One for grassland experts

[scrubbuster]

Every year at this time of year my grass plants have a purple tinge to them. It's all quite new grass and all levels are pretty good except for potash which I am working to rectify. Could that be the reason or some other stress. Once we go into the warmer times and the grass takes off it turns lovely and green

 

[sticky]

It happens here as well. I always thought it was the cold that did it but somebody spoke about this the other day on another thread and the general consensus was that it is a lack of p or k take up because of the cold and wet.

 

[scrubbuster]

It doesn't seem to affect my neighbour so it must be something I can rectify. He is much more professional than me though

 

[Great In Grass]

It could well be phosphate deficiency in the leaves.

 

[Stewartry hill]

I have one field done that the only one with no slurry this winter so lack of P and K?

 

[Macsky]

I was Googling the same thing this morning, noticing some purple leaves in a small paddock that was reseeded last year, phosphate deficiency seemed to be the most common answer.

 

[sticky]

This is the worst field on the farm.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Purple leaves is classically phosphate deficiency. It tends to be transient and is mostly caused by cold and wet conditions which impede the roots of the plant to pick up phosphate. It tends to happen where the plant is trying to actively grow but the roots just can't keep up with the demands of the plant. It can be sporadic but you might find some fields seem to get it more often than others for reasons I haven't ever understood.

It is possible you have another deficiency in tandem with this that is exacerbating the symptoms.

You can see it in various other crops besides grass if you look hard enough. Cereals and maize being two common ones.

You can get this same problem happen even in soils which are loaded with P and K. Here it is to do with phosphate availability rather than an outright deficiency.

 

[Dave6170]

Ours is the same, I just put it down to the cold winds

 

[scrubbuster]

It happens every year at this time of year. I am woron getting all levels where they should be

 

[Taenn]

Phosphorus deficiency-Grassland | Yara UK

Reduced growth and tillering, sometimes attended with purple discoloration

www.yara.co.uk

Phosphorus deficiency made worse by​

• Acidic or very alkaline (calcareaus) soils
• Low organic matter
• Cold or wet conditions
• Crops with a poorly developed root system
• Soils with low P reserves
• Soils with a high phosphate capacity
• Iron rich soils

Given our short growth season and normally a cold spring I'm too familiar with the purple menace.
With the list above pretty much all fields can meet the criteria most seasons depending on snow cover.

 

[cowboysupper]

Purple leaves is classically phosphate deficiency. It tends to be transient and is mostly caused by cold and wet conditions which impede the roots of the plant to pick up phosphate. It tends to happen where the plant is trying to actively grow but the roots just can't keep up with the demands of the plant. It can be sporadic but you might find some fields seem to get it more often than others for reasons I haven't ever understood.

It is possible you have another deficiency in tandem with this that is exacerbating the symptoms.

You can see it in various other crops besides grass if you look hard enough. Cereals and maize being two common ones.

You can get this same problem happen even in soils which are loaded with P and K. Here it is to do with phosphate availability rather than an outright deficiency.

I sent off a forage mineral sample a couple of weeks ago to see if our silage swards were missing anything. They haven't been looking to pretty over the last 3 weeks. Results came back with everything pretty much at optimum apart from slightly low Mg and Mn.

We're on the coast on reclaimed land and very exposed to north wind, which I've come to the conclusion is the predominant reason for the grass not like not looking that wonderful. Nice to know from the analysis though that we've done as much as we can with digestate already. Hopefully heat and sunshine this week will make it jump. Have trialled some Combitop on 20% of the area to see if it helps overcome the Mg and Mn deficiency in the short term.

 

[Macsky]

Phosphorus deficiency-Grassland | Yara UK

Reduced growth and tillering, sometimes attended with purple discoloration

www.yara.co.uk

Phosphorus deficiency made worse by​

• Acidic or very alkaline (calcareaus) soils
• Low organic matter
• Cold or wet conditions
• Crops with a poorly developed root system
• Soils with low P reserves
• Soils with a high phosphate capacity
• Iron rich soils

Given our short growth season and normally a cold spring I'm too familiar with the purple menace.
With the list above pretty much all fields can meet the criteria most seasons depending on snow cover.

I think I tick 6 of those boxes ✔

 

[NorthumbrianFarmer]

Having the same problem in my Italian ryegrass seeds. It got mucked last autumn and 48 units of P and K. I really hope it’s the cold

 

[Dave6170]

Having the same problem in my Italian ryegrass seeds. It got mucked last autumn and 48 units of P and K. I really hope it’s the cold

We have a little bit of Italian and it looks miserable aswell.
want to pile the sheep on it and start again fresh

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Ollie saved me typing out a pretty longwinded reply .
You can have loads of nutrients in the soil but until the soil biology wakes up and make it available to the plant, it can't access it.

Newer pastures more susceptible and newer pastures after cultivation, even more so

 

[NorthumbrianFarmer]

We have a little bit of Italian and it looks miserable aswell.
want to pile the sheep on it and start again fresh

Did wonder about putting sheep on for a couple days but I’m hopeful of wanting to cut it in 3 weeks even though it’s stuck at 3-6 inches

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Did wonder about putting sheep on for a couple days but I’m hopeful of wanting to cut it in 3 weeks even though it’s stuck at 3-6 inches

The leaves that are there won't grow much when purpled, but they're still providing energy for the ones just about to poke out of the ground.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Look at your grass in May and sing a different tune

 

[scrubbuster]

Ollie saved me typing out a pretty longwinded reply .
You can have loads of nutrients in the soil but until the soil biology wakes up and make it available to the plant, it can't access it.

Newer pastures more susceptible and newer pastures after cultivation, even more so

This makes sense, my most purple one is new grass after potatoes