The Grass Doctor

Does lawn food just remove nitrogen to give it a greener colour?

I have used miricle grow lawn food, and currently have evergreen lawn builder down (little granuales).

Public Comments

1. Actually, lawn food is mostly nitrogen, because that is what makes the lawn green. Its the phospherous that makes woody growth, grow. I wish you well.. Jesse
2. Nope. Adding sulfates & nitrogen makes the lawn greener. Actually, chlorophyll gives it the green color. Sulfates just act to soften the water and make nutrient intake easier. Here's a site with exact amounts, times & types of fertilizer for most grasses: http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/HTML/FSA-2114.asp
3. Nitrogen gives it a greener color. There's three numbers on the bag which show the levels of the main ingredients. The best one to get is a blend which has a 3:1:2 ratio of the ingredients. Nitrogen does a great job of greening it up, but does nothing for the roots. So you need a good ratio to really make for a healthy lawn. They're always listed in the same order on the front of the bag, so you just have to try getting one with a ratio close to the correct one. So 3:1:2, 6:2:4, 12:4:8, and so on. There should also be some iron and sulpher, for greening and to discourage molds.
4. While I agree with Fishing on the most part, youdo not have to get one with the right ratio. I use 20-20-20 on all my plants and trees to great success. The plant will pull nutrients it needs out of the soil in the right amounts. Believe me, the plant knows better than you do how much it needs of each chemical. Thats why if you look at the different feeds for different plants they have different levels. Rose food is designed to produce bigger flowers, where lawn food is to cause greater growthto fill in the lawn. Each one of the three has different purposes. One is for branch or stem growth, one is for root growth and the otehr for flower and color development. By feeding with a 20-20-20 mix you ensure that they get the right amount of each one. Especially since that ratio is only good for certain times of the year. In the pring, you want more for nitrogen, in the fall you want more potash. Easier to just give them a balanced mix year round and let them decide what they need.
5. Nitrogen is a component of chlorophyll (see link: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/photosyn.htm) which gives plants their green color. It is the element most needed by plants because it is a component of a lot of other systems in the plant (its in amino acids and proteins, etc.) Iron also makes plants green. In plants like Ixora, iron deficiencies often arise due to the high iron requirement of those plants. Iron is also needed in chlorophyll production. So, in order for plants to be green, they must have nitrogen so the plant can make chlorophyll.