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Spreading fertilizer before rain

N

Negligence

Member
I've been told it's best to spread before it rains, but I have a question.

Approximately how many days after spreading does the fertilizer have before it goes to waste without rain? If I spread today but didn't get a good rain until 2 days later, is that acceptable?

If not, would it be better to spread in the rain?

I had planned to get the fertilizer on today while the fields are dry, but it's only supposed to drizzle tomorrow and I don't want the fertilizer to go bad.
 
Dry fertilizer can lay there for a long time,it takes rain to break it down.Now liquid fertilizer is a different thing.It can evaporate and loose it's punch.
 
If it's P or K, it's not gonna 'go to waste' unless you get enough rain to wash it away; if it's N, then it matters what kind it is. Not enough information..............
 
Granular N is vaporizing from the moment it is exposed to air. the hotter it is the faster it vaporizes. I have never put any out to see how long it would take but I would be very concerned about my loss in a week. As others have said, the P and K you really don't need to worry about.
 
If you're spreading Urea based N... it's going to volatalize fairly quickly on a warm day. Ammonium Nitrate is a lot less susceptable to volatizing... P and K are very small worries.
I've always felt that a gentle shower or light rain is good for Urea... but if you're getting into a torrential downpour... then the whole lot is probably going to wash away on you. Very seldom I use Urea anymore because it's just so hard to time. AN... I can throw it on and more or less forget about it.

Rod
 
Sorry for not clarifying, its 19-19-18 granular for a hay field. Just talked with a neighbour and he seemed to think it was fine to spread and wait a day or two for the rain.
 
Based on your formulation, I assume (yeah, I know) that this is a blend, rather than a mix. If it's ammonium, you're probably good; if it's urea, it depends on other factors. There are another 8 or 10 types of nitrogen used for fertlizer, but the 2 above are the most commonly used (dry) around 'here'...........well, the tomato farmers also use calcium nitrate.
 
Yes, it is "better" to spread fertilizer before a rain, but it is not a make or break situation. Getting rain 2 days after applying fertilizer actually is a close to ideal situation.
As to the fertilizer "going bad", that won't happen. It can lay there for a month and the fertilizer should still be fine. The only reason to spread close to a rain is so that the fertilizer will hydrolyze (combine with water and break down) sooner, thus moving it into the root zone. In fact, even a drizzle should be enough to begin this process. If it doesn't rain within a few days, the plants may be (notice I said "may be", not "will be") burnt.
In regard to spreading in the rain, this is not a good idea. They fertilizer will clump up (this is the hydrolyzation process beginning), and you will have a VERY bad experience. I know this because I have spread in times of very high humidity, and what I described occurred. I can only imagine that this would be much worse in the rain.
SF
 
The N starts evaporating as soon as it is applied in grannular form
unless it is incorporated or rained on. I am tired of chasing rain and
trying liquid urea this year.
 
The P and K is not an issue. It's the nitrogen.

There are two common formulations. Urea and ammonium nitrate.

Urea will volitilize in REAL hot weather. Ammonium Nitrate will not.

In average spring weather I would not be too concerned.

I would be more concerned about heavy rains washing the fertilizer around.

Gene
 
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