# Wile's 2022 Lawn Journal (Starts on page 5)



## Wile

Been getting absolutely wrecked by the humidity and warm summer temps. Luckily, as of this week temps started cooling off enough for some recovery to take effect. Just over-seeded with 2lbs/M of Midnight, Mazama and Bluebank KBG. Did about 1.1lbs/M last year of midnight.

I went very heavy on aeration and then cleaned up cores with the power rake. The power rake took a good amount of material out. Unfortunately, a ton of rocks and pebbles were brought up during the aeration. The reel mower hated me last night as I mowed for the last time while the seed germinates over the next 2-3 weeks. Sprayed pgr as well to keep from having to mow much while the other seed takes hold. Had good germination from the spring in a couple tests spots and saw germ in 8 days.

Temps were so hot last week that I got a little bit of heat exhaustion and got a little squirrelly with my elemental sulfur and dumped a good 5-10lbs of it in one area. Vacuumed it up really well, but we'll see what happens to that spot over time.


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## lbb091919

Beautiful property. I love how big your front and side yards are and I bet these cooler temps are going to kick it into overdrive.


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## Wile

Thank you! It's a lot to take care of some days, but maybe the wife will let me getting bigger equipment? It should start looking better in a few weeks. My father-in-law was out when we could see the mycelium all over the yard. It was fun to show him disease in action, but just wished it was not my yard...


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## lbb091919

*cough* 26" greensmower *cough*


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## Wile

YESSSSSS! I am trying to get one...most have been a bit too pricey for budget this year. I will not be going without one next year....


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## Liquidstone

I'm sure this is going to look awesome. Love how flat both your front and back are.


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## Wile

I am lucky that it is pretty flat. Some areas really need some heavy leveling. I did minor amounts this year with some play sand and garden soil I had sitting around. I do plan to get a 1/8" of sand in the spring down to help with the areas that are really bad, but overall it's in good shape. I ran out of time this year to make the level rake and do all the other fall maintenance.


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## Wile

Extremely windy today and the sprinklers are not covering the edges well at at all. I may need to make some temporary adjustments if the wind continues. I took a watering can and doused them to try to saturate them a little longer. Also, zone 5 is still causing problems. Heads popped up and then went back down. Likely a bad solenoid is the issue, but will have to see if I can figure out that replacement part to test it. Hopefully its the one my father-in-law provided.


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## Wile

No germination yet after just a few days. Wind died down the last couple days. The zones are going off 5 times a day for just a few minutes each. The north side of the house is not overly saturated thankfully at just 3 minutes. Edges are still not getting enough water. Will need to move closer to the driveway for better coverage and fix how far they have sunk. Zones 5/6 are still going off about 80% of the time, but the valve or solenoid needs to be replaced. Damage from fungus seems to have slowed after the 2oz/M of ppz I sprayed. I'm planning to spray some Clearys 3336 on the holiday to help battle the extra moisture and counter any potential damping off. Hoping to avoid spraying pgr or ppz on emerging seedlings for at least a couple more weeks.


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## Wile

No germination yet. The lawn looked like doo doo the last few days. But finally recovering from the disease damage. Got some light misting tonight which is perfect for seeding. I expect to see some seeds popping the next few days. Will snap some new pics tomorrow.


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## Wile

No germination yet. Tomorrow evening looks like heavy rain and then clear again. Even though I didn't roll the seed in it seems to have worked it's way into the soil. Pretty hard to find other than a couple locations. Lawn definitely needs to be mowed, and resisting the urge is hard. Especially with the mesotrione bleached grass. The dollar spot damage is still really bad. Maybe I will let it rebound after germination and fill in before putting it back under pgr.


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## Wile

For reference prior to massive disease outbreak (and to make me feel better about the current state of the lawn):


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## Robs92k

Wile said:


> For reference prior to massive disease outbreak (and to make me feel better about the current state of the lawn):


Man, that is gorgeous…I can't believe a fungus took that much out of the turf. Nice reminder what you're working back to. Side note, your daughter doesn't even notice it.


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## Wile

@Robs92k Ha, you're right she couldn't care less. Thank you btw.

Hopefully The newer cultivars can come in and offer some disease help in the future. Each year I've been having worse outbreaks. I still have not sprayed the Cleary's 3336, but need to. Also, need to get some extra potassium down still per my soil test.


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## Wile

Looks like germination is happening everywhere. Oddly. Bare and diseased areas are slowly recovering and germination is slower there. Set the manual reel to its lowest setting (1") and still can't cut much off. Planning to keep on the 5x a day water schedule through next week and maybe into the following week. The storm helped get some deeper water down for the current grass. Temps continue to be mild and that may change next week slightly.


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## Wile

Looks like we have liftoff in most of the bare areas now too. Diseased spots are looking better with last nights temps dipping below 50 degrees. Seeing very little dollar spot pressure, but some still exists and will need to get some preventatives down so that we can coast into the fall looking tip top. Heard Rey Ito talk about PGR causing disease and would love to learn more about that. It would make sense that as you limit the vertical growth you make the plant more susceptible to certain types of fungus, but it also seems like it should help with others. Maybe I'll do my first actual post on that if I don't find other information already out there.


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## Wile

Finally, I got the Cleary's 3336 down last night. I was debating whether it mattered at this point, but seeing the day and night time temps creep back up made me pull the trigger. Also, another light round of NPK went down too. I read an MSU/Scott's article last night that for every 8-11 parts of N the plant will use 1 part P. So, that's a good reference for me if my soil levels show more optimal ranges in the spring.

Also, need to reach out to Scott's to see if I can get replacement screws for the manual reel mower. Lost one and cutting needs to get dialed in better or it might rip the baby grass out. Everything is still growing slow and not much was taken off with the last couple attempts.


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## Wile

Damage from disease is mostly gone now. There's still a few spots up front that are recovering, but it's finally looking better. I think I understand better why people may not put the lawn under regulation now in the summer while disease pressure is high. Most of still bare areas are starting to see some germination finally. I think I may seed those areas a bit more since they are in the shadier parts of the yard. I only saved about 1-2lbs for later, but that should be good enough for a long time unless I have some major damage one year.

Temps have crept back up to 80's in the day and 60's at night. The grass is about 2" or taller in many spots. The color looks absolutely amazing right now. Very dark green and not too steely blue. I am in need of getting a cut on it soon and I do not think the reel will tear out the new baby grass, but I will cut at 7/8" for a bit until everything is more established and then drop it down for the rest of fall. I'm debating going in with a light round of Tnex to keep everything in check and some PPZ. Will grab some pictures before I mow tonight or tomorrow.


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## Wile




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## Wile

Was nice to get out mow today. Backlapped the reel and was cutting paper cleanly and spinning freely for the first time since getting this McLane from my neighbor last year. The grass was so tall it will need to be double cut. Color and density looked good and still some dollar spot damage slowly coming back, but tolerable. The northwest side of the house may need to be total reno as it looks like a lot poa annua and maybe some other undesirable grasses. A lot of the seed didn't germinate or is still coming up after 20+ days. I'm going to put more seed down to make sure it can compete and try ethofumesate and some a pre-m in the spring. Will be the first time I've really done am true pre-m on the yard.


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## Wile

Let the lawn come out of regulation and its growing pretty vigorously, but manageable for not being able to keep up on it lately. I see tons of poa annua all throughout the yard. Snagged a JD 260b and man are the results so far sweet.


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## jskierko

I'm digging how you keep the collars around your landscaping beds longer than the rest of the yard. I might give that a shot! Looks great!


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## Wile

@jskierko thank you. It's practical too. Keeps the mulch out of the "field of play."


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## Robs92k

jskierko said:


> I'm digging how you keep the collars around your landscaping beds longer than the rest of the yard. I might give that a shot! Looks great!


^+1 looking great and nice ride!!


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## Wile

@Robs92k it was a good find for me. Too much lawn for anything much smaller. Thing is a beast though. I feel like I'm working an aerator lol. There is a massive difference in quality of cut compared to even the McLane.


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## Wile

Well, there is no comparison to the McLane. It's not cutting cleanly because of how long it was, but I think I will cut down to .5" and bring it back to .75". I still need to fertilize again and I keep running out of time. The disease areas have a thick mat that needs to be massaged by hand to get the seed germinating there. I may dormant seed a little heavy to see what happens.


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## lawn-wolverine

Is there ANY way that you are able to come to any conclusions about seeing any specific 'Midnight,' 'Mazama,' or 'Bluebank' developing in there? i.e. what of the three you are liking best?
I understand that each of those three are FANTASTIC! I am more familiar with Mazama and Midnight. The only specific characteristic that I can come to on that is that Mazama seems to germinate a little faster than most KBG that I've dealt with.


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## Wile

@lawn-wolverine in actuality, no I don't think there is a way without doing test plots. I started a desk pot in early summer and it's pretty tough to pick them out from one another so far. To complicate things I did a 1lb/M overseed of just Midnight last year. If I could choose just one, I would have done Mazama or Bewitched as a monostand. I had a hard time sourcing them in spring and defaulted to to this blend (SS1100) from SeedSuperStore. It already had Mazama and more Midnight in it. Bluebank from what I was seeing on the NTEP scores did slightly better than Midnight in shade and some other conditions. I liked the idea of different cultivars for disease resistance which has been a worsening issues for me every year. I agree with you on the germination rate. I saw germination in 8 days in the spring under a full sun area. My overseed this fall was closer to 12-14 days. Still pretty good in my opinion. If I get bored this winter I may see if I can start 3 different container pots so I can tell the difference between them.


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## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> @lawn-wolverine in actuality, no I don't think there is a way without doing test plots. I started a desk pot in early summer and it's pretty tough to pick them out from one another so far. To complicate things I did a 1lb/M overseed of just Midnight last year. If I could choose just one, I would have done Mazama or Bewitched as a monostand. I had a hard time sourcing them in spring and defaulted to to this blend (SS1100) from SeedSuperStore. It already had Mazama and more Midnight in it. Bluebank from what I was seeing on the NTEP scores did slightly better than Midnight in shade and some other conditions. I liked the idea of different cultivars for disease resistance which has been a worsening issues for me every year. I agree with you on the germination rate. I saw germination in 8 days in the spring under a full sun area. My overseed this fall was closer to 12-14 days. Still pretty good in my opinion. If I get bored this winter I may see if I can start 3 different container pots so I can tell the difference between them.


Thanks man, for the great response ! Much appreciate your thoughts on this, and what you have accomplished. Yea, I overseeded my shady and thin-turfed backyard 100% Mazama.
Some areas are v e r y…s l o w, but where I get more than 3.5 hours of direct sun, WOW, that Mazama is impressive (though because it is you g, still lighter green). My Bewitched/Midnight/Skye is coming along slow as well but admittedly had more competition into fairly decent (but very mixed) turf.
From here on out, I will go one variety (as it is already quite a KBG blend) on overseeds- likely Mazama, due to speckled shade I suspect that it will outperform Midnight there !
Always appreciate your thoughts on this!!


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## Wile

Those are great observations you have and thank you for the compliments. I have a couple really weird areas where the only thing that seems be germinating is poa annua. I sprayed glyphosate into those areas in the spring to kill off the clumps of fescue. There seems to be a weird crust on the surface. Possibly an inorganic layer potentially. So germination there has been slow almost non existent. Probably going to grab a weasel and rough it up some. Behind our playset though has been some good germination of likely Mazama. I'll continue to push that further, but its doing okay there so far and seems to be germinating well in very little light. The NTEP scores for the Lansing tests showed it did well and better than most cultivars. So, I imagine you and I will have great results of it as it gets more established. I would think it will greatly outperform Midnight for sure. The color is lighter, but almost enjoyable for some reason. My spring test area looked noticeably different until this fall and now blends perfectly with everything else. Pre-overseed it did stick out a bit, but is now just as dark as everything else. The overseed may have helped that a bit too, but I can't find it fast like I used too. The leaf texture blends well with all my overall NO MIX which is predominantly KBG.


