# Green's 2019/2020 Winterizing Experiment



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

*Post edits and thread housekeeping notes:

-Nitrogen application date: 11/23/2019

-Intra-thread link to application details and map*: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14612#p230118

*-Revised map (12/2019)*: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14612&p=230884#p230884

*-1/6/2020: First photos posted (taken Nov. 30th, 2019)*: https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14612&p=232731#p232731

Some of you know I plan to do an informal experiment this Fall in which I put different late-season winterizing N amounts and types against each other. I'll use different areas as test plots.

The test plot categories I'm thinking of are:
-No Nitrogen

46-0-0 Urea N:
-1.0 lb/M
-0.5 lb/M
-0.333 lb/M
-0.25 lb/M

Scotts 27-0-2*:
-1.0 lb/M
-0.5 lb/M
-0.333 lb/M
-0.25 lb/M

*blend with Urea, AMS, and ~7% from Methylene ureas
-Also has iron and a bit of SOP
-I've been using this instead of the 46-0-0 for several years and feel the results are superior.

Results will evaluated subjectively. 
Criteria: 
-Spring greenup speed
-Spring density
-Spring color
-growth rate 
-longevity of response

Evaluation period: 21 March to 1 June, 2020.

Photos will be taken every 2 weeks if possible.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Nice. When did you put down the fertilizer?

Also using this in only one area i.e front vs back? 
Or are you doing various test plots in different area and in turn multiple spots to account for different grass types.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

uts said:


> Nice. When did you put down the fertilizer?
> 
> Also using this in only one area i.e front vs back?
> Or are you doing various test plots in different area and in turn multiple spots to account for different grass types.


Not yet, but over the next two weeks. Possibly starting today.

Trying to keep the plots to one area for consistency.

Gotta go...


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

Ohh nice, definitely following this one.


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## MassHole (Jun 27, 2018)

With our recent cold spell in Western Mass, I'm done for the year. Can't wait to see your results!


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Forgot to ask this but how much are you putting down?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

uts said:


> Forgot to ask this but how much are you putting down?


On the non-experimental areas? 0.5 lb/M, like last year.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Ok, today was the day...

I marked off the plots, and then applied the fertilizer (around 5PM). If anything, I may be a week or so early for winterizing, but I needed to apply the fertilizer before the rain, which is coming in a few hours (around 12AM or so). I've applied slightly early due to weather at least one other time in the past, and had no issues over the entire Winter and Spring as a result.

As far as I can tell, the soil temp in the experimental area is 40F. (I may be a degree or two off, but the thermometer is reasonably calibrated...so it's good enough. This is a real-world test under average TLF-member conditions, rather than some sort of carefully controlled University trial that's going to get published or something.)


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Below is my plot map showing the fertilizer types and amounts that were applied in the various plots.

Note: I labeled the 1/3 lb N plots "0.30 lb", but I was aiming for 0.333. It's tough to spread in small areas, so there is more error from spreading than rounding. Don't get hung up on the decimals and how I rounded them off in my map. The point is, the plots have an increasing Nitrogen level from left to right.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Other information:

Location: Far corner of Low-input area. Left is roughly West. Up is roughly North, etc. Top row is my border with my neighbor's yard (who doesn't have a lawn service and doesn't self-apply fertilizer). Left side: roughly 6 inches of turf, and then natural area. Right side and bottom: Low-input area grass.

Site preparation: Bag-mowed at 3.25 in with old mower/gator blade immediately prior to applying fertilizer

Irrigation: Rain is forecast at 12AM (roughly 7 hours after application of fertilizer).

Soil temp: ~40F

Growth state: Almost stopped growing

Soil moisture level: high (ground felt soft and wet)

Grass color: mostly green; very little foliar disease present upon inspection (normal disease levels)

Application device: Earthway 2030P Plus rotary spreader (I'm very comfortable with how it spreads in tight areas).

Previous fertilizer apps on the area used as test area:
10/7/19: 0.23 lb N from Milorganite
10/2/19: 0.85 lb N from Baystate and Carbon-X/Screamin' Green with Prodiamine
6/10/19: 0.50 lb N from Protene 8-0-4
6/24/19: 0.30 lb N from Milorganite


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Pictures? Before, during winter, green up and may?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

g-man said:


> Pictures? Before, during winter, green up and may?


Yeah, I will get starting photos hopefully before it potentially takes effect, (before mid next week). It got too dark for photos today. I meant to say I plan to take photos as soon as it's dry enough to walk there again after the rain, and will get a set before the end of the season as well. So, two sets of photos for 2019 are planned. Once green-up starts in 2020, I hope to provide photos with most of my updates. I'm planning to do written updates every 2 weeks.


