# Foliar nitrogen questions



## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

Just a quick question, I know watering in is usually recommended. I am getting late in the season, very cool temps here in NE WI already. Had 2 more apps of sprayed 46-0-0 urea at .3lbs per 1000 planned rate to finish my first season of fall fert. I've been doing it lightly and weekly because it's my first year and figured better safe than sorry. Plus I rely on mother nature for water.

With it being down in the 40's regularly already and next week not looking any better I was wondering if i put .6lbs per 1000 rate with 31 gal of water carrier over 25K sq feet with no rain in forecast for 2 days, would that be safe to end with?

I don't think the .6/1000 would burn the grass in these temps and it's cloudy but no rain until Tuesday and I'm doing about 50K sq feet total so no irrigation. Today is my best day to apply for my schedule but will wait for rain if i'm going to damage anything. From what I understand .5/1000 seems safe for foliar app, but just wanted to clarify.

Thanks you.


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## npompei (Sep 8, 2019)

wiread said:


> Just a quick question, I know watering in is usually recommended. I am getting late in the season, very cool temps here in NE WI already. Had 2 more apps of sprayed 46-0-0 urea at .3lbs per 1000 planned rate to finish my first season of fall fert. I've been doing it lightly and weekly because it's my first year and figured better safe than sorry. Plus I rely on mother nature for water.
> 
> With it being down in the 40's regularly already and next week not looking any better I was wondering if i put .6lbs per 1000 rate with 31 gal of water carrier over 25K sq feet with no rain in forecast for 2 days, would that be safe to end with?
> 
> ...


I like this question. I just started spraying and its been very sporadic with rain here in SE PA (like, every 3 weeks) I want to say you can spray from .25-.5lb of N with a carrier volume of 1gal/1000. Again, I'm learning ha. I've got 30k and I just sprayed around 24lbs of urea with 30 gal and my yard is looking great! Though, I sprayed roughly 6hrs before we had the hurricane remnants come through with over an inch of rain...

What I want to know is, what about Iron? Can you also spray iron in with the N spray (say using FEature 6-0-0)and NOT irrigate? Can the 1gal of carrier water work with N AND the iron and not have to irrigate? That's my question that has me stumped!


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@wiread @npompei I moved your question to it's own thread.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

@wiread thank you for asking the question, I was going to ask about how low a temp it is worth spraying urea at which fits right in.

I live somewhere near you, I am near Appleton. A concern I would add is while we have have some wet weather I am not sure we recently enough we got a good soaking. I tip burned an area in my yard IMO because the trees were covering and soaking up so much of the water, later in the week looks like back up near 50f and maybe 1"+ rain over a couple days I was going to wait for that. I have a lot of trees and all the area close to them seems too dry, hopefully the leaves falling and an inch+ lets those areas get good and soaked.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

g-man said:


> @wiread @npompei I moved your question to it's own thread.


I was wondering if I shouldn't just start my own, thanks.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

BobLovesGrass said:


> @wiread thank you for asking the question, I was going to ask about how low a temp it is worth spraying urea at which fits right in.
> 
> I live somewhere near you, I am near Appleton. A concern I would add is while we have have some wet weather I am not sure we recently enough we got a good soaking. I tip burned an area in my yard IMO because the trees were covering and soaking up so much of the water, later in the week looks like back up near 50f and maybe 1"+ rain over a couple days I was going to wait for that. I have a lot of trees and all the area close to them seems too dry, hopefully the leaves falling and an inch+ lets those areas get good and soaked.


Hey neighbor! I ended up waiting. I've been playing it safe so far, may as well continue. I noticed the same too, once I get outside the tree canopy still seems damp even on the surface. Under my trees it's dry and hard as a rock. my maples are still green as can be. They're always so late to change. My neighbors are a bright yellow, mine are green LOL. i'll probably have to remove leaves again before spraying.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

I have 4 maples but 3 different varieties, one of them has lost a lot, the others not so much, ash are about done, walnuts getting pretty bare.