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## lawn-wolverine

&#128077;Yea, looking at NTEP, the Lansing test plots seemed to like Mazama (as did that site, I think maybe in Kansas?, that did an extensive dedicated plot for shade). I am latitude-wise, about 250+ miles north of Lansing, in the U.P., Escanaba. And dealing with sort of a Sandy-loam (predominantly darkish sand). 
Someone on here described Mazama fairly positively, but suggested it's growth as a bit non-perpendicular to the ground (my wording), or maybe not as upright in the nature of its growth. I have NOT yet found that to be accurate, but I'm only about 3 weeks post-sprout.
Last week I did an Anderson Humic DG (moderate drop), to try and modify that Sandy loam towards more loamy !
I am taking a conservative approach on fertilizer with these younger seedlings.


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## Wile

Very smart approach. I will be trying to finish out my plan of about .25lb of N/M weekly. I think I may have to push that a bit to .31lbs to make my target before first frost. I am still trying to correct my K deficiency and all I could get was MOP. So, I really am careful on rates usually. I too have sandy soil although its mostly just sand. Still need to do an analysis on it. That reminds me I need to post my soil test as well. You and I have very different weather sometimes lol. Us trolls get a good amount of heat through the summer and sometimes a lot of lake effect snow. Nothing from what you get I bet.


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## Wile




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## lawn-wolverine

Just a follow up. Yes, Kalamazoo is another zone from ESCANABA. BTW, I was raised in Battle Creek before my dad was transferred to northern Virginia. And then I had some time in school in Ann Arbor. Well aware of that south central MI weather. We got some hot summers in BC.
QUESTION: does MSU still do soil sample testing for MI residents (for a fee of course) ??
And if so, are they considered pretty competent?


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## Wile

Ah, small world! I'm from the Detroit area myself originally. I did a lot of travelling for work to BC. That would make sense since I haven't looked at the zone maps for you guys. Probably KBG would be all that survives well. MSU does have a testing component from their website. I found it to be very expensive and a la carte. There were some basic things they did not offer it seemed like. I will probably call this winter or spring and see if they have anything more easily comprehensive for homeowners. Morgan Composting uses a M3 test and I believe it to be accurate for turf recommendations, but MSU would be the premiere place though. They are still the leading turfgrass specialists in MI and maybe the midwest. Side note: They have opened their library up for everyone to read articles and other information during covid. I took good advantage of that. They have a ton of great info online.


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## lawn-wolverine

Thanks once again ! I may try to hit up my local, in-town MSU extension office for a soil test. Maybe even try and utilize my wife's "Master Gardener" connection. We are at our U.P. home here about 7 months of the year (easy guess which ones !), and then back to our northern Virginia home. As a side note, my latter formative years and career were in that northern Virginia area where one day, after about three years of HARD, diligent toil on my part on the lawn, my wife said "Gee, after all your work, the lawn reeeeally doesn't reflect it!"
That day, I said "Forget trying to raise KBG and TTTF in the transition zone !" And the red clay was whipping me as well…
So I did a four year (quartered) plan, and set out on plugging in 'Meyer' zoysia. One of the Best things I ever did in my life I think! Yard on a slight incline in areas. Full sun. I LOVE it! Birds can't eat the plugs…"Mother Nature" cannot wash it away. I only wish that KBG had a plausible, similar means of plugging 2" diameter plugs. Zoysia is what I refer to as a "true spreader."" Not aggressive as compared to hybrid Bermuda (go out and sit and WATCH it spread!🤣).
I have seen 'Meyer' zoysia as far north as Ann Arbor, but not realistic north of the transition line.
Still:


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## gregonfire

Wile said:


>


Wow, these pics have me drooling! Looks amazing man.


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## lawn-wolverine

gregonfire said:


> Wile said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, these pics have me drooling! Looks amazing man.
Click to expand...

Yes, agree ! Ditto, man. This is "hero status" stuff.


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## Wile

@gregonfire @lawn-wolverine thanks ya'll. I'd say it's mostly the mower, but the overseed was successful. It's never looked this good. Part of which has been working on my pH this year.

I cannot understand how someone has zoysia in AA….doesn't seem possible or fun even. My wife used to tell me the same that maybe it would look better if I did less. Very wise advice and I took offense to that 😂. Transitioning to reel mowing definitely changed her mind and mine.


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## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> @gregonfire @lawn-wolverine thanks ya'll.
> 
> I cannot understand how someone has zoysia in AA….doesn't seem possible or fun even.


LOL…can you imagine living with a lawn that is literally "straw-dormant" for SEVEN months of the year? Someone in AA invested in "Z-57" thru the mail.


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## Wile

Not even a chance. Haha.

Uggg. The 260B wasn't cutting paper on both ends, but was in the middle. Started making some adjustments on the reel to bedknife and couldn't getting it to cut with the reel being very tight. So, I decided to backlap it and it's better but still too tight. It definitely needs a relief spin grind this winter, but hopefully I can get it back to cutting tomorrow. Anyone know where you can get an actual .001 feeler guage? Closest I can find is .0015 at harbor freight.


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## Wile

I should have stopped the water from kicking on but forgot. We received 1" or more in the last couple days. I did spray fertilizer in the rain today. I kick myself for not filtering the undissolved AS that is typically left. Targeted .33lbs of N .33lbs of K, .25 tbsp of EDDHA iron, magnesium sulfate and zinc sulfate per 1000sq ft. That will be the last zinc app till next year. Probably same for iron too. Although I may do one more around Halloween.

I need to get a faster backpack sprayer or switch to a small sgn complete fertilizer. Currently using a pump greenwood from Harbor Freight. I've never been to Nutrien AG, but maybe they will have something I can use. Would love to find a 16-2-8 derived from AS and SOP with a 75 or 100 SGN.

Lastly, noticed the JD needs an oil change and probably a fresh grind on the reel. I backlapped it again and the reel is looking more squared off but is still too rounded to cut paper and spin really free at the same time. Might try backlapping one more time.


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## Wile

I figured I would share my google doc. It's kind of hodge podge of things, but soon will be starting a better one for next year. I need to learn some new excel skills and I want to add an analysis entry system that will auto calculate rates per M so I don't have to manually do this. I will need to get further understanding on ET and watering for next year. This is a concept I am struggling with and I will spend more time over winter getting a deeper understanding. Also need to update the product section as this change dramatically with my soil test this year.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ys8mB9nu-TtMwzdgw1U1kNJVqQ6_nnLtBvN-YLKr7EI/edit?usp=sharing

It's been raining a lot again. I wanted to spray some glyphosate on a few poa a or t spots, but finding it hard to get out there when its not been raining and when people aren't going to be in the yard for 12hrs-24hrs. Expecting more rain tomorrow and I am going to try to get out there tonight and mow.


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## Robs92k

Damn, that's one helluva SS! Let me know if you figure it out!


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## Wile

@Robs92k yeah, it's a bit overwhelming in it's current form. I initially made it for my friends and neighbors, but I don't think they used it or cared past May lol. It needs to be cleaned up and streamlined for next year. Some areas became redundant when I added more detail mid-season. The GDD section is kind of pointless too with using the GK App or Syngenta's email alerts.


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## Wile

Who needs cheater grass anyway?


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## Wile

Thanks to my neighbor and the fact they are moving I was able to get a couple drone shots. Glad I mowed yesterday 😂. Bummed they are moving. He's been working on his yard and has some Midnight KBG coming up now. I'll keep him updated on his progress next spring.


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## lawn-wolverine

Uber-cool !


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## lbb091919

Amazing stuff! Your collars look even cooler from up there. What a great idea.


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## Wile

Thanks! They are even better from the aerial shots than I would have guessed.

I have identified, thanks to g-man, that my poa annua is actually poa triv. Although there is a couple spots of annua. One poa a area I already killed in the spring is doubled in size. I should have looked at it closer and started rounds of gly+ams+nis+citric acid sooner. Will start after the rain tomorrow.


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## Wile

Okay so five or more days of rain have not helped. Mowed twice down to .5" to get a more even cut. Yard really needs some leveling as the reel is missing small spots.

We're getting a couple of 80 degrees days followed by cooler weather. I see fungus everywhere. Syngenta sent a notification a couple days ago with DS pressure being close to 50%. When walking the yard it looked more like BP with some DS. Hard to tell as some of it has probably conjoined to form larger spots now. I will spray some PPZ and .25lbs of AS tomorrow with some .35lbs MOP. Need to time it right since I don't need anymore water, but don't want more damage. Also, have not gotten to the triv yet. Will do soon.


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## Robs92k

Having the same issues. Your lawn still looks great!

No worries about K and snow mold?

*love the drone shots


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## Wile

Thanks @Robs92k! It's a good call. I'm almost done with my K and I think we have a couple more weeks till first frost. I did have snow mold last year and didn't apply much K. Snow covered the ground for several months. Definitely on my mind. Sorry to hear you're dealing with fungus too.


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## Wile

Dropped .5lb of N on Monday with the remaining gypsum of 80lbs total. Last night remaining K at about .6lbs last night, remaining magnesium sulfate at 1 lb total of product, remnants of humic/fulvic, remaining Superthrive about an ounce, 1oz per M Sea Kelp, and 1oz per M of PPZ. We're supposed to get some rain today and the next couple. Disease has done some damage, but should be gone before Halloween. I have one more app of remaining Urea about .25-.3lb to drop next week. This week is our "average" first frost, but it looks like we won't see a frost for a couple weeks yet. Listening to The Burn & Return Podcast got me worried about getting product next year. Hopefully it won't be too much of an issue. Also really enjoying the Turf Show Podcast with Frank Rossi.


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## Wile

Been raining, cloudy and humid. Ended up double and triple cutting much of the yard at .5" and would like to bring back up to 5/8" or 3/4" before the end of the year. The local meteorologist thought we wouldn't see frost until November. Pretty late for us, but I'll take it. Not in love with color right now. Wish there was more time to experiment before the end of the season. 😔


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## bf7

Wile said:


> Thanks to my neighbor and the fact they are moving I was able to get a couple drone shots. Glad I mowed yesterday 😂. Bummed they are moving. He's been working on his yard and has some Midnight KBG coming up now. I'll keep him updated on his progress next spring.


These collars are EPIC. What a brilliant idea!

Do you cut them with a rotary or raise the height on the greens mower? What about fertilizer and other apps - do you treat them the same as the low turf?


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## Wile

@bf7 thanks! I use a manual reel on the collars. Mainly because there's mulch, twigs, and other hard stuff that I don't want to hit with the McLane or JD. I lent my rotary out to my neighbor and cut the whole year this way. They get pretty long (like in those drone shots) and I break the 1/3 rule a lot, but it doesn't seem bothered by it.

I keep all my fertilizer the same same and pgr when it was regulated. I find that they grow considerably faster (1.5x) than the lower cut turf. Generally I keep the collars between 1"-1.5." Sure beats blowing all the mulch back before I can mow and adds some visual interest too.


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## bf7

Wile said:


> @bf7 thanks! I use a manual reel on the collars. Mainly because there's mulch, twigs, and other hard stuff that I don't want to hit with the McLane or JD. I lent my rotary out to my neighbor and cut the whole year this way. They get pretty long (like in those drone shots) and I break the 1/3 rule a lot, but it doesn't seem bothered by it.
> 
> I keep all my fertilizer the same same and pgr when it was regulated. I find that they grow considerably faster (1.5x) than the lower cut turf. Generally I keep the collars between 1"-1.5." Sure beats blowing all the mulch back before I can mow and adds some visual interest too.


