# Fertilizing



## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

I have a Bermuda lawn and applied a 32-0-10 quick release fertilizer this past weekend. I am really wanting to try milorganite. I've read a lot of people say because it is a slow release fertilizer it can take several weeks to notice. How fast can I apply a slow release fertilizer like milorganite after a quick release? I am new here and am blown away at the knowledge you all possess. The pictures of your lawns are very inspiring. Thanks!


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## high leverage (Jun 11, 2017)

It's way to early to apply fert in OKC. You are essentially throwing your money away. I personally I'm not a fan of Milorganite. It just another example of a company separating you from your money. Bermuda needs high nitrogen content which Milorganite lacks. You'll have to put down a lot more pounds of Milo to equal the majority of synthetics available (4-7 x ).


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

high leverage said:


> It's way to early to apply fert in OKC. You are essentially throwing your money away. I personally I'm not a fan of Milorganite. It just another example of a company separating you from your money. Bermuda needs high nitrogen content which Milorganite lacks. You'll have to put down a lot more pounds of Milo to equal the majority of synthetics available (4-7 x ).


+1.

There's nothing wrong with Milorganite, as it's good for the average homeowner who is just getting started into taking proper care of their lawn, but you'll want to make sure that your grass is out of dormancy before you feed it. Milorganite seems to work better when the soil temps are in the 80's (there's probably some empirical evidence to support that, but I don't have any right now). The question I have for you is: have you put down a Pre Emergent (PreM) yet? Mesonet is where you can find out what your soil temps are in your state. Keep in mind, crabgrass germinates around 55°F, and a host of other Warm Season weeds follow in its wake. You'll want to keep those at bay by getting a PreM down ASAP. You'll only have to apply PreM for Warm Season weeds and Cool season weeds, but your window for application usually falls within a few weeks on the calendar.

When it warms up, and your grass is out of dormancy, there are much more effective fertilizers by cost/lb than Milorganite for your lawn, and we'll help you get the lawn you want, with a lot less money than you think it would take. Skip the Milo for now. Welcome to TLF! :thumbup:


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## Rockinar (Jul 21, 2017)

Milo is OK. Im on the fence about it. The pros is it does work, and greens up nice. Its pet and kid friendly. The cons, its expensive, it smells like moldy bath towels when wet, it takes a week or so to see results and in the meantime my dogs are in the yard eating it.

As mentioned, I would be trying to get down pre emergent right now, not fert.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

@Kballen11, is your lawn out of dormancy? Mine was almost fully green last week before I scalped, a few People in my area are also greened up nicely! Like others have already stated, adding N too early can be wasteful, you should try and wait until you're +70% green.

How many lb per 1k of the 32-0-10 did you apply?

Milo can be controversial; people love it, or hate it! Its my preferred fertilizer and I don't think anyone can dispute it works well for me.

You only have 5k of lawn and using the "bag rate" would take 2 bags per application to cover your lawn. If you are trying to save some $$, then using a synthetic source like the 32-0-10 is more economical if used correctly! However if you are a Hobby lawn guy like myself, then spending a few extra bucks on a fertilizer you feel is best isn't a big deal. It's all about how you see it, and how you want to move forward.

There is a % of fast release N in the Milo that will give your grass a little pop of green within a week if you get a little water on the lawn, but the rest will take time to work into the soil and feed your grass.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Redtenchu said:


> Milo can be controversial; people love it, or hate it! Its my preferred fertilizer and I don't think anyone can dispute it works well for me.


+1


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I like milorganite as well, but it's not the only stuff I use. I go to my local landscaping and pesticide supply place, which here is called Possum's, and say "What do I put down now? What's the next thing to put down, and when do I do it?"

This stuff called SeaHume, which is humic acid, is popular around me as well. I have an unsubstantiated theory that rotating through various products is the best bet.


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## Davie_Gravy (Mar 2, 2018)

@Ware is Milo part of your regimen as well?


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## FRD135i (Oct 15, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> high leverage said:
> 
> 
> > It's way to early to apply fert in OKC. You are essentially throwing your money away. I personally I'm not a fan of Milorganite. It just another example of a company separating you from your money. Bermuda needs high nitrogen content which Milorganite lacks. You'll have to put down a lot more pounds of Milo to equal the majority of synthetics available (4-7 x ).
> ...


Milo breaks down with heat not water like other ferts. That's why you don't need to water in and it works better with higher temps.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

On depth, my experience is that it is a compromise. I modify depth based on observation and try to find a tine height that cuts 1/8" into the low spots, but no deeper than 1/2" into the high spots. (the height/depth I settle on depends on how may low or high spots there are). I have always, always had great results with KBG (corn row germination), but the one time I did fescue I had no corn row effect (maybe the tine damaged the larger fesuce seed? Others say they haven't had a problem with fescue).


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## tnlynch81 (Jun 29, 2017)

For those who are having issues with the price of Milo bookmark this. Walmart puts it on sale in the late fall for as low as $3/bag. Last year stocked up at $5

https://brickseek.com/walmart-inventory-checker/?sku=16794889


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

I applied a preemergent in late February when the soil temps were approaching 55. I am a frequent visitor on the mesonet site. My lawn is already coming out of dormancy and is fairly green. If I had to put a percent on it I'd say probably just short of 50%, which is why I went ahead and applied a fertilizer. It sounds like I need to wait until the temps warm up to apply milorganite as the heat breaks it down. What would you guys recommend I do knowing I applied a quick release fertilizer this weekend? Wait until a certain day and put down milorganite? Or use something else? