# Does anyone ever spread Ammonium Sulfate granules straight onto your lawn? Updated with before & after pictures



## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I bought some LESCO Ammonium Sulfate 21-0-0-24 in 50 pound bags recently.

My plan was to dissolve it and spray it on my yard through my spray rig. Here is the label that comes on the bags:



Note that the label says "For use in Rotary Spreaders only" - which is one way I can use it, but it kills the liquid application option.

So, my question is: if I spread this on my lawn, does the lawn need to be dry (not wet from recent rain or irrigation) or can you apply it to moist soil and then water it in?

I know it has to be watered in to avoid burning, and not to apply too much to also avoid burning, but not sure about the use on soil that has been moistened by recent rain or irrigation watering.

Hoping to hear from the original Spray Masters @Greendoc and @Mightyquinn, but if there are others who can speak from their own experience with Ammonium Sulfate granules or prills (haven't opened bag yet) then I would be most interested in hearing from you. Thank you in advance for your time and attention, if you know....

I may have to change my forum name from FlowRider to PrillSlinger after this one.... :lol:


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Horse feathers. Dissolve it in hot water and strain out any debris. That Lesco AS is simply a crude non spray grade bag. I have heard from other people that the AS sold as a spray tank additive for farmers making RoundUp applications is very cheap and 100% soluble in water. It might be a good idea to walk into a Co Op and see what they have. Site One does not serve the liquid fertilizer user very well.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

I haven't use the Lesco but it's probably the same as any other AS. I have bought two other brands though, the only difference between them was that one had sulfur in it and one didn't. I spread the one with the sulfur in it by spreader and dissolved the other and sprayed it. 




The AS without sulfur



Definitely water it in good otherwise your lawn will have a cheetah pattern if your mowing it low. I know from experience :lol:


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@Cory all ammonium sulfate contains sulfur, hence the word "sulfate".


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Greendoc said:


> Horse feathers. Dissolve it in hot water and strain out any debris. That Lesco AS is simply a crude non spray grade bag. I have heard from other people that the AS sold as a spray tank additive for farmers making RoundUp applications is very cheap and 100% soluble in water.


+1 I've never seen AMS that wasn't water soluble. I've also never seen it without Sulfur either but I could be wrong


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

I spread it onto my lawn with a rotary spreader. Watered it in, and had no issues.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Well, they definitely looked different :lol: . One was white the other was tan color, thought they were different but guess not :nod:


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

Cory said:


> Well, they definitely looked different :lol: . One was white the other was tan color, thought they were different but guess not :nod:


They could have been different, but not because of the sulfur. True spray grade AMS will dissolve cleanly, where the bags they recommend spreading will have some debris when dissolved. That may be the cause of the color difference.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@Spammage nah I assumed the other had more sulfur added because the color I guess and the other bag only said Ammonium Sulfate. My bad.


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

I keep bags of sulfate on hand at all times. Aerify something? Put out the sulfate to expedite healing. Great product.


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## Symbiont01 (Nov 20, 2018)

I spread AMS regularly at a rate of 1 lb N per 1000 sq ft. (a 50 lb bag of 21-0-0 AMS has 10.5 lb of N in it) and I havent seen it burn even in 90 degree temps. Its fairly hygroscopic and if you give it a shot of water it breaks down very quickly.


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## cousineau18 (May 28, 2019)

So I took the advice of a fellow LCN who has seeded with Yukon Bermuda before and he told me to add some Ammonium Sulfate to my newley Seeded Bermuda grass. It seems to be doing really good as I am adding .5# N every 2 weeks and mowing every 2 days, and giving it about 1.25" of water a week.

My question is what exactly is Ammonium Sulfate and what benefits does it have on the lawn.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

Thank you for everyone who has taken time to answer on this topic. I really appreciate your input.

I had a summons for jury duty today, but all the cases settled except one, and that guy failed to appear, so he had a warrant issued for his arrest, and the judge let us go early. So I ran a bunch of errands, including going to Ewing Irrigation (not impressed - place was a dusty dirty mess, and the staff must all wear clown shoes when they get home). So I went to Site One, and the manager was there. He used to be a Superintendent at a golf course before he got older and went into retail. He is actually a very personable guy, down to earth, very willing to talk about how to do things the right way.

Anyway, I asked him about the ammonium sulfate I bought when he was off. He said he had people mix it and spray it all the time, and to just use a screen to catch any clumps or debris, or else blend it in a bucket and let the debris settle out before pouring it into the spray tank.

He also said he has used it before on soggy ground (we have had rain every day for about a week now) and you can get some browning of the blade if you don't water the granules in right away, but it would grow out and mow off shortly.

He did say he had normally stocked sprayer grade ammonium sulfate and another customer had asked for some the same day I came in, so he ordered it so he would have some on hand again. He also said he was having trouble getting urea shipments in now....

So while I was there I bought some chelated iron liquid concentrate, 12-0-0 made by LESCO, to mix and spray on the lawn. It is supposed to clear up (it is raining again right now) tomorrow, and hopefully I can spray in the evening. He had some just come in, so he cut open a box for me. It was packaged upside down, so it is apparent that there is a lot of demand for fertilizer and supplements at LESCO right now. We both had a good laugh on that one - must have been a "Friday box!"