Everything just looks awesome - the landscaping and leveling too. The drone shots really make the collars pop!

If the faster growth is a pain, you could probably give them more PGR than the "greens". I think longer grass can handle higher doses better. But again, it looks great so I wouldn't stop whatever you're doing haha


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## Robs92k

bf7 said:


> Wile said:
> 
> 
> 
> @bf7 thanks! I use a manual reel on the collars. Mainly because there's mulch, twigs, and other hard stuff that I don't want to hit with the McLane or JD. I lent my rotary out to my neighbor and cut the whole year this way. They get pretty long (like in those drone shots) and I break the 1/3 rule a lot, but it doesn't seem bothered by it.
> 
> I keep all my fertilizer the same same and pgr when it was regulated. I find that they grow considerably faster (1.5x) than the lower cut turf. Generally I keep the collars between 1"-1.5." Sure beats blowing all the mulch back before I can mow and adds some visual interest too.
> 
> 
> 
> Everything just looks awesome - the landscaping and leveling too. The drone shots really make the collars pop!
> 
> If the faster growth is a pain, you could probably give them more PGR than the "greens". I think longer grass can handle higher doses better. But again, it looks great so I wouldn't stop whatever you're doing haha
Click to expand...

+1^

You low cut guys are like my wife…"I wish it were a shade darker…". I'm over here like…"thank sweet baby Jesus it's green!!"

Lol, awesome work man!


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## Wile

@Robs92k I saw your soil test 8.1…. It looks dark to me and especially for that pH. But that last cut was something else. Never seen a rotary do that unless it was one of those special solid back roller ones.


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## Robs92k

Wile said:


> @Robs92k I saw your soil test 8.1…. It looks dark to me and especially for that pH. But that last cut was something else. Never seen a rotary do that unless it was one of those special solid back roller ones.


That few days was literally the best it's looked ever and had a LOT to do with the lighting/ angle and the brush/ lawn sweeper.

I've put down a couple 4oz FE/k within the last 4 weeks and have been using AMS exclusively. Now that I went down to 2.5, it seems quite a bit lighter.

My green pushes seem to be cyclical, so wondering if it's a combination of all of these…? Very interested to see what my soil tests look like in April.

Looking to put a roller kit on my rotary, but not finding what I'm looking for yet. I certainly can't keep hauling the sweeper. Lol.

Keep the pics coming…it's my motivation!


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## Wile

Will do my friend. I'm excited to see that roller kit. That would be sweet. I never understood why these weren't more readily available anyways. Hopefully the DIY and lawn care communities will continue to push for better products.

I think I have figured out that the reel may have been scalping a little more than it should have because the HOC wasn't perfectly set or moved while mowing. Bringing it back up to 3/4" for the rest of the year. I need to glue the nuts and washers on my DIY HOC bar sot that it doesn't move. I'll probably do that on lunch today and prep my fertilizer for tonight.

Spraying .25lb/M of my remaining urea, sea kelp 1oz/M, iron, and maybe a tiny bit of Zinc. Even though we have had a good deal of rain (4 days ago) and the ET rates are like .1" per day right now the canopy felt dry. I'm irrigating about 10 minutes a zone just so I don't burn anything with the iron and urea and then we are supposed to get some rainfall tonight and tomorrow. If not I can irrigate by mid-day.

The color is coming back and generally looked really good. Bringing it down to .5" helped the cut look more even. The grass does appear to be slowing down and some of that could just be the propi that I sprayed last week. I'm hopeful that it grows out this fungus damage before Halloween. Almost looks like I could take the sun joe to it and get some of the color back, but its pretty late in the season for such madness. :lol:


----------



## lbb091919

That's a nice bar with plenty of holes to add a groomer bolt too.

PS: Those bubble tubes are legit


----------



## Wile

Haha, when you know you know. My LO was screaming for bubbles yesterday. That's a great idea on the groomer...I'm trying to understand how I would go about adding one. There doesn't seem to be a place to mount one and/or much literature on this from what I can find. RRproducts has some stuff to build your own, but again I am unclear where to actually hook the groomer into. Any thoughts?


----------



## lbb091919

You don't actually hook it to anything like the bedknife. You just push the plate up to the groomer like this:



So you could use any flat bolt and position it to line up with the groomer.


----------



## Wile

Oh, sorry. I meant that my John Deere does not have a groomer on it and I would like to add one. Can't figure out how.


----------



## lbb091919

Wile said:


> Oh, sorry. I meant that my John Deere does not have a groomer on it and I would like to add one. Can't figure out how.


Ohhh, got ya.

From what I've read it's very expensive to add one. I want to say between 2-3k


----------



## Wile

&#128563; well, suddenly a groomer is not cool anymore…

I ended up running out last night in the rain and grabbed some DEF since I only had 3lbs of urea on hand. Sprayed everything at .25lb of N. Decided to go full send on some of the other lingering products I had too. Threw 1oz of sea kelp/M, about 1-2oz/M of blackstrap molasses (not the time for it but whatever), 3-4oz of brewers yeast, plus the .125oz/M of zinc and iron. The sprayer needs to be greased and cleaned. Note to self to double the carrier volume for this mixture if performed again. Hot water alone did not thin it enough and was still clogging.


----------



## Wile

I feel like a true Lions fan, but about the lawn right now. Next year is the year. The fungal damage is truly disheartening, but the mow brought a little bit of needed peace today.


----------



## Wile

Everything looks better in the sun. Feeling better today about life and the lawn in general. I'm planning to straighten out the angle lines and burn them in this week.


----------



## Vtx531

Wile said:


> Next year is the year.


Looks good. I know the feeling…seems like I learn a lot from each season and then winter comes just in time to stop everything right when I finally got it all figured out!


----------



## Wile

@Vtx531 couldn't agree more!


----------



## Old Hickory

@Wile I noticed that you use sea kelp and that you applied it as recently as last week. I too use sea kelp as I like using organics as much as possible. My question is how late in the year will you be using sea kelp?


----------



## Wile

@Old Hickory I normally keep my kelp applications to during the hotter months (May-Sept). Not for any scientific reasons, but more of that feel good application. Since I was putting down the remaining humic and fulvic, I decided to put some kelp down as it is believed to have some synergistic effects when coupled together. There's also some data on certain types of kelp helping drive root systems deeper. This may be a good test idea for me next year to compare and see if there is any real benefit. Do you use kelp yourself this time of year? When do you stop?


----------



## Old Hickory

@Wile I use sea kelp along with humic and fulvic acid because I like to use organics. It may be trendy but it makes sense to me. I'll use it this week to green up the lawn for Halloween but stop using it as the growing season slows. Real Fall has arrived here as we've got 40 degree nights now.


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## Wile

@Old HickoryWith the disease damage I had I wanted to try to recover it faster. It seems to help. I have enough to do one more app with my remaining fert tomorrow. Should be shining for Halloween. What's your Organic program look like?


----------



## Jeff_MI84

The collars look really cool. Are you a golf enthusiast?


----------



## Wile

Thanks @Jeff_MI84. I enjoy the game, but don't play that much. Thinking about it more though. If I added a putting green it would probably help my short game a bunch. How about you?


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile oh okay. I asked because despite not really playing golf I knew that lawn collars were found on golf courses. I do a pretty good Happy Gilmore impression while playing putt putt (meaning I'm terrible).


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 you're right. I think mine was born out of keeping mulch out of my way more than just looks. But tbh I like the look and I get a slight workout from using the manual reel. I would like to do a a really low cut main section and a fringe in between the collars. In order for it to stand out enough its like you have to have a couple of "notches" difference between each HOC. Like .3"-.4" for the main, .75" for the fringe and maybe 1.5" for rough.

Well the 260B is not starting. Maybe it needs a new spark plug or that needs cleaning. It tries to start, but won't stay running for long. Bummer....each year I look forward to a cut on Halloween and each year I didn't get one in. Watching all my neighbors do theirs was little tough this year. I have to prepare for our second baby's arrival and the room still needs work. So that took precedence. I'm a little relieved to be back in the swing of building things and woodworking. I've taken almost a year off minus some french doors and a fixed transom window for the office. The yard was a lot of fun this year, but I want to simplify everything as much as possible next season.

I still have some DEF leftover too and never got my last fert down. Looks like I will save that for next year. Air temps have turned fast and we are expecting 3-4 days of frost this week. I might try to get the McLane out and adjusted so I can cut it one last time before it goes dormant. Most of the dollar spot damage is still there, but recovering. We'll see what it shakes out to being in the spring.

I have been reading and studying up ETo and slow release methylene urea fertilizers. Next year I am hoping to simplify everything and target 3-3.5lbs of N. The USGA site survey shows our area having Sandy Loam which is what I thought it was without doing a jar test/lab test.

Summary Observation: Fungal damage may also have been exacerbated from over-regulating with PGR and spacing watering too far apart. Next year will target a shorter watering cycle with less overall inches down to see if that helps. Water holding capacity=6" root zone x .13 sandy loam and .8 crop needs x Daily fret for reference. PGR may just be a .25oz/M bi-weekly or as needed in Spring/Fall. Got in around 4.5lbs of N plus 1.8% OM release.


----------



## lbb091919

Wile said:


> Well the 260B is not starting. Maybe it needs a new spark plug or that needs cleaning. It tries to start, but won't stay running for long. Bummer....each year I look forward to a cut on Halloween and each year I didn't get one in. Watching all my neighbors do theirs was little tough this year. I have to prepare for our second baby's arrival and the room still needs work. So that took precedence. I'm a little relieved to be back in the swing of building things and woodworking. I've taken almost a year off minus some french doors and a fixed transom window for the office. The yard was a lot of fun this year, but I want to simplify everything as much as possible next season.


Carb might just need a good cleaning. Mine did the same thing after I got it and turned out to be one of those junky amazon/ebay replacements. Even after a cleaning it wasnt right. Replaced with OEM from Green Farm Parts and it's run perfect ever since.

Congrats on baby #2. Our second is due end of December!


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile oh okay. It really does stand out. Next year, if I ever get around to removing my edging stones around the house, then do trench edging I might "borrow" your collar Idea. Then again, I don't reel mow so it would be a challenge.


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## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 maybe try mowing around 2" and the collars at 3.25-3.5. I bet that would give enough visual difference. Mine tend to be longer in a lot of the pictures which helps the contrast, but I just mowed them a couple days ago. The infield hasn't been mowed and there still is a definition line between the two. Worth a shot to see how you like it.

@lbb091919 congrats to you too! We're expecting in late February. I do see debris in the gas tank. So, I might try to clean the carb first. That's probably not helping if it isn't the problem. Hopefully not a cheap carb replacement…


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@wildog thanks for the tip.


----------



## Wile

First frost. As much as it's disappointing that the season is almost closed, it is also a relief. Next week air temps look to be back in the high 50-60's. So maybe one more mow. Need to protect the Japanese maple with some burlap tonight.


----------



## Wile

Its been a while since I've been able to mow. Way too many things going on and lots of projects to finish in the next couple months. I would say the grass is around 1.5-2" tall. I do appreciate how even the grass has grown. That really wasn't the case the last few years. It seems that most of the fescue and rye is gone and now it's just the bluegrass left. Meanwhile, I have sprayed the poa triv spots a couple times now. I may need to hit it a couple more this spring. I may end up losing some of my perennials from quackgrass that runs through the beds. I hit those a couple times as well. The cat mint and daylilys were mostly dormant when I sprayed. So, hopefully that helped.

