity of fertilizer granules collected from putting greens by mowing 1 d after fertilizer application. The objective of this research was to determine the quantity of greens‐grade fertilizer granules collected by mowing 1 d after fertilizer application to a putting green turf. A 4 × 2 × 3 factorial field study, with factors being fertilizer product (Country Club [CC] maximum dispersion [MD] 22–0–16, CC MD 18–0–18, CC MD 12–0–24, and Andersons dispersing granule [DG] 17–0–17), two nitrogen (N) application rates (2.4 and 4.9 g m−2) and three locations (Indiana, Florida, and New Jersey) arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications, was conducted in June 2013. The day after fertilizer treatments were applied, the turf surface was allowed to dry and clippings and fertilizer granules were collected in the basket of a reel mower. Clippings and fertilizer granules were oven‐dried and fertilizer granules were separated from clippings using a seed blower. In New Jersey, the maximum amount of N loss from a single treatment by fertilizer granule collection by mowing was 8% of the total fertilizer applied, with an average fertilizer loss of 3.8%. In Indiana and Florida, the maximum amounts of fertilizer loss by collection of fertilizer granules by mowing were 1.7 and 1.6%, respectively. It is doubtful that this loss of fertilizer would adversely affect putting green health and performance and would not likely affect the amount of money spent on fertilizer.