# Greene County N-ext Products



## trc

Winter dormancy has got me researching the lawn and its been hard not to notice Greene County Fertilizer (GCF) has been getting a lot of hype, especially from @thegrassfactor and more recently the Lawn Care Nut who has conveniently added N-Ext product packages to his online store for homeowner purchasing.

For those not familiar with GCF I've added some links below but the soil science exec summary behind GCF and the N-ext product line is very interesting with a focus on adding carbon based compounds to increase nutrient efficacy to act as a biological magnifier in the soil.

I've been using BLSC home brew the last two seasons and am considering switching over to the N-ext RGS and Air8 product lines this year. GCF prices are surprisingly reasonable and manufacturing appears to be of high quality with analysis guarantees for active ingredients like humic and fulvic acid which are often unknown when applying with competing products.

So the questions are: Should we be buying into the Lawncology philosophy and if so how should we best incorporate N-ext products like RGS, Micro greene and Air8 into the "Bermuda Bible" or for us zoysia guys a lower input organic nitrogen program based on milorganite? Are RGS and Air8 n-ext gen replacements for BLSC or a complimentary offering? When is the optimal usage and rates?

Product catalog:
http://www.greenecountyfert.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/N-Ext_Catalog_GreeneCountyFertilizerCo_2018.pdf

LCN Store:
https://thelawncarenut.com/products/bio-stimulant

GCF Lawncology Blog:
http://www.lawncology.com/2017/08/06/lawncology-29-understanding-rgs-whats-n-ext/

Grassfactor with GCF president John Perry:


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## Ware

I think @Mightyquinn ordered some.


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## Mightyquinn

trc said:


> Winter dormancy has got me researching the lawn and its been hard not to notice Greene County Fertilizer (GCF) has been getting a lot of hype, especially from @thegrassfactor and more recently the Lawn Care Nut who has conveniently added N-Ext product packages to his online store for homeowner purchasing.
> 
> For those not familiar with GCF I've added some links below but the soil science exec summary behind GCF and the N-ext product line is very interesting with a focus on adding carbon based compounds to increase nutrient efficacy to act as a biological magnifier in the soil.
> 
> I've been using BLSC home brew the last two seasons and am considering switching over to the N-ext RGS and Air8 product lines this year. GCF prices are surprisingly reasonable and manufacturing appears to be of high quality with analysis guarantees for active ingredients like humic and fulvic acid which are often unknown when applying with competing products.
> 
> So the questions are: Should we be buying into the Lawncology philosophy and if so how should we best incorporate N-ext products like RGS, Micro greene and Air8 into the "Bermuda Bible" or for us zoysia guys a lower input organic nitrogen program based on milorganite? Are RGS and Air8 n-ext gen replacements for BLSC or a complimentary offering? When is the optimal usage and rates?
> 
> Product catalog:
> http://www.greenecountyfert.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/N-Ext_Catalog_GreeneCountyFertilizerCo_2018.pdf
> 
> LCN Store:
> https://thelawncarenut.com/products/bio-stimulant
> 
> GCF Lawncology Blog:
> http://www.lawncology.com/2017/08/06/lawncology-29-understanding-rgs-whats-n-ext/
> 
> Grassfactor with GCF president John Perry:


trc, I did buy a case(4 gallons) of their products last Summer after watching The Grass Factor rave about it and I still have a little bit left that I plan to use up this Spring. I have to admit it was an impulse buy and wish I had thought about it a little before purchasing as it just doesn't fit into what I am doing right now in the lawn. They are great guys over there at GCF and more than helpful if you decide to give them a call. Me personally, I have decided to go another route in caring for my lawn as I still want to see how this all plays out with TGF and LCN. I've tried going "organic" before and never even came close to getting the results I wanted, so I am a little leery of products like this. I will say that their products do seem VERY promising and are also reasonably priced. If I lived a little closer and I could drive by their HQ and pick some up, I would, as the shipping is what really gets you. I will probably revisit the idea in another year or two as there should be more information out there on all their products.

I too saw those products on LCN's website and can say you are better off calling GCF directly and ordering from them as there is a LARGE markup on LCN's website. I don't blame the guy for trying to make a profit but that is just ridiculous for what he is up-charging for their products, it's not like he is stocking the stuff and shipping it himself.


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## trc

Thanks MQ. Finally got around to calling GCF today and had a good conversation with them similar to your experience.

