“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” This is a humorous and oh so true exclamation. I have spoken about O2 in a few instances, some of you have heard it others may have not. The fertilizer industry has long dominated the information on what is really needed to grow healthy plants. They have done an excellent job of educating millions of followers and haven’t really been up front about what the “true energy” behind the nutrients really is. So let’s start with the basics-

A blended or complete fertilizer will contain these three nutrients:

1. Nitrogen (N)
2. Phosphorus (P)
3. Potassium (K)

Each of these nutrients is represented by its symbol on the periodic table and we all know this; right? Nevertheless, what is really “what” when we are talking about fertilizer for plant uptake? It becomes a bit more complex, let’s look at common nitrogen forms for fertilizing crops and turf-

1. Anhydrous Ammonia- NH3
2. Urea-NH2-CO-NH2
3. Ammonium Nitrate-NH4NO3
4. Ammonium Sulfate-(NH4)2SO4

We are now looking at something a bit more complex than just “N.” To best understand what happens in the processes of fertility, one must first understand the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is present in the environment in a wide variety of chemical forms including organic nitrogen, ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrite (NO₂^–), nitrate (NO₃^–), nitrous oxide (N₂O), nitric oxide (NO) or inorganic nitrogen gas (N₂). Organic nitrogen may be in the form of a living organism, humus or in the intermediate products of organic matter decomposition.

The processes of the nitrogen cycle transform nitrogen from one form to another. Many of those processes are carried out by microbes, either in their effort to harvest energy or to accumulate nitrogen in a form needed for their growth. All of the aforementioned forms of N must be converted to NO3 before the plant can utilize them. Interestingly enough, the only fertilizer with readily available nitrate in the general rulebook is Ammonium Nitrate. It is also regarded as the most stable under most common conditions.

As of right now, I am not getting into the other nitrate markets (i.e. potassium nitrate).  There isn’t truly a need to break down into the hundreds of available nutrients on the market today. This is going to purely be a catalyst conversation.

As illustrated above, we have many elements tied to nitrogen in order to capture it from the atmosphere and control it in a usable form. Now, in order for most nitrogen sources to be used, there is going to be a release (shedding) of H and an addition of O. Where are the elements in these chemical compound changes coming from and where do they go? At some point someone reading this is going to make the connection between Hydrogen shedding, CEC’s and pH. But alas, that is a topic for another day… So stay tuned to your local Lawncology channel.

Here we have our nitrogen functioning as soil food by either shedding or requiring more O2 in order to be utilized. Oxygen would have to either be supplied by the soil, or shed as an energy catalyst to crate mobility. The resulting left over N becomes N2 and heads back up into the atmosphere.  The loss (robbing) of oxygen is what is going to come into play over time.  The Oxygen loss is compounded by the salt buildup of leftover undigested nutrients, further robbing oxygen from the soil leads to compaction.  If every conventional fertilization protocol utilizes this function to grow plants then you can see how the soil will slowly become less productive over time. While oxygen occupies a considerable amount of space in the plant tissue, its role in the soil is of even greater importance.

All of our nutrient transfer is going to need this oxygen to get things moving. The soil life needs to breathe in order to breed. All life slows down as oxygen decreases. Now, that isn’t to say that the soil will “die,” but it will be referred to as “dead soil” as it becomes less productive.

This is a side note but I think it’s important to say… conventional fertilizer shouldn’t be referred to as “fertilizer” at all. Plant food is a more proper name for the function that it is actually doing. You will not find a single study that shows the addition of nitrogen fertilizer making the ground more fertile. There is no role in conventional fertility methods that will actually create a “fertile environment.”

Let’s move on from Nitrogen… Phosphorus is another player in the O2 game. “P” as represented in fertilizer is actually P2O5. Phosphoric rock is blasted with sulfuric acid at high temps to create this bond. The resulting action supplies a HUGE O2 release when the final product hits the soil. This will then leave the P to go in search of something else to bond to. Phosphorus loves to “hookup.” It will find the most available ion and attach like its closing time; thereby making itself and its new friend immobile for root uptake. This is why we see large pools of P hanging out in root zones. Under most circumstances, this Phosphorus will either leak (leach) or sit, giving the soil a major dose of aerobic bacteria production and acidic situations. We can release or transform this P back into a usable nutrient.  Here again, we see O2 being released to give an energy release to the plant in hopes that there will be a nutrient trailing it.

Potassium. Potassium is not really potassium at all in most cases. As a general rule, potassium is actually potash; which isn’t the same thing. Potash is basically a chemically produced salt that contains soluble potassium. The potassium will be provided to fertilizers in a few different ways;

1. Sulfate of potash-K2OSO4
2. Potassium Hydroxide-KOH
3. Muriate of potash-KCI
4. Various carbonate potash-K2CO3

Now, based on the topic of this chapter, you can look at this list and figure out which form will contain the most available potassium for the plant. All of the above listed items are highly concentrated levels of K, some are extremely salty while others are not.  Looking at the compounds of the material should give everyone a clue as to “what’s what.” If we are trying to select a form that will be the most suitable for plant and soil nutrition, we need to look for the most O2. This is ultimately going to have the lowest salt content and the highest probability for nutrient uptake.

If you begin to go through the lists and lists of fertilizer ingredients, you will find that the less oxygenated products are also the least expensive. You are essentially getting “throw away nutrients.” These are going to be high in salt and leave behind a trail of anaerobic conditions that get very challenging to fix. The likelihood of a good fertilizer program with stellar results is not good.

The resulting effects of a good oxygenated fertility program will leave lawns and soil at a highly functioning level of efficiency. You are effectively aerating the soil with every feeding. This is the ultimate need of soil. Without oxygen being frequently available, soil biology will no longer be able to grow. You are essentially cutting off the lifeline without it. When you go through and look at the chemical compounds of good fertility, you will quickly see that the amount of “O” is actually considerably greater than the nutrients being supplied.

In the greater green industry, too much emphasis is placed on amounts of placed nutrients and the price per pound. While a certain amount of frugality and price shopping is a good idea, the Big Boys who take the method of “the Cheaper the Better” are paying the cost difference 4 fold in loss of annual clientele revenue. Not only are they creating their own pain, they are missing the larger picture of good health. Oh well… their loss… The good news:  Their loss is our gain because we know, recognize, and are paying attention to the man behind the curtain wearing the cape with a large “O2” on it.

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