I have a couple really bare areas around the playset that I want to dormant seed. I put down a good amount of seed there, but didn't see much germination. It may just be too cold and not enough light this time of year, but in the spring it usually gets a bit more. Leaves have dropped really early this year. I can't remember in the last five years the oak trees dropping their leaves fully until almost January.


----------



## Wile

There has been a couple months of snow cover, but this past week we had some breaks in the weather to where it warmed up enough and melted for me to dormant seed yesterday. Now its snowing again....and the slow release H20 is covering the lawn. There were a couple spots I was not able to get to along the south side fence and oak tree, but it looks like some warmer weather is coming again next week. Snow mold looks like its all through the yard. Looks like gray snow mold to me. I can still some stripes that were burnt in too. I think I'll change the pattern this year.

It's almost time to start putting my 2022 plan together and into action. 
Goals: LOTM  but will be very happy for something that my family and I can enjoy.

For real goals: 
1) Soil Test: Continue pH reduction as needed to get to 6.5 target
2) Targeting 3-4lbs of N for the season
3) Simplify product usage and application frequency to reduce time expenditures
4) Implement preventative fungicide plan
5) Move sprinklers to cover better next to driveway and fix zone 5's intermittent issues
6) Minor leveling in the spring and medium leveling in the fall


----------



## Wile

Picked up some spray grade ammonium sulfate from Family Farm and Home in Three Rivers. They had 51# bags for $14.99. They only had 3 and I'm debating getting a fourth from another location. 3 would still get me close to my 3-4lbs of N target for 2022. I have some leftover DEF that would get me to 3lbs. Very excited that I won't have to take hot and boiling water to try to melt the granular AMS I had LY. I did get a line on some SOP in Grand Rapids. When I take the JD to get sharpened I will hopefully pick some up plus some prodiamine.

Debating whether or not to keep this thread alive or start a whole new one. I'll wait till I get my soil test back to make a decision.


----------



## Wile

Finally had some time to work on the JD. I cleaned the carb and found the spark plug was really dirty. A quick cleaning and she fired right up. I backlapped the reel and was cutting perfectly. The lawn was really long. It needs a second cut, but I was able to cut at 1". For soil temps still being cold it has good color. I hope to take it down to 3/4" of 5/8" in a couple days. I decided to order some of the Home Depot SOP they had. 40lbs of 0-0-50 for about $45 shipped to the home. For some reason no one carries SOP or they seemed to only have granular and return calls just aren't a thing anymore. If any one looks at the HD site their label is wrong. Shows 0-0-53 and same on the manufacturer site. So, I emailed them and they sent me the correct label. I hope to apply fert in a couple weeks as well as some PGR. I do have a spot that worries me is NRS, BP or SP. I may be applying fungicides this week to try correct that. It is in the warmer area of the yard (no exact temp taken today, but was 80 degree air temp).


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@wile I hope you're able to enjoy this warm Michigan weather this weekend.


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## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 same to you. I'm enjoying it a lot more now that the JD works again.


----------



## bf7

Oh yeah, it's go time. Looking pristine already.

Octoberfest - not my first choice when the lawn is waking up. But it's Bell's, so you get a pass


----------



## Wile

@bf7 I know…I try to stock up on the Octoberfest variety so I can have one year round, but was feeling the last Oberon today. I hope my wife is happy…

Thanks man! I'm just trying to keep up with you.


----------



## steffen707

Wile said:


> @bf7 I know…I try to stock up on the Octoberfest variety so I can have one year round, but was feeling the last Oberon today. I hope my wife is happy…
> 
> Thanks man! I'm just trying to keep up with you.


I'm a Two Hearted man myself. Drank a lot of Oberon in college too.

Oh, lawn looking great BTW. Looks like yours woke up way faster than me in central Wisconsin. Kalamazoo isn't that much more south of me....boo hoo.


----------



## Wile

@steffen707 thanks man! Love me some two hearted too. I'm surprised how green it has was even while shedding the dead stuff up until the last couple weeks. I heard midnight types aren't quick to green up in the spring, but it didn't get the memo this year. Probably helps that I don't have mature trees except in the back.

Don't worry my friend. Your time is coming!


----------



## Wile

Mowed down to .75" and finished right before the rain. There appears to be red thread that went through and found some of the remaining No Mix. SOP comes in today and I may get my first fertilizer down tomorrow.


----------



## Wile

Mowed down to 5/8" today. Had to double cut it to get it more even. Some leveling I think would help. There is a lot of red thread or the aftermath of it running through the yard. All the rain we have had made everything look really good, but pushed a lot of growth. I'm hoping to get my first application down tomorrow of fert and fungicides. I plan to pull soil with my proplugger so that I can see how much the pH has moved and if I need to consider another round of ES. I see in many areas the last round is still sitting there.


----------



## Wile

I completed my soil samples and sent into Waypoint this year. Sent in 1.8lbs of soil sampled in about 10 different locations in the yard. I also tried to pull from areas that had larger undulations in the hope that might help bring those areas down some. Thatch in the front yard still looks to be a problem. The samples were fairly wet after all the rain we had the last few days, and waiting two days wasn't enough to dry it out completely. Many of the samples came out of the Pro Plugger easily and some got stuck indicating it was too wet. There is a lot of poa annua in the back northwest corner of the yard. I sprayed another triv spot that I didn't see till late last year with the remaining gly and urea mixture.

I finally completed a paceturf appraisal form and was a bit shocked on the growth potential curve. I would have expected a slightly higher drop in late June, July and August, but that was not what the last 30 yrs of data suggest. So, this makes me think my best bet next year is to just do four to five applications of slow release and supplement anything else in the sprayer.


----------



## Wile

Finally got my first app down. I should heed my own advice in doing jar tests. My tank mix made some sludge and straining it didn't help, but it sprayed out fine. Going to be a mess to clean. The SOP did not dissolve like I hoped. I will have to test it further or use it in granular only. I will up the carrier volume to see if that helps. It was lightly raining during my spray and there is more to come.
Sprayed: 
AMS - .25lb N/M
SOP - .3-.5lb K/M (some did not dissolve and my math was off)
Mg Sulfate - 4oz/M
Fe Sulfate - 1oz/M
Cu Sulfate - 1tsp/M
Zn Sulfate - 1tbsp/M
Propiconazole - 2oz/M
Azoxystrobin - .38oz/M
Mesiotrione - 1tsp/M watered in


----------



## Wiley

I had to do a double take on your growth potential as it looks very similar to a warm season curve. My cool season model from PACE is almost the opposite of yours. The nice thing, as you mentioned, you can go out with some good granular apps without the stress of over doing it and supplement with some with some foliar spraying when needed. What's your precipitation like during the growing season? Do you have to supplement irrigation?


----------



## Wile

@Wiley that's exactly what I thought too. Since we have moved into this house, LY was the only mild summer weather with constant rain. It's usually very dry and hot. Maybe an inch of rain once or twice a month. I'm hoping I did this right…will need to double check. I do have in ground sprinklers. It's the reason my pH is so high. Our water is really hard probably 25+ grains.The original sandy loam showed a 6pH on the USGA site. Last year it tested at 7.5pH after dumping 5-6 years of city water in it.


----------



## Wiley

That change in ph is wild! Crazy that it gets that dry in your area, I just assumed it was always raining around the great lakes. You learn something new every day. What's your long temp plan for managing the ph?


----------



## Wile

LY's weather was wild. I never tracked it like I'm trying to now. Supposedly we have nearly as many cloudy days as Seattle. But never seen weekly rain during the middle of summer.

Definitely in my feels today after the yard made a 180 from some fert and rain. Blasting some Doobie Brothers enjoying the first real days of spring.

Hope everyone is having a great Derby Day! Happy Mother's Day!


----------



## Wile

New soil test, who dis? I did an S3M with soluble salts through WP this year. A couple things surprised me like my P, S, Mn. I believe my sampling was random enough and consistent to LY. However, LY the lab was not able to process it for several weeks due to having a covid outbreak. Not sure how that impacted things. This year I used WP and they were really easy to work with. PH did move some and when sampling I saw discs of ES far into the soil profile but not broken down. I should have bought more ES for $20 a 50# bag when I saw it this winter. Now $45. I think I will continue to apply even though it doesn't make as much sense financially. I'll be using AMS and FS as well. Some ES is still sitting on the surface and hopefully that breaks down. Because the HD SOP did not fully dissolve in water, I will change my plan to apply 1lb/M monthly through the broadcast spreader.


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> LY's weather was wild. I never tracked it like I'm trying to now. Supposedly we have nearly as many cloudy days as Seattle. But never seen weekly rain during the middle of summer.
> 
> Definitely in my feels today after the yard made a 180 from some fert and rain. Blasting some Doobie Brothers enjoying the first real days of spring.
> 
> Hope everyone is having a great Derby Day! Happy Mother's Day!


Ruh-oh ! I think I see a German shepherd in the top right corner of that photo dropping a puddle of concentrated liquid urea on your lawn !!!😱


----------



## Wile

@lawn-wolverine where? 😅


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> @lawn-wolverine where? 😅


I guess he did a "hit & run !"🤣

Hmmm, I decided that even though I am
a "dog lover," I think that run-loose neighborhood dogs (or walked dogs sometimes) and lawn lovers are DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED !
I have tried to explain to dog walkers that it is not so much the "poop piles" that I hate, but the dreaded "urine-burn" spots in the lawn that are so egregious ! 
So when I saw your perfect lawn picture, I was just imagining a neighbor dog 🐩 "violating" that perfectness !

Great pictures…great lawn there!🤗


----------



## Wile

@lawn-wolverine haha it does look a giant dog took a squat. That was my first poa triv spot which oddly is now shaped like a heart (for Mother's Day). Since then there have been 5 more that I found. A couple by the sidewalks. So I could blame a dog 😂. I'm an animal lover, but I find it annoying when people leave poop and burn spots in the yard. Don't care if they use it, just leave it how you found it.


Watered today and the yard looks better. Less random yellow spots. We have highs in upper 80's this week. I don't know if there is a lot dead material or still dormant grass in there. There seems to be tufts of grass that suggest it might need a quick power rake to open the canopy some. That might get rid of the waffling and random yellow areas. The canopeo app shows that I have over 98% coverage in a lot of areas that I sampled. Cool app if you haven't used it.

Poa A is really seeding out right now. Can't wait to spray some prodiamine and try to get thar under control over the next couple of years. Most of my dormant seed is coming up and looking good.


----------



## bf7

Looks great! The heart is hilarious...I think the triv is trying to send you some kind of sick, demented message. Or maybe its using reverse psychology to get you to stop spraying it &#128514;


----------



## Wile

@bf7 I think you're onto something. It's obvious you speak the grass language. Maybe we should consult a ouija board to see if its truly dead and haunting me.


----------



## Wile

Had several days of rain this week and air temps have cooled to mid 60's. Hoping to drop the second round of fert and some pgr.


----------



## Wile

Expecting rain the next 3 days, so I dropped my second round of fert, micros, 1st non dmi pgr, and another fungicide app to help with the NRS I had been seeing. DS pressure is very low right now. The sprayer was clogging even though the mixture was filtered and showed no signs of complexing or other adverse issues. Something may just be in the line or pump. The southern facing section still needs another gallon of product put on when the rain stops. Additionally, but my drop and broadcast spreader were having issues. The SOP at ~18lbs of product did not do a great job covering evenly. I will try to melt that down over a longer period of time and maybe a couple jugs of water.

