Nitrogen Management – Avoiding Ammonia Injury
A lot of anhydrous ammonia is going on this spring, and in many fields the hope is to plant as soon as practicable after NH3 application. This brings up the question about potential for NH3 damage to seeds and seedlings.
Seed and seedling damage from spring-applied NH3 is relatively rare in Illinois, but it can be quite damaging, and we want to minimize the chances of it happening. Such damage is rare is because NH3 converts readily in soil to the ammonium form (NH4+) which is held on soil exchange sites and is not damaging to plant tissue.…