I think our grass needs the water it will get later this week before it can use fert.

Are you aware there is a local YouTuber doing lawn videos? https://www.youtube.com/user/gotsome33
Not as polished as the bigger channels, but I like to support the local guy with views.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

I was not, i'll check it out. I'm pretty new to this. First year spraying herbicides and fertilizers. Has made quite a difference already, but have a ways to go yet. we're right outside appleton in greenville.


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## npompei (Sep 8, 2019)

Sooooo, anyone know whether or not we can spray without irrigating?! Ha. I'm going to spray just Urea in a few days with a 1gal carrier per 1000ksqft and see how it goes. I'll hold off on the iron as that's the one I want to say you have to irrigate in after around 4-6hrs give or take. We've got another dry spell and nothing in the future in terms of precip so I'm gonna say screw it and spray some N without irrigating a few hours!


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

I wouldn't let that urea sit on the leaves for too long without watering it in, that's asking for fert burn unless you are really heavily diluting it.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

I will admit guilt in dragging this a little off topic.
Can someone comment specifically on urea at low temps?
We got a little rain yesterday and are supposed to get more the next couple days.
Temps have fallen to mid 40s. Online source says soil temp is 42f. So my earlier concerns about my lack of soil moisture have been alleviated.


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## JeffR84 (Apr 25, 2020)

I would be hesitant to do anything over .25lb Per 1000 if it's not be watered in. In cooler temps 1 gallon per 1000 is probably fine but I'd typically shoot for 2 gallons per 1000 to carry it.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

Is urea still an ok choice for foliar with the temps having fallen into the 40s or should we really switch to AMS?
I was going to switch but the ag co-op doesn't 50lbs bag AMS unless the order is bigger. I can travel further and get if if it is really the better choice.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

With soil temps at 42F, your lawn is already going dormant. Just mow and be ready for next season.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

Thank.you.
I had wanted to get more N down but with 25k of lawn I need mother nature's cooperation in the water department.
For future reference what is the bottom end temp wise that you would use urea?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

You can use urea or ams at lower temps. AMS is slightly better when soil temps go below 50F.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

I ended up just doing another .25 or so lbs per 1000 spray on Tuesday afternoon. We got light rain that night. My pump lost prime on my sprayer when I was cleaning. Was going to do one more, but with as cold as it's been, and no more warm days in sight i'm calling it quits. I'm in the same temp as Boblovesgrass.

I did improve the quality some this year, learned some too. I'll be better prepared for next year.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

And mother nature sure took care of the rain.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

g-man said:


> With soil temps at 42F, your lawn is already going dormant. Just mow and be ready for next season.


@g-man I wish I could find a log of my area's temperatures from October through now...but I will still ask my question.

In my area, the recent temps have dipped as low as the high 30s at night, and now they have crept back up into the 60s and 70s.

I know the general expectation is that once it gets cold that you stop your apps. 
But does an uptick in temperatures in any way influence nitrogen apps?


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

turfnsurf said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > With soil temps at 42F, your lawn is already going dormant. Just mow and be ready for next season.
> ...


Try https://www.pwsweather.com/map

Find a weather station near you and look at the historical data.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Lust4Lawn said:


> turfnsurf said:
> 
> 
> > g-man said:
> ...


Thank you for this link. I am able to see up to the last 30 days.

I mostly wanted to see the historical data so that when I asked my question, I could provide more detail about the temperature behavior in my area.

Ultimately I still want to know if upticks in temperatures influence nitrogen apps during this time of season.


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## Lust4Lawn (Aug 4, 2020)

turfnsurf said:


> Lust4Lawn said:
> 
> 
> > turfnsurf said:
> ...


Maybe try a different weather station. The one that I look at near me I can easily see years of data. Maybe the station that you are referencing is young and the data doesn't exist.


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