DEF- .18lbs/M
AMS - .1lbs/M
SOP - .8lbs/M granular
Mg S - .012lbs/M
Fe S - .025lbs/M
Cu S - .0015lbs/M (2.8g/M total product)
Zn S - .0021lbs/M (2.8g/M total product)
Propiconazole - 1oz/M
TNEX - .25oz/M
Clean Kelp - used up my last bit at 1.3oz/M


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile if you could keep most of the rain on your side of the state, that would be great.


----------



## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile if you could keep most of the rain on your side of the state, that would be great.


I will try! I have set up an elaborate system of ropes and pulley's that I think will keep it from venturing on. I absolutely need the acidic water and free water. Congrats on the nomination for LOTM! That is awesome!


----------



## bf7

What a cocktail! I'm not happy with the bag of SOP I got this year. Massive SGN. How exactly do you dissolve it? I would love to be able to spray it.

The chess board pattern is spot on.


----------



## Wile

@bf7 the SOP I got from HD, as MightyQuinn noticed too, is not 100% water soluble like the label the company sent me says. When I did my first app I used the hottest tap water and it did dissolve a lot of it, but not all of it. So I might try to do that again and then just agitate it often or using boiling hot water. Not sure on the shelf life. Need a chemist. The SGN is rather large and that makes it hard to really spread evenly. I don't think potassium is super mobile in the soil so a sprayable option is going to have be the way. Yeah, the cocktail is a bit overkill I think. I might simplify it, but I am very nervous about spraying micros and playing around with it a bit. Thanks! I liked the pattern. It wasn't showing well at 5/8", but now that it's back up to 3/4" of it looks much more pronounced.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile i appreciate it. I need the lawn to dry out so I can keep working on it. Thanks, I appreciate it! Totally unexpected, but I guess I have to step it up now.

The SOP I got from Site One has an SGN of 100 and I found it very easy to spread, but not sure if it is water soluble.


----------



## bf7

Thanks, I'll have to try the hot water approach. Do you irrigate immediately after spraying K?


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 thanks man! I don't think I saw that at my local one. Probably should have seen if they could order it. SGN 100 would be perfect.

@bf7 I usually try to time my irrigation to run/rain at least 4 hours after spraying. Usually spray at night....finished at 12:30am due to my sprayer not working right. Good news is my wife agreed its time for a decent sprayer. I think it's best to time K with N applications. My plan is to put them down the same time or shortly thereafter get N and water in.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile I had to go to a Site One that is about 20 miles out of the way just to find it. The one in Livonia is good, but Commerce Township's agronomist named Troy was able to find it for me.


----------



## Ben4Birdies

Wile said:


> when sampling I saw discs of ES far into the soil profile but not broken down.
> 
> Some ES is still sitting on the surface and hopefully that breaks down.


I've heard that farmers get samples of the source of elemental sulfur to do a jar test to see if it will dissolve in water or not. Apparently some products sat in a jar of water for multiple years refusing to break down.

If it won't dissolve in water, having it break down properly in your soil doesn't seem very likely.

Unfortunately, not all elemental sulfur products behave the same. If you buy any more, I would put some in a glass jar of water, and see what happens. Or see if you can get a sample ahead of time.


----------



## Wile

Thanks @Ben4Birdies. I forgot when I wrote that I had aerated and then spread some ES. Still it had moved a another 2-4" over winter. I had not thought of doing a jar test on it though. Microbial activity is really important component to this too. With the low CEC soil that kind of makes sense that it could easily move through the profile. I wonder if there is a pulverized form and I could spread it through a drop spreader? I'm going to pick some up from siteone and test it now.


----------



## Wile

Got my grubex and spectricide triazicide down. There were several grubs in a small area in the beds and huge ant mounds in a lot of places. Supposedly ticks are bad this year and lonestar ticks have been spotted in the drag tests. Watered it all in at 1" of irrigation. Had no rain even though forecast had some slated. Geraniums are in and the smoke tree looks "smokier" than in previous years. Even fixed the flagpole this week. Still have some mulching to do.


----------



## lawn-wolverine

GrubEx&#128077;, but if I have noticed a profusion of these nasty.little buggers, I do a 1-2 on them…go for the "quick kill" first and then follow up annually with Grub-Ex.


----------



## Wile

@lawn-wolverine I would agree if you're seeing damage. I did see a couple of odd worms and pupae in the yard after heavy rains and pulling cores. Not enough that would concern me to do a kill just yet. I think you need somewhere between 5-10 per sq ft to see damage on turf grasses. I can vouch that my gamma-cyhalothrin did nothing over the past several years. Last year, I did apply some Bayer Bioadvanced product once I figured that Spectracide Triazicide will not control grubs.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/how_to_choose_and_when_to_apply_grub_control_products_for_your_lawn


----------



## Wile

My sprayer clogged on my last app and I have some terrible iron stripes. If anyone has dealt with evening that out let me know. My initial thought is to do a light dose of my remaining chelated iron to even everything. Set the bench height of the JD to 7/8" and I think I like this height better. Inspired by reading Pete's journals. I might move it up further depending on how it cuts and if I like the look better.

My wife got me a ryobi 40v backpack sprayer for FD/BD. So I'm excited to try that out and not have to hand pump things. Since, I'm thinking of moving to granular next year I think this could work. Although I am tempted to get the 12g Chapin push sprayer instead. Heard mixed reviews on Ryobi 18v sprayers, but I have a ton of their tools and batteries. 



Lawn Security - the real reason for security cameras 😂


----------



## bf7

:lol: that's funny because every time I think of getting a camera, it's not to protect my house. I'm worried some hater is going to come along and gly my yard. But then I realize the average hoodlum doesn't even know what that is or how to do it.

7/8" is my new favorite setting on the JD.


----------



## Ben4Birdies

bf7 said:


> I'm worried some hater is going to come along and gly my yard. But then I realize the average hoodlum doesn't even know what that is or how to do it.


Wow, that would bring in a new era of vandalism if hoodlums instead of spray painting graffiti, decided to paint designs in peoples' yards with glyphosate... 😱


----------



## Wile

bf7 said:


> :lol: that's funny because every time I think of getting a camera, it's not to protect my house. I'm worried some hater is going to come along and gly my yard. But then I realize the average hoodlum doesn't even know what that is or how to do it.
> 
> 7/8" is my new favorite setting on the JD.


We had a disgruntled guy doing lawn jobs on peoples yards for months before they caught him. Luckily my yard is nestled in between some tough obstacles. He mostly drove on the the wide open lawns that have no landscaping. I never thought of someone glying my yard...new fear unlocked.

7/8" looks really good after a double cut. If I can get my sprayer and pgr dialed in, then I think I am really going to love it. What made you switch?


Ben4Birdies said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm worried some hater is going to come along and gly my yard. But then I realize the average hoodlum doesn't even know what that is or how to do it.
> 
> 
> 
> Wow, that would bring in a new era of vandalism if hoodlums instead of spray painting graffiti, decided to paint designs in peoples' yards with glyphosate... 😱
Click to expand...

No kidding. I have seen supers post about that kind of stuff, but really would be upset if someone did that to a yard. Not cool.


----------



## bf7

Wile said:


> 7/8" looks really good after a double cut. If I can get my sprayer and pgr dialed in, then I think I am really going to love it. What made you switch?


I've been tinkering with many different heights between 1/2 and 1. This time of year, I like the balance between color and feel at 7/8.

Need to keep up with the mowing though. It can get shaggy pretty quickly. More stragglers too, but you can get around that by double cutting to your point.


----------



## Wile

I noticed that today. Already looks a little shaggy, but color looked great and the texture is really nice. Stripes disappeared after just a couple days...I'm hoping the PGR can help me out a bit more keeping things in check. My roughs grow so fast its hard to keep up sometimes. At least then, I might not have to worry as much about DS on the low cut turf? Here's to hoping.


----------



## bf7

The roughs grow really fast. Part of the reason I raised them to 2.5 was because I couldn't keep up at 2. The PGR effect is noticeably lower on the longer grass.

The other reason was because I raised the fairways. I like a sharp contrast between the fairway and rough. If you aren't keeping the fairway around 1/2, it felt like they blend together too much.


----------



## jskierko

bf7 said:


> The roughs grow really fast. Part of the reason I raised them to 2.5 was because I couldn't keep up at 2. The PGR effect is noticeably lower on the longer grass.


Are you applying PGR at the same rate on all grass? T-Nex label has an application rate 3x higher for KBG "edging" vs "fairways".


----------



## Wile

jskierko said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> The roughs grow really fast. Part of the reason I raised them to 2.5 was because I couldn't keep up at 2. The PGR effect is noticeably lower on the longer grass.
> 
> 
> 
> Are you applying PGR at the same rate on all grass? T-Nex label has an application rate 3x higher for KBG "edging" vs "fairways".
Click to expand...

Yeah but then you gotta do another tank fill, measuring, math…. They were supposed to be there because I'm lazy lol. In all seriousness, I do need to double the rate. I also don't mind breaking the 1/3 rule on them. They do fine with it. I agree on the HOC differences. It's got be 1/2" to double for the differences to look intentional.


----------



## jskierko

Wile said:


> Yeah but then you gotta do another tank fill, measuring, math…. They were supposed to be there because I'm lazy lol.


I totally agree with you on that. On my longer areas and along driveways and sidewalks where it heats up faster I tend to just do multiple passes in order to "up the rate". No calcs involved, all just guessing.


----------



## Wile

That's my gameplan. With my old sprayer I had it well timed where I could do that. Once I get the new sprayer calibrated I will practice my walking pace to see if I can get that kind of coverage.


----------



## bf7

@jskierko I'm doing the same rate everywhere. Similar to what you guys are saying, I might try walking slower on the roughs. I will not be adding a separate tank. I am lazy and don't particularly enjoy spraying after the first 10 minutes lol


----------



## Wile

Temps have been in the upper 90's last week with a small break in the upper 70's/low 80's. Back to low 90's this week. Not much rain forecasted. I installed the Wyze Smart Sprinkler Controller about two weeks ago. It chose not to water for about 5 days. We got a lot of false positives. So, I turned off all the "smart" stuff and went back to a schedule. It is nice thought that I can control via wifi though. There also is an issue with my rainbird rain sensor. Doesn't seem to collect rain and show it.

I tried out the new Ryobi 40v sprayer. With the 4ah battery on the middle setting it was roughly putting out 32gpa. Will need to do more calibration, but my walking pace is about 3mph and I was fairly close with just estimating my water going in. Thanks to Moww and Green for pointing out some long-term slow release that Menards carries. My area discontinued the version w/o crabgrass preventer, but they had one bag left so I grabbed it. I think I will switch to this next year so I can enjoy more family time and just spray more easily. I have turned all my neighbors and family that have been looking for an easy button when it comes to fertilizer.

My my broadcast spreader broke again. This time for good. I used my backup drop spreader, but did not get great coverage with my mix of Simplify 6mo slow release and about 33lbs of 12-12-12. Because I was running low while spreading, I added the remaining 7lbs of 12-12-12 so I could finish the yard.

Sprayed:
TNEX - .5oz/M
Thiophante-Methyl - 1.75oz/M
Azoxystrobin - .38oz/M
FAS - 2oz AS/M and 1oz/M of FS (split my 2oz of EDDHA 6% between the 3 areas)
Spread: blended 
Simplify - 35lbs
12-12-12 - 40lbs

I have been absolutely slammed with work and the kids. Yard has received roughly .926lbs of N this season so far. 1lbs of slow release should help carry me in between sprays. I might grab one more bag to help the areas that got poor coverage. I'm going to test using the drop spreader to see if I can spread the Spray Grade AMS this way. If not I can spray it too, but this seems simpler.


