Nitro

[Crappie Luck]

Would this week be a good time to dress my wheat with some 34 or is it too warm?
I'd like to take advantage of this rain, but I seem to remember someone posting that it evaporates quickly.

 

[TAS]

CL,

That would have been me. You don't have to worry about it until it gets over 80 degrees. Even then its ok if your gonna get rain within a couple days.

This warmer weather and rain is a great time to do it.

 

[Crappie Luck]

Thanks TAS.

I'll get it put out tomorrow.

 

[Worm]

Well we always fertilized in the spring if we were wanting wheat seed for cultivating or dove field. I never fertilized in fall or winter unless the companion crop needed it. Deer like wheat when it is young small and tender. Fertilizer will make it grow bigger and it gets tougher.

 

[BSK]

Cereal grains will definitely be helped by regular (every 2 to 3 months) applications of nitrogen.

 

[TAS]

i thought wheat was fertilized in the spring
best bet is to check with a farmer

I am!

What BSK said is right on the money. Also with lack of mast when the cold weather comes back and the deer start mowing it down the extra nitrogen will help it recover and grow back faster. Remember we are trying to feed deer not produce grain.

 

[BSK]

Nitrogen is a very volatile compound. It literally evaporates into the air.

 

[woodchuckc]

Actually, it depends on the chemical form of the nitrogen as to whether it is volatile or not. The common 34-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer is ammonium nitrate, and when it dissolves with the soil moisture releases ammonia (which is very volatile) and essentially nitric acid, which is not quite as volatile as ammonia but will still escape. "Slow release" forms of nitrogen are usually urea or some other similar chemical which is not volatile at all, but it will also take much longer to be released for the plants to use. Also realize that you are going to lower the pH of your soil if you apply heavily or on a regular basis, so you will probably need to increase your lime application if you use it more than very occasionally.

 

[Crappie Luck]

Thanks ya'll. I treat my plot with lime and fertalizer in the spring. But I wanted to give a little boose to the wheat. 1/2 the plot is taller. It got a good start before they started hitting hit hard. When the did start, they preferred the younger plants on the other half. They keep it mowed to the ground. I was hoping to help the young wheat get a jump while the deer seem to be elsewhere. It' seems I'm in a lul period up there and with the weather/rain. I was hoping to help boost my production before they come back and start mowing again

 

[BSK]

Hey thanks woodchuckc. That's some great information.