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LAKES FIGHTING TO LIVE PHOSPHOROUS FERTILIZER FEEDS ALGAE BLOOMS Source: By Craig Johnson/The Register Iowa water-quality workers say homeowners who spread
phosphorous fertilizer – often unnecessarily – are contributing to the early
death of In When phosphorus, which occurs naturally and is found in many fertilizers, is spread on lawns and spilled onto driveways and sidewalks, rain washes some of it down storm sewers and into rivers and lakes. The phosphorus then causes a large algae bloom that turns lakes green and makes them smell bad. When the algae die and decompose, oxygen is robbed from the water. Over time, the fertilizer-rich environment promotes high levels of bacteria that can harm swimmers and cut the number of fish species in the lake. Though phosphorus applied to farm fields accounts for the
majority of the minerals in many lakes, the applications to yards is
significant. Copyright 2004, reprinted with permission by The Des Moines Register LAKE-FRIENDLY FERTILIZERS By PERRY BEEMAN REGISTER STAFF WRITER If it isn’t, the homeowner could buy a no- or
low-phosphorus fertilizer through a local co-op or garden, farm or hardware
store. Examples:
Milorganite, Organic fertilizers, including the no-phosphorus versions, can cost several times more than the more common synthetic ones like Scott’s. In general a fertilizer that is less than 3 percent phosphorus is considered low-phosphorus. Fertilizer bags carry numbers giving the proportion of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the mix. For example, a 20-10-5 mixture has 20 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorus and 5 percent potassium. So if the middle number is zero, there is no phosphorus. ON THE WEB For information on clearer lakes: Okoboji Protective Association Clear
SOIL TEST IS $7 Want to have your lawn’s soil tested?
A basic test costs $7 at Copyright 2004, reprinted with permission by The Des Moines Register
COMMENTS/FEEDBACK FROM JANUARY ARTICLE I read the article on no-phosphorous fertilizer in the latest Anchor with interest. There is another alternative to products like "Weed and Feed" that is grown all across Iowa, and is totally harmless to pets and other animals, children and even grass-eating adults (in case there are any in this area). It is Corn Gluten Meal, a by-product of the corn used in making ethanol. It can be purchased in my area (Waterloo/Cedar Falls) for about $15 per 50 pound bag purchased from local feed mills. Farmers use it as feed supplement for chickens, cows, etc. The price will be higher if purchased from fertilizer suppliers – they package it differently and have higher markups. The consistency of corn gluten can be anywhere from that of flour to granules to small dried-up kernels, depending on your source, that's why I use the Corn Gluten Meal – which is like flour. How does it work? Corn gluten, applied properly, prevents seeds from growing. Therefore, seeds from crabgrass, dandelions and other weeds left in the yard from the previous year are inhibited. Corn gluten also consists of about 5% nitrogen so that there is some fertilization quality to it. That 5% will most often be sufficient because we tend to over fertilize our yards to begin with. And at the lake all of that extra fertilizer ends up in the water when we get heavy rainfalls. You do have to be patient when using gluten. It may take two or three years to see good results in the elimination of crabgrass and dandelions. And you will probably want to apply it several times a year. But it is about as environmentally friendly as any lawn care product can be. Mike Atkins
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