----------



## Wile

The yard looks better after a heavy round of watering and fertilizer. I am having trouble understanding how wyze picks it's watering plan. But will keep watching to see how the yard responds. Mowed today and will get the collars tomorrow.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile It's holding up good. Kudos to you for mowing in this heat.


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 thanks man. It's looking decent in pictures. I really need to run a power rake through it or verticut it, but I just put down that slow release. Amazing what proper watering and some fertilizer can do!


----------



## bf7

Wile said:


> The yard looks better after a heavy round of watering and fertilizer. I am having trouble understanding how wyze picks it's watering plan. But will keep watching to see how the yard responds. Mowed today and will get the collars tomorrow.


Hot dang! Splendid color sir! 👌


----------



## Wile

@bf7 thank you sir! You should see it with the fert burns 😅.


----------



## Wile

If anyone needs a good laugh or cry…apparently I can't put down fert correctly with a drop spreader (my broadcast broke in the middle of fertilizing). Half my yard has a "tan" 😂 and the other parts are burned or streaked. Ran the irrigation a lot (2"+) this week and it looks better overall. I will wait to fertilize again until next week and do .1lbs of N foliar. Still my yard is at least green compared to everyone's drought dormant lawns. My wife said it at least looks real now so people can stop asking.


----------



## Wile

Sprayed .1lbs/M of AMS, 2oz/M of Ferrous Sulfate, 2oz/M Propiconazole, 1tsp/M Mesotrione, .33oz/M of spurge power.

We left on vacation and I should have sprayed propi and some tnex because it was a jungle when I came back. I was really sick for a week so the yard got out of control. Even the weeds are now a couple feet tall. Had to mow about five passes in different directions to get it back to a normal height. It looked really great though at the taller height. It was weird being able to mow with the manual reel on the low turf.

Dollar spot has wrecked the yard, but it should fill back in soon. Hopefully I can keep on my every two week plan while DS pressure is high. Dialed the water in for a slightly shorter cycle more often. The wyze sprinkler controller continues to skip needed waterings no matter what I set things too. I upped the crop coefficient to kick it on more often but it still didn't water for 4 days. I may just need to set a static schedule. We have had consistent 80's and 90's temps with little rain.

Also bought an Echo RB-60 to replace my broken broadcast spreader. Excited to get some elemental sulfur down soon too.


----------



## Wile

Sad to see the Mclane go, but glad it's going to a good home. A couple years ago I was in a precarious situation with my toro that kept breaking. Luckily my neighbor had the Mclane. It's the mower that got me addicted to reel mowing.

Put down 50lbs of elemental sulfur and 34lbs of some polymer coated urea (34-0-6) to balance out my streaking mistake. Timing is not optimal but I have had a hard time keeping up with fertilizer this year. Next year this will be my primary source of fertilizer. The Echo RB-60 works really well and is easy to push. I did notice a slight feed issue, but once I changed the setting everything was flowing right.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

Hopefully the test strip doesn't look too out of place compared to the rest of it. You've got a great looking yard.


----------



## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> Hopefully the test strip doesn't look too out of place compared to the rest of it. You've got a great looking yard.


Haha, no it's fine. Showed me I probably should be cutting lower. Thanks!

We got some rain last night and yesterday. This area had a brown patch look to it yesterday. Woke up this morning to this. I'm unsure which disease I'm currently looking at.


----------



## Wile

On second thought I think it's a continuation of dollar spot damage that I have already seen. The model did show me at a higher probability.


----------



## Wile

@Ben4Birdies thanks for the idea. Looks like this sulfur is more soluble. Been sitting in water for about 36hrs now.


----------



## Ben4Birdies

Wile said:


> @Ben4Birdies thanks for the idea. Looks like this sulfur is more soluble. Been sitting in water for about 36hrs now.


Did you only put a few pieces in? In the tests I've seen, some samples the pellets fully disintegrate overnight without even shaking the container.


----------



## Wile

@Ben4Birdies Yeah just scooped up a little bit that fell out if the bag. About an ounce or two of water. What brand are they using?


----------



## Ben4Birdies

https://montanasulphur.com/products/disintegrating-sulfur-granules-90-sulfurs/#details-tab

I think this was the product they had. Not sure if they will sell to non-farmers :/


----------



## Wile

Disease has run its course. Most of it was from 7/18 in the backyard. Initially the daily short timed watering to knock the mycelium caused it to spread, but it helped me while I have been out sick all month. I will finally get some fungicides down tomorrow. Dropped HOC to .75."

SOP - ~.78lbs/M
Tnex - .3oz/M
AMS - .1lbs/M
FS - 1oz/M total product 
Mesotrione - 1tsp/M with surfactant


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Wile, do you have a "best" recommendation on seed source (for say, 'Mazama' and 'Bluebank')?
I went with Super Seed Store last year, but they seem low OR out on just about everything. They showed your triple of Mazama/Bluebank/Midnight with Midnight third as Certified.
Thanks for your advice.


----------



## lbb091919

Front looks amazing and I'll bet that back will work itself out in the fall. Are you planning on doing a blitz this fall?


----------



## Wile

lawn-wolverine said:


> Wile, do you have a "best" recommendation on seed source (for say, 'Mazama' and 'Bluebank')?
> I went with Super Seed Store last year, but they seem low OR out on just about everything. They showed your triple of Mazama/Bluebank/Midnight with Midnight third as Certified.
> Thanks for your advice.


I would recommend SSS, but I hear its been difficult to get seed. You've probably read this thread, but if not there are seed sources that have been vetted by members here. I was initially pretty wary a couple years ago if seed was really certified until I found this group.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9400

These might also be good sources, but I have never used them: 
https://twincityseed.com/product/ky-bluegrass-mazama/
https://www.cdford.com/lawn-and-garden-1/mazama-kentucky-bluegrass-10 
https://swellseedco.com/products/bluebank-kentucky-bluegrass?variant=40735784632525
https://landmarkseed.com/products/kentucky-bluegrass-seed


----------



## Wile

lbb091919 said:


> Front looks amazing and I'll bet that back will work itself out in the fall. Are you planning on doing a blitz this fall?


Thanks @lbb091919 its really all over and even in the front, but it's rebounding. I believe DS only. I do have one area that may have been a combo of fertilizer burn and DS and that small area is dead. I'm leaning towards doing a blitz, but I have already applied a large amount of N because of how busy I have been this year. So, I'm tempted to just doing a consistent application schedule and trying to get about 1-1.5lbs of N down through the balance of this year into October.

I'm basing that solely off the Pace Turf Model. I really don't want to buy more fertilizer, but I have spray grade AMS left and some 12-12-12. I may apply the 12-12-12 in later August and early September. Then just .1lbs of N weekly if I can spray that often. I need to update my tally on N. I'm thinking I'm around the 2-3lbs mark. Still have about .75lbs releasing till October/November.

How about you? What are you planning?


----------



## lbb091919

I am going to try to blitz if life permits. Coming off the reno last year there are still thin spots that I want to get spreading. My side yards have struggled mightily this summer so the KBG needs to really work it's magic there.

I've looked into the Pace Model but all I could find was a subscription service. Is there a free version?


----------



## Wile

@lbb091919 I hear ya on life right now especially with the little ones. Yes, it took my a minute to figure out where/how. You basically download the excel doc and then follow their recommendation on which historical weather site to use to plug in your average temps. Then it spits out an average growth model based on that. I'm tempted to redo it though with just the last five years, if possible, because I don't think we have had as mild of weather as it showed.

But in terms of when to apply fertilizer it's looking like later August and early September and then just trickle it in from there for me. So, it might not be exactly as g-man laid it out, but similar concept with applying copious amounts of N in Fall . Moving to more low foliar amounts until even November if I can.


----------



## lbb091919

Ahh you're talking about the Growth Potential model. I actually added that to my Google sheet when you mentioned it before. It's very useful indeed.


----------



## Wile

@lbb091919 oh got it! glad it helped. yeah I don't know about their paid info. I would like to do that, but it's out of my budget for the yard.


----------



## Wile

Yard was starting to rebound from DS and then woke up Friday to what I suspect is brown patch. Cornell's FB post showed the risk for BP high in the NE. Several late evening and night time rains.

8/5: Sprayed
.1lbs/M AMS
.74-.78oz/M Azoxystrobin 
2oz/M Propiconazole 
.01lbs/M Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate
.01lbs/M Zinc Sulfate

Yard already looks better, but damage could linger.


Also, had a hawk visit and found another bird. Same thing happened this time LY.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile BP should just grow out and KBG should mostly recover, correct?


----------



## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile BP should just grow out and KBG should mostly recover, correct?


I might have caught it early enough. I was watching it like a hawk (no pun intended) and sprayed the same day. The one good thing with KBG is it will fill back in over time. I'll just keep feeding weekly .1lbs of N and then start giving it the 12-12-12 in a week or two. Whenever it gets some phosphorus it grows pretty vigorously. I'm now debating core aeration. I wasn't planning on doing it this year, but I need to pull some sample cores to see how my levels are. They were pretty bad in years past. That may be contributing to my disease pressure besides poor airflow with the woods.


----------



## bf7

This will be looking great again soon with some fert and temp relief. Those blue spots from the picture on 7/18 were insane. Never seen anything like that.


----------



## Wile

@bf7 thanks man! it's really disheartening and funny watching all the dormant lawns around me and people watering at night with very little fungus damage. Yet mine, every year, has really high disease pressures. I didn't do as good of job keeping on my preventative game, but will try to finish strong. I'll grab some pictures of the back where it is really bad and post later. Bluebank is supposed to have really good dollar spot resistance. I'm wondering if that was what was unaffected?

I think I will run the sun joe through the yard this week and clear out some dead material.


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> @bf7 thanks man! it's really disheartening and funny watching all the dormant lawns around me and people watering at night with very little fungus damage. Yet mine, every year, has really high disease pressures. I didn't do as good of job keeping on my preventative game, but will try to finish strong. I'll grab some pictures of the back where it is really bad and post later. Bluebank is supposed to have really good dollar spot resistance. I'm wondering if that was what was unaffected?
> 
> I think I will run the sun joe through the yard this week and clear out some dead material.


You have raised some outstanding questions. I and likely many others have wondered the same things. I am so very careful to water- actually let it (dew)dry off in the morning so there is, what I call, a "moisture respite"; water at less than ideal (about 11:00 am-12:00 or so); I don't walk on anything that looks like fungus, nor mow on it if at all possible; I have thrown the two main fungicides, both in granular and then rotated in some liquid spray of same…and rewarded by dollar spot and powdery mildew (and maybe stem rust).
😱Go figure !


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile around here all I see is BP. Thankfully it's cooling down and staying dry (after tonight). I'm about 1-2 weeks out from spraying Xzemplar, I'll let you know how that does. I missed an Azoxystrobin app about a month and a half ago, which might have helped. I got an alert saying DS was at 62% today! Never seen it that high.


----------



## Wile

@bf7 forgot to mention the mycelium was more white and cottony. I think the grass made it look almost blue. Typically don't see DS like that in huge patches. So maybe another disease as well?

@lawn-wolverine I appreciate the support and feel your pains. I do know the trees in the back and the fences restrict airflow, but it seems breezy enough because our houses are pretty much in straight lines and there's not many mature trees otherwise. I think fungicides may somewhat reset balances in the soil temporarily. Because I was sick all of July and gone for the 4th it grew and I basically mashed the grass down and stressed it cutting it down from two inches. But I might still see how much a nematode test is just to rule anything else out. BP and DS can be aided by short waterings to knock down the mycelium. Was actually a little shocked to read that, but it was a university source. Granular fungicides can be spotty on effectiveness from understanding. I am seeing better recovery with the liquids and I may consider doubling the carrier volume to ensure a good coating next time. Hope your woes are short lived my friend!

