Nothing in nature is uncontrolled, nothing is left to chance. Lawrence Mayhew shares the science behind the plant utilizing a lot more than the 16 essential nutrients considered an industry standard since the 1939 hydroponic research done by Arnon and Stout. Since that research, much has been learned about the importance of trace elements, how plants bring nutrients out of the soil, and the physiological importance of those nutrients. Today we still hear from “experts” that all turf needs is urea nitrogen but clearly that is not a healthy approach to plant science. Lawrence talks about how a soil and plant really work. He highlights scientific literature to make his case and ultimately shows us that nature really does not leave anything to chance. We discuss the importance of trace elements, especially the rare earth minerals, and their role in building enzymes, amino acids and ultimately proteins within the plant. If all a plant used was a limited number of elements it would suffer physiological stresses, the construction of proteins would be incomplete, and the plant would more likely suffer from insect and disease stresses. This is a big conversation on a tough subject but as always when Lawrence talks with us a fascinating conversation.

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