# G's Lawn Journal - Midnight KBG



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

I've been doing some experimental biochemistry to my lawn by increasing the application of Kelp/Humic/Fulvic Acids by a large ratio - So far I've placed at least 20 gallons of pure products on my lawn in the last 2 weeks.



There are a few areas which died off, and digging yielded some soil contamination with rocks/leftover construction material in the thinning out area (no picture available right now) just below the surface.

My current regiment:

- Daily Kelp/Humic/Acid solution in a battery-powered backpack sprayer, in 2 gallons of water over 1ksqft. 
- A very light dosage of PGR. 
- Melatonin - Separate, 1lbs per 1ksqft diluted in water. 
- Liquid Manure - Too bad Gordons doesn't make it anymore. It was an excellent product. 
- Tournament Ready - It's based on sugar, so it's a win-win for a wetting agent.

I did notice a few small areas of the lawn have strange grass types, likely seed contamination which I will photograph soon.

Speaking of TR - Wetting agent test plot area.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Wow, that's a lot of product. And a lot of time for applications.
The color difference is remarkable.
What is the control receiving?


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## jrubb42 (Jun 20, 2019)

20 gallons? What are you up to in cost for that 2 weeks?

How much kelp/humic/fulvic are you putting down per 1k? Are the humic and fulvic combined in one product or seperate?


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

social port said:



> Wow, that's a lot of product. And a lot of time for applications.
> The color difference is remarkable.
> What is the control receiving?


It's not that much time  About 15 minutes a day, max. Most of the time it's just refilling my backpack sprayer. My products are custom mixes of bulk Humic/Kelp powder in large buckets, then drained into 2-gallon jugs and stored at 72F temps.

The 2nd picture is a test from ~=2.5 weeks ago. I have since then sprayed TR on my entire property.

I have no automatic irrigation. All water is atmospherically sourced.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

jrubb42 said:


> 20 gallons? What are you up to in cost for that 2 weeks?
> 
> How much kelp/humic/fulvic are you putting down per 1k? Are the humic and fulvic combined in one product or seperate?


I'm putting down roughly 1/2 pound per 1k feet. In liquid terms, ~8 ounces per 1ksqft of both. I usually go higher on the kelp than the humic acids.

If I used pre-packaged products, it would cost me 5x times the amount.

I can get 2lbs of humic acid (water-soluble) for ~=$15-20 from one of my suppliers. Kelp? 5lbs is ~$10 to $15, depending on the source and if it's cold-pressed or not.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

The lawn is losing it's color - slightly - due to the high heat (95F+)



Soil permeability is improving due to TR applications.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Wow! Once the heat subsides/a little atmospheric irrigation occurs, I'm sure your color will bounce back. What is your HOC? Have you changed it at all? Have you or do you plan on pulling cores or digging up the turf to compare root mass/depth? Nice work! It's great to see photos of members showing control vs. test plots, so we can use some of the same techniques/products on our lawns. Please continue to update this thread. Thank you.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> Wow! Once the heat subsides/a little atmospheric irrigation occurs, I'm sure your color will bounce back. What is your HOC? Have you changed it at all? Have you or do you plan on pulling cores or digging up the turf to compare root mass/depth? Nice work! It's great to see photos of members showing control vs. test plots, so we can use some of the same techniques/products on our lawns. Please continue to update this thread. Thank you.


I usually cut about 3.75 inches, starting in mid-May. Soil evaporation rates increase as the angle of the sun beats down on the soil. Mid-September, I usually lower it to 2 inches, then in Oct 1.5 inches (to keep the soil warm)

I will likely pull some cores out in the fall to see what they are showing, sadly, I should have done this before my application rates for a controlled case study.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Here are some problematic areas. Pulling up some soil indicates the soil is extremely compacted in those areas, and there are sub-surface pieces of limestone/gravel which are affecting the turf in the summer months. I'll have to triage those areas in a few weeks with removing the existing topsoil and replacing it with some mixture of bagged topsoil.

Using a Penetrometer shows that parts of the lawn that are lush and growing are ~=<100psi, and the other areas that are struggling are near ~=200psi. (Sorry, it's hard to take a picture of the results with a phone while holding the Penetrometer).


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Speaking of Soil issues; Compacted soil reduces turfgrass quality, inhibits nutrient/air/water uptake, causes heat stress, fungus problems, and more.

