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Phosphate problems



Phosphate is very immobile, especially in clay soils which you say you 
have. so there is absolutely no need to worry about polluting the ground
water or anybody elses soil with it.  You can also apply it at very high
rates without harming anything.
phospate fertilizer H2p04- is easily tied up with al in clay soils
(sandy, loam soils this is not a problem). It can even be more of a
problem in more acidic soils.  But dont worry the more p in the soil the 
better because it is eventually all released, it may just take time.
Place the p in concentrated areas in the root zone (if possible) to
decrease the amount that will be tied up in the soil and increase the
amount available to the roots.

 Do not apply by broadcasting. Since it is very immmobile it will get
 eroded away due to wind and rain.  If you do boadcast increase rates by
 5-6x.

 There are many reasons for the fact that the soil sample shows so little
 p. The main one is error. There should be at least 15 sample taken for 1
 test. The equipment must have no dirt from previous samples on it ( i
 found this out by my own error). Make sure you have a respectable lab do
 the test.

 I would suggest doing a tissue test to determin how much p is actually
 getting to the plant. (very valuable). The leaves may be dark green if
 there is a lack of p.

P is very important to plants, especially fruit trees, it is very very
important for flowering a fruit development.I would not reccomend to stop
using it. It is very very important and can increase production 
dramatically, it just takes time to work.

Finnally phosphate pollution is not a problem so dont be to worried about
it. It occurs naturraly in most soils anyways. Anyone who tells you other
wise was misinformed.

 Ken Sarauer

 P.S. next time use monoammonium phosphate(12-51-00). It is cheaper more
 concentrated plus it contians some nitrogen.Remember fertilizers are not 
harmful to the environment if used properly.
 Natural fetilers can be a lot more harmful than synthetic fertilizers 
because it is much harder to control the rates and know how much you are 
putting on. Ignorance about the damage fertilizers do is very harmful to 
all of the farming community.