Bad news first. With their new relationships with LCN and GCI they no longer desire to sell to residential owners directly. I pressed them a bit and he eventually conceded it didnt make business sense to manage small orders but did agree I could buy in person if i wanted to stop by. Havent decided if its worth the 3+ hour drive to save a few bucks yet. Where i am family and career wise my time is most valuable so leaning on just letting LCN have his profit, but TBD.

Good news, the bio stimulant program GCF recommemded for my 2018 lawn plan could make a lot of sense for us zoysia guys that are looking to spoon feed and limit N to < 2.5 lb k per year. Agreed it may not make as much sense for you bermuda guys pushing frequent and high rates of N. Im not totally buying the science but I'll be spraying more this year anyways diving into pgr for the first time so why not?

The 'basic' plan is:
- RGS and air8 3-6 ounces k spring after green up twice spring and fall
- Humic acid and micros 3-6 ounces twice summer
- But also recommended spraying smaller amounts early and often foliarly as long as temp are < 85 degrees.
- .4lb N per app max and not exceeding 2 lb per year. Thats pretty close to what I'm doing already.

Will give it a shot and report back. At minimum i can tell my wife I'm adding lots of organics to the yard to offset all the other chemicals in the garage. :mrgreen:


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## Colonel K0rn

I used several of their products on my renovation last year, and was pleased with the results. I do plan on placing a re-order of the N-Ext and the MicroGreene, as well as the fert. Spraying them made it easier, and rather than pacing around the yard multiple times a month with many bags of fert, I'm going to have to spend the money on irrigation and drainage this year. If I have poor results, I can always just get some regular prills and put those down. Plus, I have about 15 bags of Milo I got for cheap last year that still make my shed smell like blueberries.


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## thegrassfactor

trc said:


> Winter dormancy has got me researching the lawn and its been hard not to notice Greene County Fertilizer (GCF) has been getting a lot of hype, especially from @thegrassfactor and more recently the Lawn Care Nut who has conveniently added N-Ext product packages to his online store for homeowner purchasing.
> 
> For those not familiar with GCF I've added some links below but the soil science exec summary behind GCF and the N-ext product line is very interesting with a focus on adding carbon based compounds to increase nutrient efficacy to act as a biological magnifier in the soil.
> 
> I've been using BLSC home brew the last two seasons and am considering switching over to the N-ext RGS and Air8 product lines this year. GCF prices are surprisingly reasonable and manufacturing appears to be of high quality with analysis guarantees for active ingredients like humic and fulvic acid which are often unknown when applying with competing products.
> 
> So the questions are: Should we be buying into the Lawncology philosophy and if so how should we best incorporate N-ext products like RGS, Micro greene and Air8 into the "Bermuda Bible" or for us zoysia guys a lower input organic nitrogen program based on milorganite? Are RGS and Air8 n-ext gen replacements for BLSC or a complimentary offering? When is the optimal usage and rates?
> 
> Product catalog:
> http://www.greenecountyfert.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/N-Ext_Catalog_GreeneCountyFertilizerCo_2018.pdf
> 
> LCN Store:
> https://thelawncarenut.com/products/bio-stimulant
> 
> GCF Lawncology Blog:
> http://www.lawncology.com/2017/08/06/lawncology-29-understanding-rgs-whats-n-ext/
> 
> Grassfactor with GCF president John Perry:


had to chime in here.

while the products themselves are simple to use, here's the whole design behind these products:

first a little background, in our industry we try to operate at a ~20% material cost. As long as we have decent route density, a ~20% material cost allows us to have decent margins for labor, taxes, insurance, bonds, licensing, etc.

traditional fertilizers allow us to incorporate them and still be priced competitively in a ~20% material cost marketplace.

organic fertilizers, we'll take milorganite for example, cost $10/bag at 36lbs. To get results that compete with our competition, we will need to apply it at 1lb N/ksqft. So at 20lbs/ksqft to get to our 1lb N, we're spending $5.55. If we're treating lawns at a 20% material cost, that would be mean we need to charge $27.78/ksqft to be industry profitable.

So for those of you with a 10ksqft lawn, that would be $277.78 for just fertilizer. Yikes. No one would be willing to pay that. The second part of that is the follow through of expectations. If we were to make this application in February (here in Knoxville) we may not get a decent release until mid April due to soil temperature fluctuations. Because soil activity is what really cranks out the results in Milorganite, there's a certain level of unpredictability. Biosolids tend to be a year over year compounding result rather than month over month. If NPK is done right we can accelerate our results and feed that "see, i did it first" expectation level that typically comes with the service industry.

