Additional Benefits Of Carbon Dioxide
by Ken Quandt, Regional Sales Manager

When applying a Nature Safe product to turf, you are providing a rich food source for the soil microbes. When the soil microbes are fed, their numbers increase markedly. Soil microbes are short-lived organisms that release a constant supply of carbon dioxide into the soil when they die off. Most of this carbon dioxide seeps to the surface where it is absorbed by plants and, along with sunlight and water, is used in the photosynthetic process to manufacture food. Naturally, when the plant has additional food available, it tends to stay healthy.

Aiding in the manufacture of food for the plant is not the only benefit from the extra carbon dioxide that becomes available from the soil microbes. Some of the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the water in the soil and forms carbonic acid. This carbonic acid dissolves some of the otherwise insoluble minerals the plant needs. The roots along with the water easily absorb the minerals. The result is a stronger, healthier, plant that requires less irrigation and is better able to withstand summer stress factors to which it is subjected.

If the minerals are not available to the plant in adequate quantities, the plant will exert extra effort to absorb more water to satisfy its need for the minerals in question. This extra effort requires the plant to expend extra energy that stresses and weakens it over time. It also increases the plant’s need for water and decreases its drought tolerance.

In some areas of the U.S., professional turf managers are pressured to reduce the amount of water they use for irrigation. A regular Nature Safe fertilizer program substantially reduces irrigation needs and provides a healthier turf.

Many areas of the U.S. suffer unpredictable droughts that decrease the availability of quality irrigation water just when it is needed most. Applying Nature Safe when the drought starts will be helpful, but not nearly as beneficial if the program had been initiated earlier in the season.