Stop spilling profits

Ask just about any nursery grower and you’ll hear the same story. Controlled-release fertilizers can produce great crops, but they have their limitations when it comes to surface application. High winds, storms and gusts from an air-blast sprayer applying pesticides can knock over pots, causing surface-applied fertilizer prills to scatter uselessly onto the ground. Pots also can be knocked over during moving or spacing.
 
“For years, growers have told us that they can lose up to 30 percent of the controlled release fertilizer that they’ve applied to the surface of their crop containers. They attribute the bulk of this loss to spillage when containers are blown over or knocked over,” said Chris Buchheit, marketing manager of ornamental horticulture fertilizers for Scotts Professional in Marysville, Ohio.
 
At first glance, this situation may seem to be a minor annoyance, but the issues that stem from controlled-release fertilizer being spilled throughout the nursery are both financially and environmentally significant. Rain and water from irrigation systems can wash nutrients from the spilled fertilizer into the surrounding land where they can run off into lakes, streams and rivers.
 
“No matter how good its coating may be, controlled-release fertilizer will end up leaching into the environment if the prills don’t stay in the pot,” Buchheit said.
 
Financially, growers must absorb the cost of lost product, the labor expense to reapply fertilizer and a decline in overall plant quality or crop consistency when plants suffer from a lack of nutrients during their growth cycles. Some growers may limit their use of controlled-release fertilizer because of the spillage risk.
 
“They tell us that they don’t want to spend money on fertilizer that’s ‘expensive and bounces out of the pot,’” said Fred Hulme, director of technical services for Scotts Professional. “We haven’t even had to ask growers specifically about these types of problems — their observations simply came up frequently in conversation. That’s when we knew that we had to try and offer growers a controlled release fertilizer product that both performed well and stayed in the container.”

Developing the technology
Because growers around the world have expressed the need for this type of controlled-release fertilizer, Scotts’ Global Research and Development Team has been working on such a product for several years. 
 
“Our European Division started the product development process about four years ago,” Buchheit said. “While it is true, there were, and are now, uncoated fertilizer products on the market that exhibit some sort stickiness, these fertilizers lack the desirable pre-defined longevities and predictable release of coated, controlled-release fertilizers.
 
“Our global team of scientists set out to create a new product category that combined the benefits of a high quality controlled release fertilizer with a fusing agent that could keep nutrients where they belong — in the pot.”
 
Scotts Professional in the United States is launching the result of these efforts in North America — a new product that combines the company’s Osmocote coated fertilizer technology with something they call “Fusion Technology.”
 
When used in surface applications, Osmocote with Fusion Technology can remain in containers even after they’ve been knocked or blown over.The first product from this new category, Osmocote Pro with Fusion Technology, is currently based on Scotts’ second generation controlled release fertilizer, Osmocote Pro. After the product is surface applied and watered in, an innovative polymer compound forms a web-like adhesive matrix that does not interfere with the release of nutrients to the plant. This matrix bonds the fertilizer prills to each other and to the surface of the growing media. Re-wetting the growing media through subsequent irrigation maintains the Fusion activity, ensuring that the fertilizer will stay in place for an extended period of time.  The current formulation is available in a five- to six-month longevity at 70° F.
 
“This particular formulation meets the needs of a large number of nursery growers. Buchheit said. “However, in the future, Fusion Technology is something that we may make available in additional formulations and longevities to provide even more options to growers.”

Grower trials
Conducting trials with North American growers was an integral part of the development process. During 2009, Scotts chose more than 150 growers to trial Osmocote with Fusion Technology at their operations. Trials began in June 2009 and wrapped up by November 2009.
 
“During this extensive trial process, we discovered a few snags and we made the necessary adjustments,” Buchheit said. “While the technology worked well overall, we found some glitches with things as simple as the application instructions on the bag.”
 
The new technology provides better results if it is not spread too thinly across the growing media surface, Hulme said. Watering the product in initiates the Fusion action. Best results were achieved when crops were watered prior to the fertilizer application to ensure the growing media is settled in the pot.
 
“Our product will stick to the growing media, but if the growing media is loose in the pot — as with newly planted crops — and it hasn’t been watered in, the media itself may spill out if the pot is knocked over, and the fertilizer will come with it,” Hulme explained.
 
Youngblood Nursery in Salem, Ore., used Osmocote Pro with Fusion Technology in 5-gallon blueberry containers.
 
“When rolling the containers on gravel, the fertilizer totally stuck to the bark,” said Francisco Garcia, product manager for Youngblood Nursery. “After four months since our application, these plants are growing at the same rate and with the same quality as the regular Osmocote formulation that we use.”
 
Earl May Seed and Nursery in Shenandoah, Iowa, used it in both the shipping department and its outdoor nursery.
 
“It doesn’t end up on the ground or the floor, which has happened with other controlled release fertilizers when pots get knocked over,” said Jason Rystrom of Earl May Seed.

Nursery application
The best use of this new technology is for growers who use surface application, a term not to confused with top dressing, Hulme said.
 
“There’s definitely a difference between those two practices,” he said. “Top-dress products are often less expensive, uncoated, agriculture-grade fertilizers that are applied to the top of the growing media in a pot, giving the plant a rapidly available and unpredictable dose of nutrition.”
 
Surface application describes the practice of placing higher-grade coated fertilizer to the top of growing media to provide a consistent release of nutrients over a number of months. Surface applications are a common practice in the second season and beyond when crops are grown in the same containers for multiple years.
 
Beyond surface application, there are other variables that make certain growers even better matches for Fusion Technology. Growers who produce taller, top-heavy crops in larger pots, whose operations are in windier locations or who handle their crops multiple times before selling them can all benefit from a controlled release fertilizer that binds to growing media, Hulme said. 
 
For more: Scotts Professional, www.scottsprohort.com.
 
Lynette Von Minden is a public relations counsel, Swanson Russell. She works primarily with the turf and horticulture industries, including Scotts Professional; lynettev@swansonrussell.com.