# Anyone growing Bermuda organically?



## Kberg84 (May 20, 2020)

I'm planning a front lawn renovation and putting down either tiftuf or Tifgrand. Would like to go the organic route as I have two dogs and a 2 year old. Also intrigued by the challenge to get and keep a nice lawn the organic route. I am curious though...is it possible? I know Bermuda loves nitrogen and I'm just wondering if I can give it the nitrogen and everything else is needs organically. If anyone is going the organic route with there Bermuda would love to get some feedback and pictures.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I tried it one year and I was NOT impressed and it was crazy expensive on top of that. I saw zero benefit from doing it. I was applying Milorganite, Soybean Meal, cracked corn and alfalfa in large amounts and the lawn looked like garbage as it wasn't growing or really wasn't doing anything. As soon as I applied some 36-0-0 it woke right up and started looking good again. Now, with that being said, I have seen a few Bermuda lawns that looked good being fed organically but they are few and far between and I haven't seen any recently that I can think of.

I would wait to go organic until your lawn is established as it won't be able to get the nutrients that it needs when it is new as the roots will be very shallow. I will also say that Tifgrand requires a lot less Nitrogen then other Bermuda varieties so it may be a better fit for an organic program. I would still give it a shot once the lawn is established and see how things go, just know that you will most likely be applying something weekly and you will be spending 2-3 times what you normally would going the normal route and possibly getting less than standard results. Good Luck and I will be curious how things go for you.


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## Kberg84 (May 20, 2020)

@Mightyquinn i appreciate the reply! I worried I won't be able to get that nice green color without synthetics


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## Kberg84 (May 20, 2020)

Mightyquinn said:


> I tried it one year and I was NOT impressed and it was crazy expensive on top of that. I saw zero benefit from doing it. I was applying Milorganite, Soybean Meal, cracked corn and alfalfa in large amounts and the lawn looked like garbage as it wasn't growing or really wasn't doing anything. As soon as I applied some 36-0-0 it woke right up and started looking good again. Now, with that being said, I have seen a few Bermuda lawns that looked good being fed organically but they are few and far between and I haven't seen any recently that I can think of.
> 
> I would wait to go organic until your lawn is established as it won't be able to get the nutrients that it needs when it is new as the roots will be very shallow. I will also say that Tifgrand requires a lot less Nitrogen then other Bermuda varieties so it may be a better fit for an organic program. I would still give it a shot once the lawn is established and see how things go, just know that you will most likely be applying something weekly and you will be spending 2-3 times what you normally would going the normal route and possibly getting less than standard results. Good Luck and I will be curious how things go for you.


Did you notice any benefits of going organic for that one year at all? Held up to stress better? Any kind of difference in diseases or insects?


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Guessing it improved the soil and roots side of things.

Help the microbes, worms etc. they help fertilizers do the job they're intended to do by getting everything in order.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

No, I never really noticed any difference with the lawn except that it may have made the lawn more spongy and soft then I would have liked, especially when it comes to reel mowing. I prefer a nice firm surface as I seem to get a better cut as the mower doesn't "sink" down into the soil as much. I'm not sure if it was from all the organics I put down but my lawn created this thick(1-2") black layer right under the grass that seemed to hamper it more than help it as it seemed to hold onto any fertilizer I tried to apply and I was getting inconsistent results unless I got a decent rain that helped flush some of the nutrients out and into the root zone. I think I have alleviated and corrected that by now but it was a thorn in my side for a few years.

I have another theory of organics in the South and it's probably just that and it's also from my casual observation. I think it has to do with the heat and the sandy soil that I have that doesn't allow the organics to break down slow enough to be used up by the plant. It seems like most people who have had success with organics live further up North with cooler temperatures and different soil compositions. It may be more beneficial if you have a hard clay soil in the South as it may "hold" on to the nutrients longer giving it time to do it's thing. But like I said it is just a theory and I could be totally wrong


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

I tried to go the organic route last year, mostly because it was my first year taking control of my lawn and I was afraid to burn my turf. I went hard and heavy with Milorganite last year but things didn't really take off until I added in some Carbon X. Having a higher rate of N is what got my lawn going and then the organics were only to add organic material to my lawn.

