# Rhizing Moon TTTF



## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Anyone have experience with this cultivar? Based on the NTEP data, I think Rhizing Moon has impressive ratings (particularly in genetic color, leaf texture, and disease tolerance), but I can't find much discussion around it. I'm looking at possibly this and 4th Millennium for a fall reno to go 100% tall fescue.

Thanks!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

I have it in a mix I made in my back yard. My mix is
25% Rhizing Moon
25% Titanium LS
25% Valkyrie LS
25% Regenerate
They all blend pretty well and I do get some rhizome activity, although that could be the Titanium or Valkyrie.

I ordered Rhizing Moon from Hearne Seed and the rest from seedsuperstore.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Current state:

Been cutting at 1.75" so far this season. About to start letting it grow tall, though - did a milo app earlier. The color is pretty good already IMO, but it should be fantastic in 10-14 days when it's an inch taller and well-fed.

Assuming I remember I can put up another pic then.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> Current state:
> 
> Been cutting at 1.75" so far this season. About to start letting it grow tall, though - did a milo app earlier. The color is pretty good already IMO, but it should be fantastic in 10-14 days when it's an inch taller and well-fed.
> 
> Assuming I remember I can put up another pic then.


Looks good! Just curious, what made you choose Rhizing Moon for your blend? And do you know if it's 0% weed seed / other crop?

I've been battling some red thread (probably from all the evening watering I did last fall combined with a 4" HOC - it pains me to cut it short). Stocking up on fungicides. I like Rhizing Moon's red thread ratings. I also considered Regenerate, but I was surprised to see it came in dead last for red thread resistance.

4th Millennium appears to be a beast in pretty much every category. I may be (attempting) a monostand with either one of these cultivars, or perhaps blending them. I also ordered samples from Hearne Seed and SSS to evaluate growth habit / germination speed / density / etc. before I make the decision. Will probably post pics on here. One of my goals is to see more uniform growth, which I'm not currently getting from my northern mix.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

My original mix was 3 varieties - Rhizing Moon, Titanium, and Regenerate. They're all pretty dark, and all on the "A-List" which is supposedly a nod to them needing lower watering. I added Valkyrie to have some extra shade tolerance.

Rhizome potential was the most important feature for what I wanted. Low-input was a close second.

The 50lb bag I got was DLF-bagged and the tag did specify 0% weed seed. I want to say it was 99.5% seed and 0.5% inert matter or something like that.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> My original mix was 3 varieties - Rhizing Moon, Titanium, and Regenerate. They're all pretty dark, and all on the "A-List" which is supposedly a nod to them needing lower watering. I added Valkyrie to have some extra shade tolerance.
> 
> Rhizome potential was the most important feature for what I wanted. Low-input was a close second.
> 
> The 50lb bag I got was DLF-bagged and the tag did specify 0% weed seed. I want to say it was 99.5% seed and 0.5% inert matter or something like that.


Nice. I'm really curious if I'll be able to see the rhizome activity in TTTF. Glad it's working out for you.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

If you're planning a small monostand with the sample I'll be interested to hear what you find. I have a suspicion that RM is responsible for the larger rhizomes I've seen... I think DLF used to have a rhizomatous variety called Rhizing Star, and that R.Moon is an improved cultivar of that.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> If you're planning a small monostand with the sample I'll be interested to hear what you find. I have a suspicion that RM is responsible for the larger rhizomes I've seen... I think DLF used to have a rhizomatous variety called Rhizing Star, and that R.Moon is an improved cultivar of that.


Definitely. I'm planning to set up mini stands in pots with the above varieties and possibly other fescues (by themselves and together). Will post results here.

Spreading capability isn't one of my bigger priorities, mainly because I strangely enjoy getting out there and fixing the bare spots, but I guess it's gravy.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

I have no problem filling bare spots either - part of the fun of the hobby. &#128077; 
I would hope, though, that some better potential for spreading translates into a thicker turf with better weed suppression.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Carlson said:


> I have no problem filling bare spots either - part of the fun of the hobby. 👍
> I would hope, though, that some better potential for spreading translates into a thicker turf with better weed suppression.


All good points!


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

bf7 said:


> Carlson said:
> 
> 
> > I have no problem filling bare spots either - part of the fun of the hobby. 👍
> ...