Looking forward to feeding my hangry lawn. It is looking a little lime green in some areas.

I have also noticed some weed breakthrough, including some broadleaves, some crabgrass, and a resurgent nutsedge incursion all over the yard. He said hit it with Certainty, and with all the rain we're having, it will take a few rounds to really knock it back. The rain just picked up in intensity right now....

The war against the weeds is never over; more battles ahead.


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## Paul M (Sep 2, 2018)

tcorbitt20 said:


> I spread it onto my lawn with a rotary spreader. Watered it in, and had no issues.


+1


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I opened one of the bags I bought and loaded it into my tow behind spreader. It is a granular product, and off-white in appearance. It does not appear to have a lot of debris.

Our weather is in a weird rain every day pattern right now, so I am going to spread this bag because my yard needs some nitrogen. Here is what it looks like.







I will take some before and after to show how it turns out.

Thanks for your responses, folks!


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## LawnRat (Mar 22, 2019)

cousineau18 said:


> ..
> My question is what exactly is Ammonium Sulfate and what benefits does it have on the lawn...


Its main benefit to me is its ability to lower pH in high pH soils over time, or at least temporarily buffer the pH so other nutrients can uptake more easily. This is from the 24% sulfur.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

LawnRat said:


> cousineau18 said:
> 
> 
> > ..
> ...


@cousineau18 and @LawnRat

LawnRat points out one of the benefits of ammonium sulfate is that it lowers pH in soils which are high pH. It also is a source of readily available nitrogen which the turf can use for its nutrient value right away. The sulphur is also a plant nutrient. Texas used to be the ocean floor from ancient seas that covered this whole area, so our soils are very alkaline. We also have a lot of calcium in our hard water from the city, so the sulfur/sulphur will help acidify the soils from that....

As I understand it, ammonium sulfate is a byproduct of industrial production, from steel making plants, and from the production of nylon. It also dissolves readily in water, which makes it easier to make liquid fertilizer you can spray.

There are a number of topics on ammonium sulfate on this forum. I've seen it used on farms before, in large agricultural sprayers, but I never really thought about its usage on lawns until I started looking at fertilizer options, and making a custom blend of spray options for fertilizing and adding other supplements to the spray mix, along with herbicides, etc.

So I managed to get the ammonium sulfate spread out on my lawn, and I also used it to fertilize my trees, ornamentals, and bushes as well. I have watered it all in, and we are expecting rain this afternoon (again) so that will help dissolve it.

I took some before pictures so I can add in the after photos for comparison of results. Right now it looks like everything should line up for a real nice burst of color around July 4th.

I am still fighting off some persistent grassy weeds and nutsedge, and a few odd broadleaf weeds have taken hold in bare areas left from killing off the weeds with Roundup to get the yard back under control at the end of last growing season. The Bermuda has filled in all of the dead areas where my "blue polka dots" were (what my wife called the areas I sprayed with Roundup and blue marker dye when I spot sprayed to start getting my yard back from a weed infestation caused by my prior lawn mower operators hired help).

But other weeds have also sprouted in those same areas, so I need to spray some herbicides again in those pockets.

I was tossing some fertilizer up into my flower beds around my crepe myrtles, and one of the neighborhood couples drove up as I was hand sprinkling the AMS onto the trees. I recognized them, waved, and carried on with my work. The guy drove back around to check out the lawn, and circled around again to look everything over. So I was happy that all the hard work I have been putting in has started to be noticed.

My wife came back from shopping right after that, and went outside and sent pictures of the yard to her sisters, so that helped boost my spirits some, too. Things are looking up! Almost made it worth sweating my you know what off...! :lol: :thumbup:


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)




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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

Just thought I would mention that when I was washing down the concrete areas where some of the AMS granules landed, it was really pretty amazing how quickly the granules would dissolve away.

I use my riding mower to blow the granules off my sidewalks and driveways, etc. I just lower the deck and ride up the sidewalk and shoot the granules back into the turf using the side discharge chute.

This is also how I blow the grass, dirt and debris off when I mow, except I bag that all up so it doesn't mess the yard up.

I have a Stihl backpack blower that works great, but I can clean up at 5
mph versus walking it, which makes a huge difference in 95 degree heat with 90% relative humidity....

Cool to watch the granules melt...!


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

These are before and after pictures, taken only four days apart, from spreading out the ammonium sulfate.

We had a nice light rain for two of the four days, after the initial watering in with irrigation.

You may be able to tell the difference by looking at how the yellowing areas all green up. iPotato pictures, so....

I added this fertilizer to the crepe myrtle tree ring you see in the first two pictures. The tree bloomed out a lot....

I have not mowed this yet, but the nutsedge is getting much taller, so I can spray it and burn it down for round two.

I did get a notice of HOA violation from my wannabe-Nazi HOA ladies, but it was for leaving my trash can out.... :lol:

All of this was done with about $12 worth of fertilizer, 50 pound bag. Very happy with the results so far. :thumbup: :nod:


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

Six days since application of AMS, and lawn has exploded with growth.

(Nutsedge has too, but I am about to spray that.)

It looks really lush and green. Yellow and light green areas almost gone. Very, very happy with the results using AMS.


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