# What Fertilizer Are You Using?



## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

I'm thinking about trying out different fertilizers this season and was wondering what everyone is using? Last season I exclusively used urea (46-0-0) and while I got good results, it seems it could be better. Almost like I am missing something. I do a soil sample every year in early spring after last season's products are moved through the soil and before I put any new product down. The soil is balanced and my pH is at exactly 7.0 so I do not perceive a need for anything beyond N and perhaps a little sulfur in order to help drive down that pH somewhat. I am considering a switch to AS and wondering what others that use it results are? My neighbor does his own lawn as well and he swears he only uses Scotts Turf Builder and he gets great results. I think he uses a little something more but won't divulge the secret. Anyone else using Turf Builder with good results? Thanks.

G


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

You can always look into ammonium sulfate or a type of coated slow release nitrogen.

This is usually whats in scotts turf builder, got the info from another forum.

32-0-4
Total Nitrogen 32%
Ammoniacal Nitrogen 4.9%
Urea Nitrogen 15.1%
Other water soluble nitrogen 11%
Water insoluble nitrogen 1.0%

Soluble Potash K, O 4%
Sulfur 7%
7.0% Combined Sulfur
Iron Fe 2%
0.02% water soluble iron
Derived from Methylurea, Urea, Potassium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate, Iron Sucrolate

Contains 9% slowly released nitrogen from methylamoniumurea, dimethylamonniumurea, and water insoluble nitrogen


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## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

I am looking at these. Looks like the Turf Builder uses _some_ AS but a larger percentage of urea. What are you using and what are the results?


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## Fraust (Apr 4, 2021)

Just curious, but when you say your results "could be better" what exactly are you looking for? Darker green? Denser stand? Faster or more manageable growth?


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## Bkeller500 (Jul 2, 2018)

I would want to know it your grass is the same as your neighbors grass? I assume you have a KB blend but your's and his may be different blends and may never look the same. Do you water as frequently as he does? Do you get the same amount of sunlight? Is it possible he is adding a Iron supplement? Do you cut at the same height?


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## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

Fraust said:


> Just curious, but when you say your results "could be better" what exactly are you looking for? Darker green? Denser stand? Faster or more manageable growth?


Yes. Darker green, better spread. Primarily darker green. Oddly, this year with urea I just felt like it didn't push top growth like I have in the past. Previously, I was using a lesco 21-0-21 75% slow release plus 2% FE due to a K deficiency with some Scott's mixed in and it just seemed like I was bagging mad clippings (when I bagged). Now, not so much but I would say spread is much better.


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## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

Bkeller500 said:


> I would want to know it your grass is the same as your neighbors grass? I assume you have a KB blend but your's and his may be different blends and may never look the same. Do you water as frequently as he does? Do you get the same amount of sunlight? Is it possible he is adding a Iron supplement? Do you cut at the same height?


This is kind of the conclusion I'm going to. We are both kbg. His is a lot older and more established than mine. I am wondering if these newer cultivars aren't true kbg but a kbg/tttf hybrid resulting in a lighter green color no matter what I do. If anything, I water more than he does. He's a tight wad. We cut pretty much at identical heights(high: 3.5-4") and I think it may be coming down to the iron supplement. If he does, he mixes it with his fert apps and it's completely granular. I just can't seem to get a dark pop from granular iron @ 7 pH. Maybe his is lower? But how?


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## robjak (Mar 31, 2020)

How low is your K deficiency? When was your last soil test? When you were using Urea, what were you using for iron?


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## macattack (Nov 2, 2020)

I use mainly the Menards brand fertilizers, and some Jonathan Greene products. I stopped using Scotts as its too expensive, and they don't make what i tailor my program with. Seems much easier to use than the Vigoro products. The Anderson products look good. May also look at the Yard Mastery line for an item to try.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Obi Lawn Kenobi said:


> I am looking at these. Looks like the Turf Builder uses _some_ AS but a larger percentage of urea. What are you using and what are the results?


The ammonium sulfate is what gives it the fast kick of dark green. Ammonium sulfate is not easy to get affordably in my area from turf suppliers or garden centers or hardware stores, so we tend not to use it exclusively as much as people in some areas do. Plus, we have acidic soils here generally, and AMS increases the issue if used in large amounts.

But as you noted, many fertilizers do include it as a smaller component. There is a real performance boost realized from having such a blend. I've always seen better results when some AMS is included along with urea.

The reason? AMS is immediately available right after it gets watered in.


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## Bkeller500 (Jul 2, 2018)

Obi Lawn Kenobi said:


> Bkeller500 said:
> 
> 
> > I would want to know it your grass is the same as your neighbors grass? I assume you have a KB blend but your's and his may be different blends and may never look the same. Do you water as frequently as he does? Do you get the same amount of sunlight? Is it possible he is adding a Iron supplement? Do you cut at the same height?
> ...


I have a similar issue with my KB lawn which is about 30-years old. It is not a dark green as I would like. I can make some progress if I boost with Iron in the spring and fall but mid*summer not. I have tried to add Micro nutrients and Humid Acid with some gains but nothing fantastic. Looking at over seeding with KB but seed costs have skyrocketed and I have 1.5 acres so that would be expensive. I was thinking of Urea 46-0-0 and spoon feeding by melting it down and spraying it bi-weekly but that's a lot of extra work. Perhaps I am inpatient and need to relax a bit longer this year and just enjoy what I have.