Any recent photos of the RM turf stand? How did it fair this year?


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> bf7 said:
> 
> 
> > Carlson said:
> ...


Considering I didn't have irrigation until a couple weeks ago, it didn't do too badly. I'm going to be doing an overseeding tomorrow out there.


Lots of disruption from that patio & irrigation going in this year, so it doesn't look picture-perfect at the moment. I will say the middle of that open area in back is as dense as well-maintained kbg.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Carlson said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > bf7 said:
> ...


With all that being said, that looks great! The fact is handled summer with irrigation, it should really take off now that you'll be able to cater it with the irrigation.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Today's overseed should help too! I busted out the slice seeder and put 60lb down on the bare areas, a new section I stole from a garden bed, and as a general overseeding.

3-4 weeks from now it's going to look amazing... assuming we don't get a torrential rain just because I seeded anyway...


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

@Carlson How did this overseed end up? How did the Rhizing Moon hold up this summer? I had originally planned on putting RM out in my heavily shaded back yard and putting Titan RX up front where the sun is beating on it for much of the day, but am thinking about flipping them and putting the RM up front and the RX out back. I'm in MetroWest - not sure where in MA you are. The previous pictures you posted look great.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

thin_concrete said:


> @Carlson How did this overseed end up? How did the Rhizing Moon hold up this summer? I had originally planned on putting RM out in my heavily shaded back yard and putting Titan RX up front where the sun is beating on it for much of the day, but am thinking about flipping them and putting the RM up front and the RX out back. I'm in MetroWest - not sure where in MA you are. The previous pictures you posted look great.


Glad you bought this up. Along with other cultivars, my biggest cultivar that overseeded with was RM. I put out a post a month or so back and didn't get a response to it regarding the RM outcomes.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

@thin_concrete @Scagfreedom48z+ Sorry gents - haven't been on consistently lately!

Overall it is holding up quite well. I didn't really have more than a few spots go dormant - the only major problem has been pythium blight out front which I have managed to knock back by rotating azoxystrobin and fosetyl-al.

Here's a pic of the back yard from August 10th


Density/color shot from July 30th.


Had it not been for a misstep with tenacity in the spring I probably wouldn't even be overseeding this fall - as it stands I only really need to overseed maybe 20% of my yard. This year my blend is 1/3 RM, 1/3 Titanium, and 1/3 Valkyrie.


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Current state of my pythium disaster out front. For reference. I know a lot of folks have had hot & dry summers - here it's been hot and humid.

I will say it is coming back pretty nicely compared to a couple weeks ago...


Close-up you can see individual plants coming back and with a few mows plus some N we may not even need to add seed up here. I just wish I had figured out earlier that propiconazole does nothing for pythium.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Carlson said:


> Current state of my pythium disaster out front. For reference. I know a lot of folks have had hot & dry summers - here it's been hot and humid.
> 
> I will say it is coming back pretty nicely compared to a couple weeks ago...
> 
> ...


sorry to see that man, PB hit you hard there.
The rest of your turf looks great, thick and the color is look great for the first year. Thanks for the update


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

Thanks man. The front gets more shade than the back and coupled with this summer's weather it has been tough.

There are a number of oak trees along the front yard that I plan to have a word with over the winter when the ground is frozen and can have a crane in the yard hahaha


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

Thanks for posting, @Carlson - it's greatly appreciated. I appreciate you mentioning that Prop does nothing for PB too. I'm going to have to look at Fosetyl-AL this weekend, not to mention other fungicides. I have Prop, Azoxy, and Clearys on hand, but would like to have a better arsenal for next spring/summer if possible.

The lawn looks great though. Thanks again.


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## SherlocksAttic (Nov 7, 2021)

Carlson said:


> @thin_concrete @Scagfreedom48z+ Sorry gents - haven't been on consistently lately!
> 
> Overall it is holding up quite well. I didn't really have more than a few spots go dormant - the only major problem has been pythium blight out front which I have managed to knock back by rotating azoxystrobin and fosetyl-al.
> 
> ...


What did you mean by "misstep"? Mesotrione should play very well with these grasses?


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## SherlocksAttic (Nov 7, 2021)

Doing full lawn Reno with mono stand of Rhizing moon. Will be the second property I've done this with.

