# AMS question



## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

I'm going to switch over to AMS this fall for my spoon feedings on the fall blitz/overseeding. The last few years I've been spraying .30 lbs per gallon/1k sq ft of UREA in my spreader mate weekly/biweekly. What is an effective and safe rate of AMS to spray per 1k? I understand that AMS isn't as forgiving to burning as urea is.


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## JERSEY (Sep 9, 2018)

when I spray, I use 2oz per gal/1000sqft


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> I'm going to switch over to AMS this fall for my spoon feedings on the fall blitz/overseeding. The last few years I've been spraying .30 lbs per gallon/1k sq ft of UREA in my spreader mate weekly/biweekly. What is an effective and safe rate of AMS to spray per 1k? I understand that AMS isn't as forgiving to burning as urea is.


You're not talking about FAS, right? With FAS the AMS is just a low-rate kicker. If you're looking to straight up feed it with ams I've done 1/2# ams per 1000 without issue in cooler weather.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

corneliani said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > I'm going to switch over to AMS this fall for my spoon feedings on the fall blitz/overseeding. The last few years I've been spraying .30 lbs per gallon/1k sq ft of UREA in my spreader mate weekly/biweekly. What is an effective and safe rate of AMS to spray per 1k? I understand that AMS isn't as forgiving to burning as urea is.
> ...


Yes that's correct, I'm looking to transition over from spraying urea at .30 lbs per 1k square ft for weekly spoon feedings to AMS.

So spraying .5 lbs should be safe even if I run into a little overlap?


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> corneliani said:
> 
> 
> > Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> ...


Sorry, I had a brain fart .. 1#of ams is 1/4#N, not 1/2# as I typed above. That's as high as I've sprayed, 1# AMS/1000. I may try to push those limits this fall myself, but wouldn't try it without accessible irrigation.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

corneliani said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
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> 
> > corneliani said:
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Got it, thanks for clarifying. Im actually surprised, I thought it would be much less than 1# per 1k sq ft. I've been applying much less with UREA, granted yes urea is 46-0-0 vs AMS @ 21-0-0. I'm glad I asked because I was thinking of spraying much less because I've read about AMS being more prevalent to burning than UREA.

I might do .75# for starts. What is your HOC?


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## farfetched (6 mo ago)

I'm way up north, but I sprayed 1# of AMS per 1K six weeks in a row starting in June and never had any issues. Every other spray was with 2 oz per 1k of iron sulfate too. I did water-in within 8 hours or less. My pH is high and iron very low though. 3 to 2.5 in HOC on KBG.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

farfetched said:


> I'm way up north, but I sprayed 1# of AMS per 1K six weeks in a row starting in June and never had any issues. Every other spray was with 2 oz per 1k of iron sulfate too. I did water-in within 8 hours or less. My pH is high and iron very low though. 3 to 2.5 in HOC on KBG.


Thanks great, thanks for sharing your experience! I typically spray urea in the afternoon or evening, let it sit overnight and have the irrigation hose it off the blades in the am.

My ph is relatively stable. Between 6.2-6.4
I'm just looking for that extra pop this fall with the color. Seems that there is a general consensus that AMS does that better than urea.


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## farfetched (6 mo ago)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> Thanks great, thanks for sharing your experience! I typically spray urea in the afternoon or evening, let it sit overnight and have the irrigation hose it off the blades in the am.
> 
> My ph is relatively stable. Between 6.2-6.4
> I'm just looking for that extra pop this fall with the color. Seems that there is a general consensus that AMS does that better than urea.


Your pH is a bit on the lower side so personally I'd probably stick with urea for your situation. Color response is influenced by pH for sure, but I'm no authority on the matter. Have you had a soil test with very low sulfur? If so, maybe AMS could help with color by adding sulfur even though it'll lower your pH undesirably. I like to spray urea the same way you do and it might be of a greater benefit that .3 #s of N with urea can be safely applied vs .2 #s of N with AMS.

pH measurements can be inaccurate as well so all theory aside, maybe AMS is indeed better for you and there's only one way to find out! Hell, I would prefer to blitz this summer and fall with only AMS because of my high pH and very low sulfur, but I couldn't source enough of it so I'm going with a YaraVera AMIDAS 40-0-0 which is a blend of mostly urea and a little AMS. I've started putting down .5 #s of N a week in granular form and plan to do it the rest of the season.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

farfetched said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks great, thanks for sharing your experience! I typically spray urea in the afternoon or evening, let it sit overnight and have the irrigation hose it off the blades in the am.
> ...


Yes sulfur is not terribly low but it's lower than the optimal range, the AMS mAy help with that. Living in New England, the ph will always be a battle, due to the acidic soils. I did apply lime this spring, not massive amount but enough to hopefully move the needle closer to 6.5.

I have both urea and AMS so I'm going to give it a run this fall and see if there's any difference.


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