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## Lawn Noob (Jul 26, 2020)

I mostly used cheap 10-10-10 and urea last year along with one throw of milorganite. I was low across the board. Now my p is perfect and my k is better, but still a bit low.


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## dawk (Nov 29, 2021)

Obi Lawn Kenobi said:


> Fraust said:
> 
> 
> > Just curious, but when you say your results "could be better" what exactly are you looking for? Darker green? Denser stand? Faster or more manageable growth?
> ...


For darker green it's really down to the cultivar and iron. You can force it to be greener with iron and nitrogen but the cultivar is going to have a certain range it can handle with good plant health.


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## Stegs (Aug 29, 2017)

propeat this year

my first app will be with menards w. pre m. Get that down with my liquid pre m, should leave me weed free all year (and suppress any poa a)

my propeat apps will be the rest of the year. Alternating between their 17-0-4 and 7-4-14.

Also late spring i plan on throwing down 80 pounds of andersons humic dg.

After alot of knowledge from here, and podcasts etc, i learned that improving the soil will help big time in reduced inputs with fungicides/herbicides and help naturally produce lush turf

Feeding the soil is the goal from here on out. Anything i can do to help my sandy soil, i plan on trying


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

This is relevant, too. Check out the article link in this post (from the Nutrient/soil forum). Summary: too much ammonium or Nitrate fertilizer application can cause build up in soil, and hurt the grass:



Deadlawn said:


> Time to bump this thread. Here is the article again:
> 
> https://www.paceturf.org/member/Documents/0109.pdf
> 
> ...


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## situman (Nov 3, 2020)

Healthygrow this yr. $30 for a 50lb bag. NPKs are low but packed full of organics and nutrients. So hopefully less clippings but thicker lawn. All those fancy ferts from like YM or GCF or GCI stuff is getting tooo expensive and poor bang for buck. If this works out I plan on just using that.

Still got some carbon x and propeat that I got during clearance so will mix some of that in.


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## C_Heath (Jun 16, 2021)

Protene Performance


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## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

C_Heath said:


> Protene Performance


That looks nice. Expensive but nice.


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## Obi Lawn Kenobi (Jun 20, 2021)

robjak said:


> How low is your K deficiency? When was your last soil test? When you were using Urea, what were you using for iron?


K is leveled off now (only -45 lb./acre deficiency) and I seem to have a good balance between P & K so that's why I am focused primarily on N to feed the plants. Last soil test was 4/14/21. Urea apps on 5/22, 6/14, 8/23, 9/22 & 11/24 @ 1 lb./1k each. I didn't input any additional iron. Iron results were 267 p.p.m.

G


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I threw down 1/2#N of this Lesco granular and my TTTF completely popped! 97% AMS that works guickly in these temps, and 100SGN that finds its way down to the soil quickly. I bought this for my Bermuda but it seems the fescue loves it even more.


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## Bluestone (12 mo ago)

This spring I have been using 34-0-0 Ammonium Nitrate on my fescue to boost it up before the real spring flush of growth comes. It works quick in the cooler temperatures. I have been feeding .25 lbs of N per 1K the last few weeks. I will apply one more time in a week or two and then lay off until May or June depending on how everything is going.


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## robjak (Mar 31, 2020)

Obi Lawn Kenobi

Did you ever try spraying iron? https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=211


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## lawnnewbie2020 (10 mo ago)

We just spread Pelletized Limestone, Ironite and Urea last week. After two days of partial rain, two sunny days, our lawn now is super dark green already while our neighbors and the common areas are have a light shade of green. 99.5% of the grass area is totally dark green as oppose to 40% of slight green with yellow grass prior to the application. We are in the Mid-Atlantic. I think if you add iron, it will make the grass dark green.

So far for this year:
2 rounds of Easy Peasy Urea Fertilizer- 46-0-0.
1 round of Pennington Ironite 1-0-1
1 round of Weaver Pelletized Limestone for Lawns + Gardens Neutral PH 7
1 round of Quali-Pro Prodiamine, Pre-Emergent Herbicide
1 round of Scotts® Turf Builder® Weed & Feed (a little left over, trying to get rid of this stuff, and applying some herbicide)

After the cold winter storm this weekend, we will probably do another round of Urea and Tenacity.

Our neighbor used Milorganite Slow release and it seems to keep his lawn dark green for a long time. As green as our Urea, but not as dark now with iron.

We are new to this forum and also new to understanding of how to taking care of our lawn so any feedback is appreciated. We used to just buy Scotts products and use a spreader blindingly as well as big lot spray herbicides. Even with spending a lot of money on these chemicals, our lawn was in pretty bad shape.

Thanks,


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

Pre-Em:


Then:


Or:



Depending on my soil test, hopefully have results by Tuesday.


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

I choose based on what my soil test looks like. My fertilizer/soil amendment arsenal for this spring consists of:

Lesco 0-0-50 SOP
Lesco 20-0-20 SOP 100% Nos Plus
0-45-0 TSP
Solu-Cal calcitic lime

Pre-em: Lesco Dimension 0-0-7


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## MrKip (Oct 1, 2021)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> Pre-Em:
> 
> 
> Then:
> ...


What are the biggest difference between the two fertilizers?


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## Colinwjholding (Apr 6, 2020)

I have been running primarily Rich Grow up here in the great white north. They make about 20 different mixes. The agricultural place that carries it is only about 4 minutes away. Can't beat it. Its about 50-60$ cdn dollars


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