@Jeff_MI84 yeah BP pressure is high. KBG is generally not very susceptible but my remaining rye and poor mowing practices may have been the causes. Funny you mentioned the DS alert. Got one from MSU that said 69% for our area today too! Good thing I went in heavy on the propi.


----------



## bf7

Crazy how much moisture those woods are trapping in. I assume your front yard is treated exactly the same and it still looks pristine.


----------



## Wile

bf7 said:


> Crazy how much moisture those woods are trapping in. I assume your front yard is treated exactly the same and it still looks pristine.


All the same and thank you for that. Couple caveats are the woods are West facing. They don't get as much sun as the front. The zones don't perfectly overlap but mostly do. So I cut the watering back a bit to a little over halfway (~.25" from each zone). It also gets more shady where coverage isn't as good. The front gets .4" of water but no overlaps of significance.


----------



## Wile

Figured out my blitz strategy last night and started today. Randomly sampled thatch levels in the front yard. To my surprise they are still pretty bad at about 1"-1.25". Root length looked good for the middle of summer around 5.5". I will attempt to spray 5.83oz/M of Blackstrap Molasses twice with my fungicide apps so it gets watered in well. I have some non-alcoholic beer taking up valuable space in the mini fridge that I can use as well. Grabbed the sun joe timeshare from my neighbors and will get to using that to clear the matted dead grass and thin the canopy some. Disease damage from mid July looks much better and almost fully recovered. Bunnies keep making it look worse. New damage does look better but slow to recover.

Spread .21bs/M 12-12-12 and .59lbs/M SOP blended together.

Tentative Blitz plan: Will put me at 5lbs of N on the season…that will give around 1-1.5lbs for the blitz.
3 apps 12-12-12 and SOP
7 apps of AMS at .07lbs/M with tnex and/or fungicides as needed
Remaining slow release should continue to release into November at ~.03lbs/M weekly
2 apps of Blackstrap Molasses


----------



## Wile

Got a nice mow in today. I'd like to start taking it down to a.5" soon. Cut at 3/4". Need to take care of some veldtgrass and spurge and some
Other weeds. Planning to reapply tnex tomorrow as well.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile its rebounding very nicely.


----------



## 606-Lawn

Rebound is coming in nice


----------



## Chris LI

Glad to see recovery is taking hold. I'm looking forward to see your fall N-blitz in action. :thumbup:


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Go, go, go ! Outstanding ! Inspiring…I need these pictures…thanks.&#129303;


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 @606-Lawn @Chris LI @lawn-wolverine Thanks ya'll! These cooler night temps are helping so much. The damage in the back looks tremendously better since yesterday even. Mid July damage is about 70% recovered. Late July still around 30%.

Mowed the collars down a bit today. Used some Weed B Gon spray on the spurge, but ran out. Hoping to drop some tnex and fas tonight.


----------



## ReelWILawn

this looks outstanding! And the back is recovering nicely.


----------



## Wile

Thanks @ReelWILawn! The back looks even better today. Hard to believe how much a little NPK and some cooler nights can help. DS alert said 12% probability, but I'm seeing mycelium cobwebs through the yard this morning. My plan is to keep on the fungicide rotation for a while yet.

Picture Taken Last Night 8/16:



Picture Taken This Morning (from a slightly different angle) 8/17:


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile what time of day is best to look for mycelium? I know I have fungus but never see it. Maybe it's easier with low cut turf?


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 I usually check in the morning. Dollar Spot is usually easier to see when there is dew present.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile thanks for the tip.


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 of course! For your reno keep an eye out for damping off. Usually when you leave things wet all night. Once the plant matures it shouldn't be susceptible, but early on it will be.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile good to know. I didn't get much rain today and didn't irrigate after. I'd say within a week I will start dialing back from 7:00pm as the last cycle of the evening.


----------



## Vtx531

Wow, I also noticed a big improvement with the weather lately on my own lawn and the entire neighborhood for that matter.


----------



## Wile

@Vtx531 thanks man! Most of the dormant lawns are already back. Crazy how fast that was after this hot of summer and virtually no rain.


----------



## bf7

What height are you keeping the collars? I can't get mine back below 2.5 now. The next lowest setting on my Honda is 2 and it scalps like crazy.


----------



## Wile

bf7 said:


> What height are you keeping the collars? I can't get mine back below 2.5 now. The next lowest setting on my Honda is 2 and it scalps like crazy.


I was keeping them at the 1" HOC setting on the Scotts Classic 20" Reel, but really that's probably 1.25"-1.5". This year I can't keep up with them and they were getting 6" of more tall. So, I set it at the highest setting on the lowest hole. I think that is around 2.5". Then my reel starts grinding a bit there is so much material coming off and such. I think the gear needs lube and the reel needs to be sharpened again. From there I try to knock them back down little by little to get to the 1.25" setting. TBH I'm probably around the 2.5" most of the time. They just grow fast. I may start mixing a heavier does of tnex to put on them. Haven't measured the area to know how many gallons I would need.


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile I bought this off Amazon to sharpen my push reel mower. I did the poor man's paper test with post it notes and it was a clean cut.

Your collars are what I'll be aiming for next year.


----------



## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 How much?


----------



## Jeff_MI84

@Wile $24.83, probably cheaper options.


----------



## Wile

I like the regulation the best so far at just around .4oz/M of tnex and the yard was ultra dark at 2oz of Ferrous Sulfate. Will hopefully get to applying my .1 of N, Blackstrap Molasses and Thiophanate Methyl tonight. I need to try and run the sunjoe through the worst parts of the yard as well. Damage in back looking better each week. Triple cut on 8/20 to get it back to an even cut. Bench height 11/16th.
8/18: Sprayed 
.4-.5oz/M Tnex
2oz/M FAS
2 tsp/M NIS


----------



## Wile

A little behind on my spraying. DS probability is back in the 40% range. Forgot to add the yeast/beer for the molasses.

Sprayed: 8/25
.07lbs/M of AS
1tsp/M CS
1tsp/M ZS
5.68oz/M Blackstrap Molasses
1.75oz/M Thiophanate-Methyl


----------



## Wile




----------



## Jeff_MI84

That collar is &#128293;.


----------



## Wile

Thank you @Jeff_MI84! They got mowed down and are no longer a safe space for the snakes! Man were they tall…

Seeing some fungal damage again in the front, and both side yards. Was late on/maybe too light on my TM app. May do another with my pgr to get the effective rate up a bit.

Dropped: expecting rain tonight
.213lbs/M 12-12-12
.59lbs/M SOP


----------



## bf7

Wile said:


>


Still catching up on journals after not checking for over a week. WOW - the way the collar lines up with the contours in the mulch beds. Me likey the curves.

Color is October caliber too.


----------



## Wile

@bf7 thanks man! That last FAS app made it look nice. I think it could use another. I don't know if it was intentional, but I'm getting Tommy Boy vibes from the "likey" comment haha.

Mowed some doubles. A pop-up thunderstorm should help my dollar spot pressure 👎 which is again destroying the yard. I think I will mix Thiophanate-Methyl and Propiconazole going forward for better efficacy and can spray both more often and at lower rates potentially.


----------



## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> @bf7 thanks man! That last FAS app made it look nice. I think it could use another. I don't know if it was intentional, but I'm getting Tommy Boy vibes from the "likey" comment haha.
> 
> Mowed some doubles. A pop-up thunderstorm should help my dollar spot pressure 👎 which is again destroying the yard. I think I will mix Thiophanate-Methyl and Propiconazole going forward for better efficacy and can spray both more often and at lower rates potentially.


Well "Holy schnikes !"😎


----------



## Wile

lawn-wolverine said:


> Well "Holy schnikes !"😎


Haha! A Tommy Boy theme works even better since my little one got stung by a wasp today. "Bees, bees in the car!"


----------



## Wile

Need to get some PGR and FAS down tonight. Moved watering to every 3 days as daily fret is low this week. Disease damage looked slowed this morning. DS pressure has been in the 40% range for a week or more. Will change to a higher app rate of N to repair damage.

Sprayed: Windy last night but air induction nozzle worked well. There was a foamy precipitate that was not compatible or I mixed in the wrong order.
1oz/M Propi 
1oz/M TM 4.5
.21lbs/M AMS (watered in) 
6-7oz/M of blackstrap molasses 
1 beer per tank


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## lawn-wolverine

Wile said:


> Need to get some PGR and FAS down tonight. Moved watering to every 3 days as daily fret is low this week. Disease damage looked slowed this morning. DS pressure has been in the 40% range for a week or more. Will change to a higher app rate of N to repair damage.
> 
> Sprayed: Windy last night but air induction nozzle worked well. There was a foamy precipitate that was not compatible or I mixed in the wrong order.
> 1oz/M Propi
> 1oz/M TM 4.5
> .21lbs/M AMS (watered in)
> 6-7oz/M of blackstrap molasses
> 1 beer per tank


It just warms my ❤to see great effort!, and &#129781;🏼you are exerting great effort. Much respect!!


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## Wile

Thanks @lawn-wolverine I feel like I'm slacking. Lately I'm just being realistic about what I can actually accomplish.

No PGR. Double cut today, but need cross cuts to even it out.
Spread: .213lbs/M of NPK 12-12-12 and .59lbs/M of my remaining SOP. Now it's straight N from here. Next will try to get all SOP down before labor day.

DS damage still spread more, but seems to be filling back in other areas where damage was worse. The back is almost completely healed. Due to the new construction in the woods a mole is really digging in the backyard. With the water going off tomorrow, I'll use the mower to push the tunnels down.


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## ReelWILawn

Not sure how I missed the last update, but everything is really looking good :thumbup:


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## Wile

Thanks @ReelWILawn! It needs some iron. Maybe I can get that in tomorrow and try to mow again every couple days until it's evened out more. Are you still running a pgr?


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## ReelWILawn

No I am not running PGR at the moment. I timed my applications for the lawn to rebound just as I was starting to sand level. I might reevaluate in the next couple of weeks


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## Wile

@ReelWILawn makes sense...should have caught up on your journal before I asked haha.

Mowed down to .625" today at an angle. The mower was bouncing around against the grain and did help even out the areas that are too long and not cutting well. I'm going to try to keep up every couple days to get it closer to .5". I will shoot for some foliar N and Fe soon. Soil temps and air temps look very cool next week. Estimating both in the 50's (soil) and 60's (air).

Starting thinking about my next year plans. Still thinking it would be easier to move to a granular AS and SOP spoon feed, but considering some MESA if I can find the right price on it.


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## ReelWILawn

Not a problem, but speaking about PGRs I am thinking about re applying. The grass is really starting to take off again.

What's your sprayer setup? I found for small spoon feeding schedules late spring - summer low rates of N usually mixed with other items and sprayed produced some pretty good results. I've also used granular MESA products from Lebanon Turf this summer as well and that seemed to work well too. Personal preference, I don't like to use a lot of slow release product because when and how it releases I have little to no control over. For fall apps I am planning to use mostly granular AS for it's quick response and my soil pH is +7


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## Wile

@ReelWILawn Good insights. I will probably spray some pgr and fas tonight too. I want get the HOC down some more. I have a higher pH soil as well at 7.3 and I'm trying to reduce it, but next year I might be closer to 7.1 (guessing) so spoon feeding AS should work. The Echo RB60 does such a good job of spreading fertilizer far and fast that it would be really efficient for me to still do a spoon feed approach on ~11250sq ft if I can find matching SGN for a reasonable price. I don't like the slow release approach sometimes either because of the randomness of release. Also, I want to run something like a power rake over it I worried I might hit prills or pull them up sometimes. Further limiting what I can do when I want to/need to do it.

