# Did I Get My Winterizer Timing Right?



## mopeybernese (Aug 30, 2021)

The soil temps in my area have been fluctuating like crazy. Southeast Pennsylvania. I saw temps getting into the 38-39 range so I put down my winterizer (24-0-6) last Saturday to align with a rain-storm. Temps are now above 40 again and for the next week it looks like air temps will be in the mid-50s - which I know will probably bring soil temps up as well.

Am I over analyzing this? I've seen the posts here debating the effectiveness of a Winterizer and don't want to re-hash that discussion. I'm curious what the forum thinks about my current situation, if the warming soil temps combined with the fert application are going to have an adverse impact on my lawn. Thanks all!!!


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Won't hurt anything. The benefits from application are probably little if any but your not going to see adverse effects from it.


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## thecutter64 (Oct 5, 2021)

I'm in New York , I applied my Winterizer mid November when soil temps fell to the 40's. Now it's a month later and the temps have still been up and down . No freeze yet. 
I just keep mowing to pick up leaves but there's been no growth / clippings . Presumably the roots are still growing .

Hocus Pocus .

Btw, my lawn is still dark green while all my neighbors lawns are dormant .


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

You'll be fine as long as the weather allows for a bit of microbial activity and the grass plants are still active to a degree.

Experience tells me that it's probably better to be a week early instead of a week late if in doubt. However, more than a week or two early and you'd be fertilizing during the pause, which is probably not a good idea.

Another thing is that you can get away with lower Nitrogen rates for Winterizing than previously thought. I use a blend of fast and release Nitrogen (not coated). I'm only putting down 0.5-0.65 lb per thousand square feet of fast release N, and even then, only about 0.4 lb is urea and 0.2 lb ammonium sulfate. I think my timing was really good this year, though if I could have, I'd have done it a week before.

Soil temp accuracy is also dependent on:
-Where you sample
-Time of day
-Depth of sample
-thermometer calibration (most people don't realize there is method to calibrate even mechanical thermometers, as they can be off by a few degrees out of the box).

I would target 40-45F (and growth stopped or almost stopped) going forward, knowing what I know now.


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