There's one or two areas of severe shade and I've mixed in some ultra shaded tolerant rye, but it's mostly RM


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

No pics, but mine has come in nicely. I'm very happy with it and may eventually redo the lawn with an RM monostand. The Titan is great, but it isn't the deep green the Rhizing Moon is so parts of my lawn look splotchy. It's not that bad, but I notice it. My wife and neighbors don't (or they're being nice), but I can see it.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Anyone have a Rhizing Moon monostand?


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

bf7 said:


> Anyone have a Rhizing Moon monostand?


I believe the person 2 posts up has what's substantially a monostand.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@bf7 i put down 4th Millenium this fall and it looks really good.


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

@thin_concrete how did I miss that? LOL

@SherlocksAttic looks great! Your other property was RM as well?

@Jeff_MI84 4th M is very nice too. I did testing over both cultivars. Is yours a mono?


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@bf7 someone on here advised against doing a TTTF monostand, as different varieties mixed together would reduce the chance of the lawn getting hit hard with a fungus and not being able to repair as easily, if at all. I mixed the 4th Millenium with Valkyrie and Mazama, with the first two mentioned along with GTO elsewhere.


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @bf7 someone on here advised against doing a TTTF monostand, as different varieties mixed together would reduce the chance of the lawn getting hit hard with a fungus and not being able to repair as easily, if at all. I mixed the 4th Millenium with Valkyrie and Mazama, with the first two mentioned along with GTO elsewhere.


That's what would hold me back from doing a monostand - the ability to diversify and protect against common ailments. That said, I feel like Rhizing Moon and Titan RX are so close that I'm not sure I'm getting any real protection. This coming spring and summer will be hard for sure. I just have to get out and be aggressive from the start against fungus and other issues.

I've loaded up on Mefenoxam, Azoxy, Clearys, and Propicanizole, and have a calendar reminder to get some Fosentyl before spring next year. I also have some granular Subdue to put down at regular intervals early. Does anyone know if fungus pressure decreases over time?


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

That's one reason I did a blend as well. Though with kbg, I hear that the fear of disease wiping out a monostand is a little overblown. In reality it's not that bad. I'm less familiar with TTTF.


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

What I noticed with KBG is disease pressure is less than with TTTF. A mono KBG I would not fear trying. TTTF I noticed in my area is non stop disease pressure and doing a mono is dangerous. I did a summer TTTF mono stand it was a challenge to say the least non stop disease battle the whole season.


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## thin_concrete (Sep 11, 2020)

M32075 said:


> What I noticed with KBG is disease pressure is less than with TTTF. A mono KBG I would not fear trying. TTTF I noticed in my area is non stop disease pressure and doing a mono is dangerous. I did a summer TTTF mono stand it was a challenge to say the least non stop disease battle the whole season.


I'm going to give it the ol' college try but this has been the one concern I had with TTTF. However, some of those concerns are tempered because TTTF generally requires less water, greens up a bit faster, and the two strands I used were rhizomatic. I have no expectations that the rhizome activity will be anywhere near that of a KBG cultivar.

I did have a small issue with PB at the end of October before the temperatures came down to seasonal levels, but that was quickly addressed with Mefenoxam and Azoxy. Worst comes to worst I will nuke the lawn and start over with KBG, but I like the way it has come in so far.


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## Big Boy Stan (Aug 27, 2020)

I did a a monostand of 4th Millenium last fall (Sept 2020) on my small (1K) front yard. It performed well all summer and looks great. Growth was very even so that it looked tidy even between mows. No sign of disease (knock wood). I do get full sun and have irrigation. Very happy with it after one year. Below is a pic from last week


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## bf7 (May 11, 2020)

Big Boy Stan said:


> I did a a monostand of 4th Millenium last fall (Sept 2020) on my small (1K) front yard. It performed well all summer and looks great. Growth was very even so that it looked tidy even between mows. No sign of disease (knock wood). I do get full sun and have irrigation. Very happy with it after one year. Below is a pic from last week


That looks great - DARK!


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## Carlson (Apr 16, 2020)

SherlocksAttic said:


> Carlson said:
> 
> 
> > @thin_concrete @Scagfreedom48z+ Sorry gents - haven't been on consistently lately!
> ...


I was finishing a bottle and used a measuring cup for the last bit plus the start of a new one. My brain had the number 6 in it - meant to use 6 teaspoons, used 6 ounces.


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