# Put down Milo or no?



## Grassy bass (Jul 8, 2019)

So here's the deal, I have only put down Scott's turf builder weed and feed(yellow bag 28-0-3) on May 16th and milorganite On June 4th. The weed and feed worked superbly and with the Milo mybackyard never looked so green. I was going to follow the dates on the bag but then after researching I see a lot of ppl don't like to put down fert in the summer. I'm in zone 7 in New York. Should I put down some more Milo or wait till fall? Is there anything I should put down now/soonish? The yard looks good but there's a ton of crabgrass looking weeds in front that I'm going to wait to take care of next year but the backyard has some brown spots prob from drought. Thank you


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## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

It's perfectly fine to apply milorganite in the summer.


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

Like @Babaganoosh said it's fine to put it down in the summer. What rate did you put the milo down at last time?


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

Do you have irrigation? I ask because you say you have drought stress. It's been super dry and hot here in the NE. Not sure how good milo would be without irrigation.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I live on Long island NY I passed on applying Milo this July. Summer is here I would not push any growth with a cool season lawn unless you want to water your lawn often. You already put down a fair amount of nitrogen so far I would wait until September then let that Milo fly.


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## SpiveyJr (Jun 7, 2018)

It doesn't sound like your lawn needs fertilizer right now so I wouldn't put any down just for the sake of it. Put some down in August and September to really push growth and thicken it up.


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## beardizzle1 (Jun 13, 2019)

I put down a Milo "clone" last weekend and I'm in Indianapolis (temps in low 90s and no rain in last couple weeks). I do have a couple areas I water myself. I usually put it down around .5lb/k or .8lb/k but only put down .25lb/k this time and in two weeks will do the same again. I've taken the spoon feeding approach this year and have only used organic so My probability of burning the lawn is diminished. This is my first year really going after a healthy lawn so I will learn from my mistakes and capitalize on my wins.


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## Grassy bass (Jul 8, 2019)

I put it Milo down at .75/k sqft in June 4th. I may just use it on a little test area and then hold off on the entire lawn just to see what will happen if i did use it. I have weeds coming up in the front yard which I'm gunna try and tackle. I don't have a irrigation system( I only have access to a hose). Do the people who don't put it down in the summer not use it cause it doesn't need it or just that they will have to cut the gras more often? Because on the bag it says it won't burn the grass&#128516;


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## JDgreen18 (Jun 14, 2018)

@Grassy bass whenever you apply fertilizer your grass wants to grow but if it's not getting water, it's hot, and stressing out what's the point of putting down fertilizer. Kind of a waste.
So maybe milo won't burn but if your lawn is going dormant how will this benefit your lawn.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Tackling weeds with weed killer in July will stress the lawn also especially without watering. Spot spray the weeds if you want but grass around will probably yellow. Me personally I don't fertilizer in July August and hand pick my weeds but I don't have a lot. Come September I lay Milo on heavy and attack my weeds. September the rain returning and cooler weather cool season grass starts to thrive also the weeds. Feed the grass and kill the weeds.


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## Grassy bass (Jul 8, 2019)

Yeah all good advice. I'm gunna make a test plot ally he way I. The back just to see what happens and hold off on the entire yard. Also will spot spray some of the weeds in the front and wish for the best. Now I know to use a pre em for crabgrass next year.man that crabgrass grows fast and it kisses me off so much to loook at hahaha. Does the crabgrass just die or does it prevent more from growing with A product like spectracide?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

I'd say no more than 0.3 lb of N from Milo right now with the heat we are getting, but it also depends on how much Nitrogen from the previous app is still left. I'll be putting down 0.2 lb of N from Milo next week because I've only put down 0.7 lb of N this whole year so far.

A little bit can help with heat stress and certain diseases, like Rust and Red Thread. Too much will just make the stress worse.


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## BXMurphy (Aug 5, 2017)

My experience shows the stuff to be pretty tame. I put it down at the rate and times listed on the bag and Nothing Bad has ever happened.

I do regular lawn maintenance, though... mowing, watering, experimenting, and generally taunting the lawn...

My lawn worries more about me than the Milorganite.