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## desirous (Dec 15, 2017)

Bookmarked the topic. Thanks @Green!


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

First update:

The rain started around midnight last night. It was light for several hours. Since then, there has been some moderate rain as well, and my best guess is going to be almost 2 inches after it's done tonight or tomorrow morning. We really didn't need that much.

Unfortunately, about 18 hours after I applied the fertilizer, some of the plots have pooling. Remember, the rain itself started about 7 hours after I applied it. So it had a good 10-12 hours to dissolve and get pushed into the soil prior to the pooling. That said, it's never fun to see pooling when you recently applied fertilizer. It's hard to tell for sure which plots are affected, but the last two urea plots (0.50 and 1.0 lb/M) and possibly the adjacent name-brand fertilizer plots appear to be affected. I don't expect it to cause a huge problem...this is typical weather in the Fall, and it's happened other years as well. I'm thinking the test should still be valid, but who knows.

Edit: It was about an inch of rain between 12AM last night and 8PM tonight. But the ground was so saturated before it that it pooled up at some point.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

The water that had pooled in those 2 or 3 plots appears to have soaked in by the morning today, but it's still too wet to go out there for photos.

I think I'm going to make one more plot. This one will be 0.00 lb/M as well, but here is what I'm going to do with it...

Once soil temps rise back up to around 35 or 37F in that area in late Winter in that plot, I will apply 0.25 to 0.333 lb of N as a late Winter app, to see if it has a similar effect to the late Fall app. This might be early March. The idea is that the phase of growth is probably similar to late Fall, focusing on root growth. I wonder if I can achieve a similar Winterizing effect at that time, without triggering surge growth in early Spring. I don't believe anyone has tried this before. Which fertilizer would you like to see used? I'm thinking of going with the 46-0-0 to eliminate as many variables as possible. Thoughts?


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## jeffjunstrom (Aug 12, 2019)

1) What's the ideal lead time of fertilizer before rain? We have an unseasonably warm day today (probably the last), followed by expected rain tomorrow morning (~1-2am per Accuweather). I was going to put down the Scott's 27-0-2 as the last event of the year, and want to maximize timing (especially since my sprinkler system has been winterized).

2) How in the world did you spread the fertilizer in 70 square foot patches? That's like 0.1 pounds of product on the 0.25lb plots, no? I feel like you'd have to hand place the fertilizer!


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@jeffjunstrom

Spreading: Weighed it out and spread very carefully on a low setting. Plot width was actually larger than the main swath throw distance of the spreader. I've been practicing for years because I have a couple of small hellstrip areas. The plots were actually easier because I had access from all sides. The only error I made initially was forgetting to change the setting on the first plot when I started with the Scotts. But I was able to compensate in the end.

Timing: As close as possible. But the cooler it is and less wet and windy, the less critical it is.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Updated plot map with numbers to differentiate plots, and addition of plot 6:


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## Biggylawns (Jul 8, 2019)

Do you have any pictures?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Photos from Nov. 30th, 2019. Consider these the "start" photos. There may be more somewhere showing each plot, but I'll add those when I have time. My apology for the shadows.

Overall view of all plots:









Set "A" plots:









Set "B" plots (yes, there's some clover in there):


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Quick update: I looked at the plots again today (none of this is formal observation, as that period hasn't started yet). I can't see any substantial differences in terms of color between any of them at this point.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

It has been so wet that this experiment is not going so great. I've barely been able to walk the area for close inspection, though I've gotten to do so several times. But in-depth evaluation has been impossible so far. The only two plots that have grown enough to mow twice have been 6a and 6b, but I feel a lot of that is attributable to some Tall Fescue in those plots, which is going nuts with all the rain. The other grass types aren't doing all that much yet, and no other plots have been mowed yet.

There may be some denitrification and/or leaching going on. The soil is often soggy. Color is bad overall.

Finally, there is a Triv explosion going on.

I will post photos from the past month when I get to it.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

It's official. The experiment failed. Far too wet until about a week ago. Poa Triv infestation. Not much desirable grass to measure. Probably had Nitrogen loses from all the rain, too.

Also Coronavirus wrecking havoc locally in the early Spring, and I have been dealing with my own stuff.

I might repeat the experiment this year. No idea yet.

I put down some organic N today.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Where are the pictures?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

g-man said:


> Where are the pictures?


Like I said, it failed. I hardly ever was able to walk back there to photograph due to soggy ground. I doubt you'll discern much from the photos I did take. But maybe someday I'll post if I have time, to satisfy curiosity. Honestly, the KBG has just started taking off now. But it's overloaded with Triv.

Failure on so many fronts.


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