# 2018 - transition zone KBG - maintenance journal



## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

I plan to use this thread as a journal for my transition zone KBG lawn. Earlier chapters on how we made it to this point can be found in my Fall 2017 - transition zone KBG - year two overseed thread. After a Fall of following great advice from members here and heavy spoon feeding + PGR, I'm very pleased with where I'm at going into Spring. As I write this, my wife is due to have our first child any day, so my goal for 2018 is to _try_ putting the maintenance schedule on autopilot and hope I can make it to Fall without destroying my last two years of work. As always, I welcome any and all comments and advice.

I finished 2017 with four final weekly applications of ammonium sulfate at 2.5 lbs (0.24 lb N/M) in December and then dropped a 30lb bag of Pennington Fast Lime w/AST in mid-January. We had an initial early warm-up in late February, so I applied 0.16 oz (0.075 oz/M) of Tenacity and 0.58 oz (0.27 oz/M) of Prodiamine. This worked well to keep the poa annua and clover at bay until the cold blew back in for another month. Now that the warmer temps are finally here, I may need another Tenacity app. I purposely keep the first one light since the first warm-up had been so early in the season.

I cut for the first time in 2018 on March 4th at 1.75" to clean things up a bit and grabbed this pano just before dark.



The below avg temps through March slowed growth back down a bit and brought back a few brown tips, but the cold weather and snow have given way to warmer temps and much more sunlight, so it needed a cut again this week (1.75" HOC). I also re-enabled my Rachio irrigation controller plan this week and it got a deep water yesterday afternoon. I grabbed these this morning.



    

The neighbors on pro plans have all had N applications, so their TTTF is a bit greener and flushed at this point, so it's been tough resisting a N app myself, but I'm going to attempt going without given the ~6lbs/M it got over the Fall/Winter. If I can get the time, I'll probably put down some Essentials Plus and another light Tenacity app this weekend. I'm thinking I'll start the the PGR back up and begin with some preventative bio fungicide apps some time in May depending on temps, humidity, and growth. The 1.75" HOC is looking really nice, so I'll keep it there until I start to see some Summer stress.

Thoughts on anything here?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This looks awesome!


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

By last Saturday, I still wasn't seeing much color and very little top growth, so I went ahead and applied some N to get this kickstarted. Given that my wife just gave birth to our daughter, I was a bit worried that I'd get busy and not have time for a few liquid spoon feeds so I applied some granular Scotts Green Max (27-0-2; ~18% AS & Urea fast release, ~9% Methyleneurea slow release, 5% Fe) at bag rate (~8lbs). That combined with steady rains this week definitely got things moving. I had to cut today @2" to avoid breaking the 1/3 rule. If I have time, I'll finally get down that Essentials Plus this weekend. I'll probably skip the additional Tenacity app since I'm only seeing minimal clover and I just can't stand to highlight the dreadful Poa Triv I have in one part of the lawn. The PGR will hide it until its gets warm and maybe I can tackle it for good early next Spring. I grabbed a few pics after the cut this afternoon. The neighbors TTTF being darker than my lime green KBG is starting to wear on me, so I may start up the PGR sooner than expected.


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## kevreh (Apr 3, 2018)

NICE lawn. You've had better luck with kbg than I did.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Pretty extreme top growth finally kicking in so I cut again yesterday @ 2" HOC and started the PGR back up @ 0.75 oz. Combined with 3 oz Iron Glucoheptonate (5%) and 7 oz Essentials Plus. Also sprayed 7 oz Companion bio fungicide since temps will likely break 90 over the next few days with humidity hitting ~70% overnight.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Since last post, I cut May 6th at 2" and then again today. I had to take it up to 2.25" today to avoid cutting too much. The first PGR app did really well considering that the grass is at its Spring peak. I imagine that without it, I'd have been cutting at least every 3 days. Should be ready for another application this coming weekend if the weather will allow. Temps have been above 90 yesterday and today and the forecast is calling for six straight days of rain, so I went ahead and dropped my first chem fungicide of the season. Dropped all 6.5 lbs of Pillar G (pyraclostrobin and triticonazole) that I had left in the shed. My typical rate is 8 lbs. I had good success with a low rate rotation of Pillar G, Bio (Serenade or Companion), and M5 last year, so will probably stick with that this summer as well. Will try to grab some pics to post this evening.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Grabbed a pano this AM. Still some debris from last night storms. I have a few clover spots, but that seems to be the only weed pressure. I'll try to hit them when the temps cool down over the next few days.


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## Turf Jitsu (May 2, 2018)

Awesome work!


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Wet weather last week was brutal. Rained off and on for 5 days straight and at one point I had over a foot of standing water in my back yard! Made me thankful that I got down that fungicide app before it came in. I was finally able to get back out yesterday and cut at 2.5". It seems that I keep having to creep higher and higher, but hopefully I can get it back down if the weather and schedule work out this week. After the cut, I applied PGR @ 0.75 oz, 3 oz Iron Glucoheptonate (5%), and 16 oz of M5 fungicide. With PGR wearing off and low light this last week, lawn was looking terribly light, but is already looking better this AM. Pics below are from yesterday after spray so they're a bit deceptive from the marking dye.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Had hoped to get a fungicide treatment in last weekend, but didn't have time. Luckily, the week wasn't too wet and I have no signs of disease. We're headed into a few wet days in a row and luckily I was able to get out and cut at 2.25" (mulched for the first time in a while) and get down 1 oz (0.44 oz/M) of Azoxystrobin and 1.5 oz (0.66 oz/M) of Mefenoxam before the rain set in. Given the conditions, I'm extremely happy about how things are looking going into the stressful season. I can't recall ever not having any disease pressure by the end of May and if I can keep the fungicide rotation up, I'm hoping it should allow me to put down enough water in the heat to keep things healthy. Fingers crossed.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Nice :thumbup: 
Hoping for the best.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Cut yesterday @ 2.25" and sprayed 0.75 oz PGR, 3 oz Iron Glucoheptonate (5%), 7 oz Essentials Plus, and 4 oz Propiconazole (1.7 oz/M). Starting to see a little heat stress in the strip by the road. This is also the area that I overseeded some Firecracker TTTF last Fall. I'm thinking it's the TTTF that's having the issue. Will be interesting to see if it continues. I have the tiny area by the corner that I reseeded entirely with TTTF with a few KBG pots mixed in that will be a good indicator. Grabbed a few pics when done...


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

Looking marvelous :thumbsup:


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Powhatan said:


> Looking marvelous :thumbsup:


Thanks!


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Cut at 2.5" on 6/17. Didn't have time for any chemical applications due to Father's Day festivities. Possible Brown Patch outbreak is making me regret skipping the application now.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3825


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Trying to stem Brown Patch outbreak today. We're forecast for ~1" more rain over the next two days with lows in the mid 70's, so I snuck out between showers this morning and hit it hard with 0.78 oz/M (22.9% AI) of azoxy and 7.11 oz/M (29.6% AI)of M5.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

With the multi site MOA of M5, do you need to combine that with anything else? Should be great on it's own.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Suburban Jungle Life said:


> With the multi site MOA of M5, do you need to combine that with anything else? Should be great on it's own.


M5 isn't the highest rated for BP, thus my Strobie combo. In my experience, once the fungi shows its face, you need to quickly go nuclear.  I also wanted to get some systemic back into rotation for longer term support.


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## vnephologist (Aug 4, 2017)

Cut at 2.5" on 6/24. There's a bit of tackifier and marking dye left from the 6/22 fungicide application, but from the best I can tell, it seems to have turned the tide.


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