The problem therein lies how can we get the "me first" results, the "root cycling" top soil generating effect, and be as environmentally conscious as possible:

the solution: a bridge program - carbon based fertility

in lieu of using "new technology" to increase duration and efficiency- inhibitors, polymer coatings, sulfur coatings, urea formaldehyde - we turn to "carbon" for duration, efficiency, and deposit surface area (carbon) back into the soil.

now to GCF's product line and why I like it.

RGS - humic acid and kelp - this combination has a synergistic effect according to the study at VA tech and actually drives increased root depth.

https://www.maximumyield.com/humic-or-fulvic-acid-what-kind-are-your-plants-on/2/1352

Air 8 - this is partially unreacted humic. So humic is manfuactured through a KOH extraction, filtered, shocked, filtered, shocked, filtered (to lower pH and filter off precipitates) several times over and over until you get your final compound stabilized. Air 8 is captured before it reaches it's final reacted stage with a light percentage of KOH still in solution. This partially unreacted material completes the reaction in the humus layer in the soil - establishing the weak bonds with the minerals in the soil, dragging them deeper, leaving microfractures and ultimately more surface area. For me, I come from the golf world. I'll always aerate. But I am spraying 100 acres with this product this year to see what I think of it. I really really like the science behind it. It's a cool story. I'm a sucker for a cool story.

As far as when to use these, I still don't know 100%. I'm still in my experimental phase with it.

When I met John, I thought he was a snake oil salesman and I set out to prove him as such. The problem is, everything he's had me try, has worked, and not just well, but better than the way I was doing it before. I'm about 10 months in to using his materials (albeit not exclusively) and so far It's been pretty dramatic.

Now how all this ties in is for professional applicators, John's material is cheap. Crazy cheep. It allows us to take a cheap fertilizer and turn it into a pretty damn good fertilizer as long as we take an "oxygen first" approach (utilizing sulfates, SO4). Open up the soil, supplement with minor rates of sulfated elements, drive roots, and BAM. Cheap & efficient.

The hype around it has turned into its own thing. As a person, I really really like John Perry. He's been a personal mentor more than professional network support As a turf manager, we have our differences, but it mostly deals in cultural practices and chemicals. I had already been in contact with Pete Denny and turned him on to Greene County and LCN was a bit of a right time/right place kind of thing. LCN reached out to me regarding something completely different, and after an hour of reminiscing over our days at TruGreen, somehow the connect to John Perry was made.

That's the story.

In terms of reduced inputs and all that stuff, I've talked to a dozen businesses that do >$3mm in revenue that due the low input thing on warm season turf. I'm going to experiment with 4lbs N this year. But I'm not sure I have the testicular fortitude to dip to 2lbs.


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## Ware

thegrassfactor said:


> had to chime in here...


Thanks for the insight! :thumbup:


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## TC2

I sprayed a home brew mix on some of my rear lawn last year. The biggest effect I saw was the humic/fulvic acid stained the grass brown. Don't know what it's like with N-ext products, but if the blades are brown after you've finished spraying, I'd seriously consider washing it off before it dries!


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## Ridgerunner

@thegrassfactor Could you post a link to the VA Tech study you mention?
Thanks.


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## Colonel K0rn

Ware said:


> thegrassfactor said:
> 
> 
> 
> had to chime in here...
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the insight! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

+1 I respect LCN, Pete and Matt. You guys have elevated the game for the average homeowner who wants to step up their game, and for the Nut turned Fanatic, Matt provides the science behind the material via the Whiteboard Lecture. I respect Pete because he and I share a lot of the same ideologies, but I'm not as OCD as he. I can own one red mower and one green mower.


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## thegrassfactor

TC2 said:


> I sprayed a home brew mix on some of my rear lawn last year. The biggest effect I saw was the humic/fulvic acid stained the grass brown. Don't know what it's like with N-ext products, but if the blades are brown after you've finished spraying, I'd seriously consider washing it off before it dries!


They dont do that


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## thegrassfactor

Ridgerunner said:


> @thegrassfactor Could you post a link to the VA Tech study you mention?
> Thanks.


This is part of it:

https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/42711

It's broken up into many different theses and dissertations


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## Ridgerunner

@thegrassfactor :thumbup:


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## thegrassfactor

Ridgerunner said:


> @thegrassfactor :thumbup:


https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/30739


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## Colonel K0rn

@thegrassfactor I guess you could say I'm on board with GCF products this year.


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