B


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## beardizzle1 (Jun 13, 2019)

From what I always see with soil sample results the lawn is always lacking N, unless you take your sample a couple days after a synthetic app. Seems it could always use a little, but someone could refute me on that? I'm still new.. lol With organic fert it's slow release.. so the .25lbs/k I put down is more like 0.125lbs/k a week for two weeks.. as opposed to a rush of 0.25lbs/k and then wearing off. I think it depends what you're used to with your application. l've noticed on the site a lot of people just put that they threw down (this is a made up scenario) 21-0-0 36lb bag.. but they don't put down their actual N on the ground which can lead people astray imo. So my .25N/k slow-release was 4-4-0 ~36-40lb bag over 6k-ft2 is where I get that number. But if I put a 21-0-0 40lb bag over the same footage2rd then it would be a much higher push of N.

I make this post explaining what I'm doing and my thoughts behind it from what I've learned. I hope someone lets me know if I'm off in left field thinking I'm in right. &#128514;&#128513;


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@beardizzle1, I don't think Nitrogen results in soil tests actually tell us much of anything useful...you can safely ignore those entries. I hear they're extremely inaccurate.


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## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

I'm in the camp that thinks it's a good idea to apply a little fertilizer in summer. Yes the turf is stressed from the heat and lack of rain. It's struggling. There's no sense in starving it too. This is where spoon feeding or using organics comes in handy. No, you don't want to push growth but you don't want to stress it more. If the plant wants or needs nutrients and they aren't there then you aren't doing it any favors. With organics you aren't directly feeding the grass, you are indirectly feeding it by feeding the soil. If the plant wants food then at least there's some there.


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## tgreen (Oct 20, 2018)

Great question. My approach is the same as @Green which is low rate organic/milo in summer. I go 0.1 to 0.2 ish every couple-ish to three weeks. Everything I read says milo/organic is safe to apply at whatever rate you want whenever you feel like it. Maybe but I don't get how the plant knows whether it's getting N from slow or fast release. If you put down 1 lb of organic nitrogen in July how do I know how fast it's delivered. I've looked but never seen any good studies on this. There is an expirement going at university of missouri on various urea/fast N rates on tall fescue to assess the impact on brown patch. I'll post the results unless someone beats me to it.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@tgreen, interesting.

I usually get mine applied before/by mid June at the latest, and then it's enough to carry through the entire Summer (1 lb N total from Milo plus slower release/less WSN sources).

But this year I was late due to the Triv kill and reseeding (which is nerve wracking right now, trying not to lose too much of it, since I seeded in May). So, since I've only gotten 0.3 to 0.7 lbs of N down so far (depending on area) I'm continuing into July and possibly August with it this year until I hit the 1 lb N mark. The new grass can definitely use it, anyway.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I've explained this in another post but I can't find it. The answer of how much nitrogen you should do is related to the Growth Potential as explained in  Pace Turf.

As temperature moves away from 68F (for cool season), the potential for growth reduces. The higher the temp, the less nitrogen it should get. But like tgreen said, the plant doesn't care the source. It could be from decaying organic matter (roots) or biosolids or synthetic.

In the log file I've shared, it calculates the daily GP. I use it to help me guide in how much N to throw down. I don't go crazy with a pound of N/M, but also don't starve it. Lastly, look at your clippings to judge if it is growing too much or not enough. It is a balancing act.


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## tgreen (Oct 20, 2018)

g-man said:


> look at your clippings to judge if it is growing too much or not enough. It is a balancing act.


Yes, love this quote. There are people that can talk for hours about nitrogen (fast, slow, polymer coated, organic, synthetic, volatilization, heat, water, whatever) and my eyes glaze over. How fast is the grass growing and what would you expect under the conditions. That's the test.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I put this down mid June. 9% insoluble nitrogen. Milo if I remember correctly is 60% water soluble at 6% nitrogen. So it does push a fair amount of growth guick then slows down.


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## beardizzle1 (Jun 13, 2019)

Green said:


> @beardizzle1, I don't think Nitrogen results in soil tests actually tell us much of anything useful...you can safely ignore those entries. I hear they're extremely inaccurate.


I've actually not heard that, interesting. I can see this being true..


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