This year I got a soil test and I now realize that there is no way to get sufficient levels of deficient nutrients going a strictly organic route. I was severely low in potassium and the two organics I fluctuated between were Milo and Purely Organic. Milo has no potassium and PO had such a low amount that I would have to literally blanket my lawn with it to get a decent amount to address my deficiencies. Going strictly organic would be extremely costly. The other bi-product of going hard with Milo is that my phosphorus levels were through the roof. I think that going organic only is very limiting on what you can do to address your lawn's specific needs and time consuming. My main fertilizer is 24-0-4. Putting down 20 pounds on my lawn is enough to give me 1 lb N/1K. To put down an equal amount of Milo I'd have to put down 80 pounds. That money and time spreading that much material on my lawn.


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## BigBoxLawn (Jul 8, 2020)

Similar experience here. I started the year off organic with Milo. My Bermuda EXPLODED once i added in higher N ferts.


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## Kberg84 (May 20, 2020)

BermudaBoy said:


> I tried to go the organic route last year, mostly because it was my first year taking control of my lawn and I was afraid to burn my turf. I went hard and heavy with Milorganite last year but things didn't really take off until I added in some Carbon X. Having a higher rate of N is what got my lawn going and then the organics were only to add organic material to my lawn.
> 
> This year I got a soil test and I now realize that there is no way to get sufficient levels of deficient nutrients going a strictly organic route. I was severely low in potassium and the two organics I fluctuated between were Milo and Purely Organic. Milo has no potassium and PO had such a low amount that I would have to literally blanket my lawn with it to get a decent amount to address my deficiencies. Going strictly organic would be extremely costly. The other bi-product of going hard with Milo is that my phosphorus levels were through the roof. I think that going organic only is very limiting on what you can do to address your lawn's specific needs and time consuming. My main fertilizer is 24-0-4. Putting down 20 pounds on my lawn is enough to give me 1 lb N/1K. To put down an equal amount of Milo I'd have to put down 80 pounds. That money and time spreading that much material on my lawn.


Thanks for the input. Do you think the organic route would work if you just supplemented synthetic nitrogen? Keeping everything else organic minus a shot of some urea from time to time?


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

Kberg84 said:


> BermudaBoy said:
> 
> 
> > I tried to go the organic route last year, mostly because it was my first year taking control of my lawn and I was afraid to burn my turf. I went hard and heavy with Milorganite last year but things didn't really take off until I added in some Carbon X. Having a higher rate of N is what got my lawn going and then the organics were only to add organic material to my lawn.
> ...


Your soil test can answer that better than I can. It will show you what you need and if organics supplemented with urea would work.

In my case that would have been a no. My soil test for my backyard said that I needed to add 150 lbs of potassium/acre which translated to 15 pounds of potash for my back lawn. Milo is out because it has no potash. Purely Organic and Ringer are two popular soy based organics and both have 2% potassium. To get what my lawn needed I would need to apply 30 bags of fertilizer at a cost of roughly $800 and this is just for my backyard. On the flip side, you could find a 50 pound bag of sulfate of potash, 0-0-50, and knock that deficiency out with one bag. Hell, that one bag would have enough for my entire lawn to get back on track.

I use a lot of the Carbon Earth products which are semi-synthetics. They've got a nice dose of quick release nitrogen but all of their products are infused with chicken litter and bio char to add organic material to your lawn and for a slow release component. I can only speak for myself but there would have been no way to rehab my lawn had I not switched to fertilizers with higher rates of nitrogen and using ones with higher rates of potassium have really helped my lawn handle stress much better than last year.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

For the fertilizers I wouldn't worry about going all organic because of the dogs and child. From what I've read, synthetic fertilizers in moderate doses are considered to be non toxic to humans. If you want to be on the safe side, you can apply your ferts by spraying and then water it in and let it dry before letting anyone on it. What you should worry about is weed and disease treatments, those can be the nasty chemicals and can be dangerous if the labeled precautions aren't followed.


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## BermudaBoy (Jun 27, 2019)

Like @Gilley11 mentioned, synthetics pose no danger to your kids and pets. I exclusively put out material on my lawn when I known a good rain is coming. Mother Nature waters it in and then there's no trace of it.


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## cavince79 (Jun 18, 2019)

With dogs and kids running in the backyard, I wasn't a fan of how long the granular options took to break down with rain or irrigation, so that was a big part of my deciding factor to go with liquids. I spray, water, allow to dry, and let them have at it.