This has been described in the 1960s (Soil strength-root penetration relations for medium- to coarse-textured soil materials." Soil Science 102:18-22. ) as limited root growth with highly compacted soils.

Another unknown issue with compacted soils is that certain nutrients lose their efficiency, ie: N, P, etc.

Nitrogen is affected in numerous ways by compacted topsoil:

- Nitrate losses 
- Less metabolizing of organic nitrogen 
- Diffusion rates of Ammonium and Nitrates drop 
- Organic Matter drops because soil bacteria lose their equilibrium 
- And more..

Carrow (1980) showed that under testing with 3 Cool Season Grasses, Shoot density, verdure, and root growth were affected by compaction, with response differing by species. Increased compaction reduced verdure, shoot density, and root growth of Kentucky bluegrass; decreased verdure for tall fescue; but perennial ryegrass exhibited no adverse effects except some reduction in root weight at the 12× treatment.

Lipiec and Stepniewski (1995) describe a loamy sand in a humid temperate climate, nitrogen mineralization was reduced 33 percent and the denitrification rate increased 20 percent in a wet year.

Douglas and Crawford (1993) noted that the Nitrogen rate had to be doubled on compacted soil to obtain the same Ryegrass dry matter yield(!!) as an uncompacted soil.

Radford et al. (2001) noted that Earthworm populations were reduced in compacted soils. Earthworms are a clear indicator of soil health, as they contribute to the homeostasis of the soil and help aerate the lawn due to vertical pores.

Low Organic Matter in compacted soils has drastic effects on Turf Quality, and more. Schmid, Murphy and Murphy (2017) noted that Control plots in compacted were /worse/ for quality, etc compared to ones that were treated with high Organic Matter, as OM relieves /some/ compaction.







Sources:

Carrow, R. N. 1980. Influence of Soil Compaction on Three Turfgrass Species1. Agron. J. 72:1038-1042. doi:10.2134/agronj1980.00021962007200060041x

Phosphorus uptake and concentration in grain and straw are decreased due to soil compaction. Lipiec, J., and W. Stepniewski. 1995. "Effects of soil compaction and tillage systems on uptake and losses of nutrients." Soil Tillage Research 35:37-52.

Nitrogen response curve of ryegrass on a clay loam soil in Scotland in compacted and uncompacted soil. To achieve the same yield of 2 tons/acre more than twice the amount of nitrogen had to be applied. Douglas, J.T., and C. E. Crawford. 1993. "The responses of a ryegrass sward to wheel traffic and applied nitrogen." Grass Forage Science 48:91-100.

Radford, B. J., A. C.Wilson-Rummenie, G. B. Simpson, K. L. Bell, and M. A. Ferguson. 2001. "Compacted soil affects soil macrofauna populations in a semi-arid environment in central Queensland." Soil Biology & Biochemistry 33:1, 869-1, 872.

Schmid, Charles & Murphy, J.A. & Murphy, Stephanie. (2017). Effect of tillage and compost amendment on turfgrass establishment on a compacted sandy loam. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72. 55-64. 10.2489/jswc.72.1.55

" The soil food web." USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Table data / Images are from PSU's 'Soil compaction is the reduction of soil volume due to external factors; this reduction lowers soil productivity and environmental quality.'


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

tneicna said:


> Chris LI said:
> 
> 
> > Wow! Once the heat subsides/a little atmospheric irrigation occurs, I'm sure your color will bounce back. What is your HOC? Have you changed it at all? Have you or do you plan on pulling cores or digging up the turf to compare root mass/depth? Nice work! It's great to see photos of members showing control vs. test plots, so we can use some of the same techniques/products on our lawns. Please continue to update this thread. Thank you.
> ...


Unless I missed something, I was referring to pulling cores from the "treated" and "controlled" areas photographed. It would be cool to compare your "overdosed" areas to the control. Wintertime is the time for us to get geeky and over scientific (we all do when we're dealing with snow). Don't feel badly that you didn't get your experiment exactly configured to your expectations. We all learn from each other and you're bringing some good info to the table. Thanks.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> tneicna said:
> 
> 
> > Chris LI said:
> ...


It's too late for a controlled study now, I've already sprayed the rest of the lawn with TR and the other applications.

