State of the Art Technology: True Foliar® Nutrition

All foliars are liquids, but not all liquids are true foliars. In other words, don’t confuse the method of application with how a plant metabolizes the material applied. Remember that “just because you’re spraying it on doesn’t mean you’re spraying it in.”

It has been known for many years that turfgrass plants are capable of taking up nutrients through the leaf tissue. For example, in the morning, under favorable environmental conditions, the stomates may be open for nutrient entry. However, in the heat of the day, the stomatal guard cells close to conserve moisture and protect the plant — this can solve certain stress problems for the plant, but it effectively keeps out certain larger molecules such as those found in humic acid materials.

The much smaller transcuticular pores are always open. They can be entry points for nutrients if the nutrients are in a form that is acceptable to the plant. In short, the molecules have to be small enough to pass through the very small transcuticular pores, and they have to be neutral or negatively charged to get through the electro-chemical gradients of the plant and to translocate within the leaf tissue and throughout the plant.

The value of True Foliar nutrition is considerable. First of all, True Foliars allow small, efficient amounts of nutrition to be applied consistently. This keeps the plant healthy without stimulating excessive shoot growth. Excessive shoot growth not only results in slow putting speeds, it also expends plant energy and depletes stored carbohydrate reserves, which can lead to premature senescence and death. Because True Foliar nutrition does not deplete stored energy, that energy is available to support root growth, just when that support is most desperately needed.

Secondly, roots that are under stress don’t function well. Fertility programs that depend on root uptake are less effective in times of stress. True Foliar applications bypass the roots by making nutrition directly available to the plant through the leaf tissue.

Third, nutrients that enter the soil are subject to unpredictable chemical transformations and may end up less useful to the turf as nutrition. Or, they may be tied up and unavailable to the plant. True Foliar nutrition avoids these problems.

Finally, True Foliar nutrition increases metabolic activity in the leaf, which increases photosynthesis and chlorophyll production. The plant then increases its uptake of water from the soil. Because Emerald Isle True Foliars are engineered to incorporate the beneficial properties of seaplant extract and many beneficial nutrients, the products help increase photosynthesis production and efficiency and increase the water absorption and holding capability of the plant. The turf is nourished and strengthened, and it is more physiologically fit and better able to withstand environmental stresses.

Emerald Isle NutriRational True Foliars represent the state of the art in True Foliar technology for more effective and efficient nutrition for closely mowed turf.

• Each product contains multiple sources of nutrients
• The sources of nutrients are high quality—often food or pharmaceutical grade
• The nutrients are combined in carefully considered ratios
• The nutrients are chelated and complexed with organic sequestrants
• The True Foliars contain seaplant extract