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## cldrunner (May 14, 2019)

@Kberg84 I tried organic for a year as well on 2K of my 20K yard. I used Microlife fertilizer which was EXPENSIVE!! $40 for a bag of this that covers 2,000 sq ft.
https://www.microlifefertilizer.com/product/microlife-6-2-4-all-organic-biological-fertilizer/

I was spending as much on 2K as the rest of the 18K.. Not worth it for me. I did not see any difference. Supposedly, the whole University of Texas grounds use this fertilizer (I bet the football field does not). Now if I was eating my bermuda grass for dinner I might think about it.


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## Rooster (Aug 19, 2019)

I got my yard going this year with some synthetics, but after I use up the two bags I have I'm going to transition fully to organics + urea. Bermuda needs too much nitrogen to go entirely with sub-10% N products of any kind, I feel. So for me I'll get most of my nitrogen from the urea and everything else will be from organics (primarily feed grains and meals). I think it will go fine but it'll be new for me.

Just an hour north of here I grew a beautiful TTTF lawn on nothing but organics, and I like the soil-first philosophy behind it. But TTTF is a different animal and I know it's unlikely to work on bermuda without the urea.


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## Chocolate Lab (Jun 8, 2019)

I've done it... I used only a 6-4-3 chicken litter fert brought in from Colorado (I'm in Texas) plus a little bit of Milo or Hou-Actinite, which I don't like nearly as much. One time I used a little Ammonium Sulfate I bought on super closeout from Home Depot, but that was just once many months ago.

Now I'm not cutting as low as most on here due to my very harsh climate and difficulty in keeping my soil moist enough. But it's very green and I've gotten lots of compliments. Let's just say it turned out far better than I expected.

This is Monaco, so an improved seeded version and not the latest hybrids. Maybe that makes a difference.

Maybe Quinn is right about not trying it at first, though, because noted cover crop farmer Gabe Brown has advised farmers against going full organic overnight and expecting that to work. If you've used inputs before, you won't have the good soil life needed to break down and recycle the organic nutrients.

I don't really see why enough of the 6-4-3 wouldn't work, though. That's a pretty balanced analysis.

To be fair, I'm not able to get that fert here locally and can't find anything very similar. And what I've seen on the web is silly expensive. This stuff is only $9.49 for 40 lbs, but again that's only in Colorado.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Bermuda grass is a nitrogen hungry grass for sure. Have you thought about going with a lower maintenance grass like centipede? Organics fertilizers are generally slower release than synthetics and therefore may not be giving Bermuda grass the "shot in the arm" it needs to thrive.

As far as organics, have you looked at the line of Espoma products? They have a line of organic lawn fertilizers. They also have an organic pre-emergent weed control (corn gluten) which doubles as a nitrogen source (9-0-0).

And just to clarify, synthetic fertilizers aren't really any more dangerous to pets and kids than organic fertilizers. It's more that organics have less of an environmental impact due to their slower release, so the N and P are less likely to leach, run off and cause algae blooms in lakes and ponds. The environmental impact of synthetic K is much less of an issue.


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## Chocolate Lab (Jun 8, 2019)

Yes, I don't think synthetic fertilizer is harmful, except maybe to the soil life. It's the herbicides and insecticides I'd be wary of.


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## Mactex (Sep 29, 2020)

I did for 8 years at cutting heights at low as .125" on a golf course in north Texas, you really have to stay on it for at least 2 years. We used a golf hole as a control and after year 1 it took 70% more synthetic N to get the same results on a tissue test as the organic. We moved away from it due to cost but it is doable, The one caveat is we still used 2 applications of chemical pre-emergent per year.

Tifeagle bermuda at .125"
Tifway 419 at .400" to 1.25"


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## Mactex (Sep 29, 2020)

Chocolate Lab said:


> Yes, I don't think synthetic fertilizer is harmful, except maybe to the soil life. It's the herbicides and insecticides I'd be wary of.


Research done to measure the microbes by soil biomass indicates its really only fungicides containing copper, manganese, magnesium, and zinc decreased microbial activity,

I think if you are in an area that regularly reaches high temps over 100 you are going to see a decrease in microbial activity, as long as you are keeping pore space in the soil for oxygen herbicides, insecticides and synthetics-especially those with carbon are fine.


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