These are the basic building blocks of good nutrition. But as we've learned, we need more than the basics to stay as healthy as possible and ward off disease. That's why more golf course superintendents are searching the proverbial buffet for additional nutrients that promote plant health in normal as well as stressful conditions.

Granulars are best suited to the fertilization process; foliars tend to support the nutrition methodology. Both have their place in a well-rounded agronomic program. (Photo by: Mike Klemme)

In agronomic terms, the buffet presents the full range of options golf course superintendents have when it comes to the two major types of fertilizer products — granulars and foliars. Granulars are the macronutrients — N, P and K in fertilizer shorthand — that have been around forever. Foliars contain those traditional ingredients, as well as the more exotic food groups, including antioxidants, fulvic acids, amino acids and seaplant extracts, which have gained wider popularity over the last decade.

So the question of whether granulars or foliars are better suited for your turfgrass needs is not really an either/or issue. Experienced superintendents know this and are instead focusing more on understanding and managing the total physiological needs of the plant. That perspective makes them more mindful of the distinction between fertilization and nutrition than the debate between granulars, which are applied in dry form and deliver nutrients through the roots of a plant; and foliars, which deliver more specialized forms of liquid nutrients through the plant's leaves.

Fertilization is what might be termed a "hopeful" process. You broadcast nutrients and hope they are available when the plant needs them most. But since we're not in total control of the two most important variables in this equation — soil temperature and moisture — this can be an inexact science despite today's more advanced products.

Nutrition, on the other hand, is a more strategic concept. Based on an understanding of plant needs, you provide for those needs precisely, with the right ingredients, in the right amounts, at the right time. Granulars are best suited to the fertilization process; foliars tend to support the nutrition methodology. Both have their place in a well-rounded agronomic program.

Designing fertilization programs based on plant physiology might remind some of Ty Webb's Zen-like advice to young Danny Noonan in "Caddyshack." But instead of "be the ball," superintendents are trying to "be the plant." By understanding the physical makeup of the plant — knowing when a particular plant needs feeding and how it extracts nutrients from various fertilizer types — superintendents customize science-based agronomic programs that meet their specific needs, based on course conditions and expectations.

In today's world, however, it's not enough to understand agronomic issues and how to create the best playing conditions. Superintendents also need to be well-versed in the economic issues affecting their decisions, which brings the discussion back to granular and foliar products. Both granulars and foliars include the basic food groups. But the amount of N-P-K applied through most foliars is a fraction of what you find in most granulars, which explains why commodity price increases in 2008 dramatically spiked granular prices, but left foliar prices relatively unchanged.

In addition to commodity costs, fertilizer prices are also driven by the amount of technology and engineering used to create their delivery system. Generally speaking, the more technology, the higher the cost to produce and the higher the price to end-users. In that analysis, foliars, which employ technologies that allow for a lower input/higher value delivery system, are going to cost more than granulars.

With most agronomic budgets shrinking, integrating granular and foliar products at different times of the year based on plants' physiological needs should be considered the most cost-effective strategy. Returning to the buffet line for a moment, we see that superintendents don't need to limit their fertilizer choices to either granulars or foliars. By filling their plates with the right portions from each section of the buffet, and understanding their turf's total physiological needs, superintendents will be rewarded with healthy turf that stands up to the stresses forced on it by Mother Nature, not to mention owners, operators and members.

Doug Middleton is vice president of Emerald Isle Ltd./Ocean Organics, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company that manufactures fertilizers and specialty materials for turf and plant growth on behalf of LebanonTurf.