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Why do people tell me I need to use fertilizers with chlorine in them on our Texas sports fields to correct a sodium problem in our soil and water? Should I try this suggestion of using chlorine?

Last Updated: April 21, 2011

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Adding chlorine through fertilizer will not help resolve a sodium problem in your soil and/or water. If sodium is present in the water, then it becomes critical that when you irrigate, you water as deeply as possible. The key is to try and move the sodium down into the soil as far as possible. Watering lightly and frequently will encourage a quicker buildup of sodium in the top portion of the soil. To remove sodium from your soil, add gypsum. The amount and frequency will depend on the level of sodium being applied through your irrigation water. Also, unless you have a sandy to sandy-loam soil, the gypsum will not aid in the leaching of sodium down through the soil profile. In clay soils, it is difficult to leach the sodium down through the profile, even with the addition of gypsum. If sodium is a problem, have the sports field deep-tine aerified as often as possible. Deep-tine aerification will help open up large pores in the soil and thus encourage the leaching of sodium down deeper into the soil profile.

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