Spraying can be efficient as well, but it's pretty time consuming to weigh everything. Plan for which things can be watered in and which cannot. I might limit it more next year. My wife got me the 40v Ryobi 4g Backpack sprayer which has performed fine for my needs so far. I was debating getting a 12g push or making one if I could find the lesco base. Carrier volume is a problem for me with the already 3 fill ups per spray.

I'm thinking I will get 200# of AS and 100# of SOP and mix it together in a ~1:2 ratio of N:K. Drop that April to August. Use the remaining N for my blitz and then spray .1lbs of my spray grade AMS when root uptake starts slowing in late September-October (maybe through Nov). That would put me around 4lbs of N in year two which I may bump up to 4.5lbs of N if it really needs it.


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## Wile

Well, happy fall. Really cool weather this week and next. Even my preset schedule with wyze didn't go off Friday. I have no skips set yet it said the rain sensor skipped it. Very frustrating as the yard needs water. Getting some fert and fungicide down tonight finally. Seeing new damage again. Cut today at .625" and knocked the collars back down.





Spraying: Weed B Gon on the spurge and crabgrass. 
.21lbs/M AMS
.01lbs/M Zinc Sulfate
.01lbs/M Copper Sulfate
5.3oz/M TM 4.5

Edit: The Zinc and copper seem to be complexing together. I need to try using a warm or hot water to see if it dissolves better.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile looks like our lack of rain will be solved the next few days. I applied fungicide tonight as well. If you didn't live on the other side of the mitten, I'd split my Xzemplar with you. I just opened it and still have 11oz left. Then again, next time you're in your old stomping grounds, hit me up.

I don't think I'll form any collars until we get some decent growth in the spring.


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## Wile

Sweet man! Great idea splitting this stuff. Super expensive. I need to figure out my rotation for next year. I saw we are getting many days of rain which made me want to hurry on that fungicide.

I think it took me a bit to get the collars going in the spring. By May they started looking pretty defined. They are going to look sweet! When are you getting the McLane on it?


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile I figure it is good to add another fungicide for DS and BP. To give you an idea, if I apply it at the .21oz/ 1K rate (for DS) on my whole 4,556sqft I would use .96oz. So I can apply it 5 times and use only 4.8oz. That's roughly less than half a bottle.

I think Cleary's 3336 does okay, not as good as Propiconazole (at least on my lawn). Today I bought Fame. According to the label it covers DS, LS, MO, RT and BP. So at the least it's another Group 11 for the rotation. Next year I need to tighten up my applications, especially in the back.


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## garlicrainbow

I'm new here, but I just wanted to say I love your lawn @Wile, in particular the higher border you left around the edges. Did you do anything special for that or just mow it higher?


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## Wile

@garlicrainbow thank you! I use a manual reel mower on the taller stuff. Sometimes it gets too tall that I end up knocking it back with a string trimmer before putting the manual reel on it. I’m debating getting a rotary so it might be a little less work to maintain. I usually like keeping it lower than I have been able too this year.


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## Wile

I noticed, with a flashlight, you can really see the poa annua at night. Several spots lit up differently at night with my headlamp on. Going to dig those and a triv spot up tomorrow.

Sprayed:
FAS 2oz/M (dash of CA)
.25-.35oz/M tnex
NIS 1tsp/g


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## Wile

Sprinklers get turned off Sunday so I figured I would get down one more preventative fungicide and nitrogen app. That should get me to Halloween without issues. That may be my last fert till Halloween where I will do another FAS then. I need to sand cap heavy next year as rhere is a lot of thatch and rifling happening. Mowed down to .625” and the height looks great. The quality of cut is still not very even. I did spot level some areas with big dips and that helped. I may do a spring “scalp” to hopefully get the heights back to normal.

Sprayed:
.21lbs/M AMS
2oz/M

Here’s some pictures from the last week or so.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile can’t even tell there was ever all that DS.


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## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 thanks man. Its still there but its filling back in. The back is almost fully back too even with the DS and SP damage. The front has some artificial tan lines, but it’s blending.


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## Wile

Mowed yesterday. We keep getting several days of rain followed by some windy dry spells. Yard has good color, but few spots look like they need fertilizer and there is some possible rabbit damage. Although seeing the same exact thing on Jeff's post that is making me question if its disease. It doesn't seem likely where it is located and the fact that I did 2oz of propi just a week ago. Noticed some tree roots popping up around the playset. I may end up mulching that area or using a manual reel on it in the future. There's too much shade to be cutting so low.


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## ReelWILawn

what are you using for your outdoor cams? It's something I would like to add to our home, but I am not sure where to start.

congrats on the previous nomination for LOTM!


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## Wile

@ReelWILawn there's so many choices, but I started with the Wyze Cam v2's indoors and liked them so much that I then went all in on the Wyze Cam v3. The V3's do really well in low light conditions and are still pretty cheap. The downside is they need to be plugged in and there isn't a PoE option. So, we had an electrician put some power outlets in the eaves so I can plug those in and some holiday lights. They have some battery powered options too, but I'm not a huge fan with our winters and putting battery powered objects up high where they need to be recharged.

Thanks btw! It's a huge honor. It kept me going through the end of the season.


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## spaceman_spiff

The putting green/rough style you went for looks really good.


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## Wile

@spaceman_spiff thank you! born out of laziness really, but I like the aesthetics. Next year I'm thinking I will try to maintain them with the JD instead of the manual reel. It's hard to keep up the roughs since they have so much leaf tissue and just grow way faster.


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## Wile

Mowed against the grain today and the grass has barely grown. We are getting about 4 days of low 70’s weather and night time highs within dollar spot range. I hope to burn in my doubles a little more before Halloween. Also, would like to do some iron and N. Pics in the mid-day sun kind of wash out the stripes and color. Very happy with the evenness of the cut at 5/8”.


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## Jeff_MI84

That collar on the front of your house is so nice looking now. Just one pass with the Scott’s right?


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## ReelWILawn

5/8ths looks amazing! I always struggle this time of the year with mowing patterns as the grass has a hard time growing out of the prevoius cut.


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## Wile

@Jeff_MI84 Thanks. I like them better at this lower height, but couldn't keep up on them this year with the new baby, sickness, etc. I started at the "high" setting on the bottom hole of the Scott's Classic. Then moved it to the low setting. I usually go over them a couple times in different directions to event out the waffling. But I did the fronts a week or two ago and they did not grow much since then. The sides were really bad. I'm considering get another push reel or something next year to take them down to lower height and create more of fringe transition into the roughs in the heavy shaded areas.

@ReelWILawn Thanks, I like it too. I have to deal with my thatch issues (in the front) and probably do a heavy sand top dressing next year. Then, I think the lower HOC is going to really shine. But these mowers tend to do so much better cutting at those lower heights. I might take it down to .5" next year as I am still pretty happy with the color and look. Did you decide on any cameras? I saw Wyze released their Cam V3 Pro now too.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile you should look into the Earthwise push reel. Doesn’t bounce as much as the Scott’s. Replace the plastic roller with one of those conveyor rollers.


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## bf7

Are you still dealing with DS? I haven't needed any fungicides since August.


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## Wile

bf7 said:


> Are you still dealing with DS? I haven't needed any fungicides since August.


Negative ghost rider. But this time last year it was so warm that I had another outbreak right before Halloween and I was very annoyed. My last round went down a couple weeks ago more as a make it to the end of season kind of insurance. Also, slowed the growth way down early so I could work on getting the HOC more even.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile do you spray anything to help prevent/ lessen snow mold?


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## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile do you spray anything to help prevent/ lessen snow mold?


I don’t usually get the chance. It’s nasty by the time I would consider doing it later Nov/Dec and no way of watering it in. It seemed too short lived in the spring to worry about. Plus if you get your K down before ~Labor Day you shouldn’t be adding to your issues as much. What are you planning to do?


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile I’m sure you’ll see first snowfall before I do and not just a dusting either. I’d like to spray, but unless there’s rain in the forecast, probably not. Just trying to time it before snow cover seems like a very precise timing.


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## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile I’m sure you’ll see first snowfall before I do and not just a dusting either. I’d like to spray, but unless there’s rain in the forecast, probably not. Just trying to time it before snow cover seems like a very precise timing.


Some systemics will still get into the leaf and translocate throughout the plant, but it won't be as effective as getting it watered in with the roots taking it up. If you get your spray mix down between a 5-6pH it should give you a longer window to let rain water it in some and if not get hoses on it. You can double your carrier volume and there is some evidence showing more carrier volume is better than watering in and spraying a smaller volume. Dragging hoses is never fun. IDK about the snow thing. We used to get it before you guys, but in recent years I'm seeing it skip us and hit Detroit more. I guess we still get more on average though.


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## Wile

Well, wanted to mow once more but life has been busy. Got our first bit of snow after 70 degree weather and now it’s getting into freezing range. Yard hasn’t gotten any fert since early October. 

Her picks from Nov 6:














Nov: 12th


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile how much accumulation did you get over there?


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## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile how much accumulation did you get over there?


It looked like 2". Really wet stuff, but all melted by the afternoon. Kids enjoyed it and the lawn looked great afterwards. It was so dry. How much did you get?


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## Jeff_MI84

Wow. About .11”, but it was mostly rain, nothing stuck.


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## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> Wow. About .11”, but it was mostly rain, nothing stuck.


We're getting more right now and it's looking like an 1" or 2". I guess I should run the gas out of the mower and get the snow blower going. One nice thing about short grass is it usually melts faster compared to my neighbors. Probably helps with snow mold.


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## Wile

Happy New Year! I took a mental break from the yard for bit. Definitely busy working inside now. After about 15” of snow I noticed some cottony spores and damage from the plow. Getting some yard markers out today to make sure they back up a bit. Color is really holding on compared to my neighbors that didn’t fertilize. Poa annua “farm” going swell. Will need to take care of that in the spring and plug.


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile that’s a lot of snow, I don’t think I had close to 2”. More rain than snow lately. Reflective poles would definitely be a good idea to have on hand. The color still looks great for now.


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## Wile

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @Wile that’s a lot of snow, I don’t think I had close to 2”. More rain than snow lately. Reflective poles would definitely be a good idea to have on hand. The color still looks great for now.


It wasn't the "storm of the century" like they predicted. All my poles were broken and I didn't bother putting these out until now since we never had an issue before. But new plow service this year. Color is not bad considering no fertilizer since early October.


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## Green

Is that snow mold on the still-green lawn?!

Looks like plow is working against you.


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## Wile

Green said:


> Is that snow mold on the still-green lawn?!
> 
> Looks like plow is working against you.


I think so. But it does not seemed to be impacted by it. Snow wasn’t even on there that long. Got my posts in so hopefully no more mishaps by Mr. Plow. Although they might be doing me a favor because I have terrible thatch in those sections and I’m trying to decide on my strategy. How’s weather your way?


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## Jeff_MI84

@Wile It probably doesn’t help having a lower curb when it comes to plows. But it sounds like a good excuse to get sand leveling done in that area.


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## Green

Wile said:


> I think so. But it does not seemed to be impacted by it. Snow wasn’t even on there that long. Got my posts in so hopefully no more mishaps by Mr. Plow. Although they might be doing me a favor because I have terrible thatch in those sections and I’m trying to decide on my strategy. How’s weather your way?


We had a fairly cold second half of November and most of December. Now, at least the first half of January is warmer than normal. But lawns are not holding good color here (which seems to be typical...they just don't seem to). I do see a patch or two that's doing better, and will have to see what type of grass it is.


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