:shock:


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

I've applied some granular humic acid at a rate of 8lbs per 1ksqft. So far, so good. I decided to mow it afterwards and spray some water to give the HA a chance to settle into the topsoil.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

The lawn seems to be holding up to 98F air temp (Heat Index of 110F)





The Southside of the lawn is not doing so well, but that's because the soil is just contaminated with rocks and others, so some grass did die off.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

This arrived today, going to triage the south side of the lawn very soon.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

It's always good to have new seed! Did Preferred Seed let you know before you ordered that the "Other Crop" is .01% and that "Weeds" is 0.02% or was that not advertised?


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Problem area shows significant rocks in the topsoil. A 1 foot wide / long and 6 inches in depth yields a mess of limestone gravel.

Triage underway.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Wow, you have been active! I need to catch up.



tneicna said:


> The lawn seems to be holding up to 98F air temp (Heat Index of 110F)


It is hard to believe that picture. I do -- but that is incredible. That grass looks like it is sitting in fall weather.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@tneicna I understand your pain with rocks.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

I've fixed some of the areas that were showing some issues over time.

- I ordered https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B0T5Z2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- I manually removed about 4 to 6 inches of soil
- I mixed 1 part topsoil with 1 part peat moss 
- I then planted some seeds and covered it with peat moss.

I have 4 to 6 more areas to treat - About 30 sqft total.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

If you have a larger amount of soil to sift. You can build a sifting box to set on top of your wheelbarrow, for cheap. My Dad built one when I was a toddler and it lasted about 25 years.

Take a 2x4x8 and cut it into equal sections (10 footer if you want a slightly larger box-2x6 for deeper box). Frame the box out and hammer staples into 1/4" hardware cloth. This should run about $20. We used it for years to sift soil for the garden. I'm proud my Dad taught me to "make good dirt", as he would say. This was part of doing that.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> If you have a larger amount of soil to sift. You can build a sifting box to set on top of your wheelbarrow, for cheap. My Dad built one when I was a toddler and it lasted about 25 years.
> 
> Take a 2x4x8 and cut it into equal sections (10 footer if you want a slightly larger box-2x6 for deeper box). Frame the box out and hammer staples into 1/4" hardware cloth. This should run about $20. We used it for years to sift soil for the garden. I'm proud my Dad taught me to "make good dirt", as he would say. This was part of doing that.


I might end up doing that for my backyard in the future.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

:thumbup:


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Triage is going well. Also the lawn looks amazing.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

tneicna said:


> Triage is going well. Also the lawn looks amazing.


That does look amazing. Midnight is still one of the best cultivars available for sunny areas. I don't know anybody who's seeded Midnight in full sun and ended up regretting it.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Triage bucket.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

I put down a heavy heavy amount of biosolids. About 50lbs per 1ksqft about 4 days ago.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The color is really dark. Awesome.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Already seeing germination with Kentucky Bluegrass. 5 days. This is a record for midnight type cultivars.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Lowes has M in stock.. first time in months. I picked up quite a few bags. Ahh the smell. How I've missed you!

I applied one bag to the front yard at a rate of 30lbs per 1ksqft.

I'm attempting to increase the amount of organic material in the lawn + combined with high rates of Humic/SWE/Fluvics and Tournament Ready - this has loosened up the soil that it feels semi spongy in areas - and those areas are doing fantastic with color and density!


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

There are some other spots with poor soils in my lawn. Will have to correct those very soon, I hope.

9am picture:


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

The lawn is greening up nicely. Put a very low dose of PGR on it 2 days ago.

When 95% of your neighborhoods lawns look awful, and yours clearly stands out.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Drought conditions. Still holding color.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Applying some medicine, as drought conditions have started.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

One of the more recent Tiraged areas had 5 grubs in it. Those areas were showing signs of stress.

More surgery is performed on the area close to the driveway, about 3 inches from the asphalt is showing heat stress.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Ordered 50lbs of this, as it's of very high quality:


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## forumaccount (Aug 16, 2019)

tneicna said:


> Here are some problematic areas. Pulling up some soil indicates the soil is extremely compacted in those areas, and there are sub-surface pieces of limestone/gravel which are affecting the turf in the summer months. I'll have to triage those areas in a few weeks with removing the existing topsoil and replacing it with some mixture of bagged topsoil.
> 
> Using a Penetrometer shows that parts of the lawn that are lush and growing are ~=<100psi, and the other areas that are struggling are near ~=200psi. (Sorry, it's hard to take a picture of the results with a phone while holding the Penetrometer).


Looks exactly like what is happening in small sections of my back yard. Unscientific handheld shovel tests confirm extreme compaction (damn near as hard as brick) compared to healthier sections. Strangely enough, these extremely compacted sections are in a yard that was recently re-graded (with additional soil brought in) with massive tiller-like equipment. Doesn't make any sense.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

tneicna said:


> Ordered 50lbs of this, as it's of very high quality:


Have you applied kelp meal in the past? If so, what type of results did you see? I started using GS Plant Foods liquid concentrate this summer to give a boost while applying water heavily to combat the typical heat/drought conditions of summer. It has helped in the hot sunny areas, and has definitely made a difference under my maples which tend to suck up water and nutrients from the turf.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> tneicna said:
> 
> 
> > Ordered 50lbs of this, as it's of very high quality:
> ...


Yes, I have. I normally put down 10lbs per 1ksqft, but now i'm doing 4lbs per 1ksqft.

The bioconstituents of SWE/kelp really help with heat stress.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Thank you.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Experimenting:

- 2 handfuls of KBG seed in a mason jar of water with some organic material. 
- Stored at 72F for 3 days 
- Drained the seeds on top of a patched area, covered with peat moss and watered.

Side note: I was at an area about 25 miles south of me. [They] had Bermuda and Zoysia (front and back). I'm jealous and thinking of tearing up my lawn and going with a warm season grass. Zoysia looks impressive, it's the warm season KBG and is extremely thick. Bermuda was looking fantastic, even with a rotary mower.


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## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

tneicna said:


> Ordered 50lbs of this, as it's of very high quality:


So...something amusing.
I saw you post this the other day. I focused especially on the words, 'very high quality.' I was intrigued.
I found it on Amazon. I was going to determine whether I really wanted to invest, but instead of bookmarking it, I put it in the cart. I was using the cart as a reminder, you see.
Then, later that day, SWMBO ordered something from amazon, and, of course, ordered the kelp meal in the process.

Now I have a tub coming, but summer is nearly over. Should I hang on to this stuff for a year, or can you imagine a use for it this fall. Just fishing for your thoughts here.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Here's a control plot.

Right side = PRG blend.
Left side = PRG blend.

The left side was treated with Granular Kelp/Humic Acid with Tournament Ready over the course of 2 months. The right side was treated with the limited atmospheric water (it's near-drought conditions)


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## Thenenk (Sep 14, 2018)

tneicna said:


> Here's a control plot.
> 
> Right side = PRG blend.
> Left side = PRG blend.
> ...


That's amazing!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@tneicna this is awesome. I like that you are doing a control group. It makes the results very clear.


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## beardizzle1 (Jun 13, 2019)

tneicna said:


> Applying some medicine, as drought conditions have started.


I'm unfamiliar with what melatonin does for a lawn?? I suppose i could google it.. haha but would like to hear the feedback.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

beardizzle1 said:


> tneicna said:
> 
> 
> > Applying some medicine, as drought conditions have started.
> ...


Melatonin increases antioxidant capacity and heat stress in plants. I'll give you the citations in a followup post, I'm mobile right now.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

I had to take an emergency break from lawn care for the last month or so. I discovered my home has Bed Bugs, brought in by a family member who is staying with me. I haven't touched my lawn in a month. No rain, no humic/kelp..

It looks very sick at the moment.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Regraded the side of the driveway with topsoil - Killed off this side because it was full of weeds and others.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Did a bunch of things to the lawn in the winter. I lightly put down some 22-10-10 in December, and when Temps started rising, I put down 1 full bag of Milo per 1200sqft every 4 days. I sprayed TR on the lawn and it's growing so fast that I have to cut it every other day.


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## tneicna (May 6, 2019)




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## gatorguy (Mar 13, 2020)

Hey There, Ive been finding this forum amazing! I really enjoyed reading through your Journal and how you do a control plot along with sharing your rates and everything. These days with chemical restrictions coming in hot and fast, along with watering restrictions I found it really neat how you kept your lawn looking like a prize with no watering! I found this stuff locally which appears to be very much like what you were putting down. https://www.tlhort.com/p-28440-earthlink-affinity.aspx Ill have to call and see what ridiculous amount of money they want for it. Otherwise I do have a 55lb bag of Humic rock dust so could try dissolving .5lb of it per 1k and spraying on.

Anyways, keep it up I subscribed and will look forward to seeing your lawn throughout 2020.


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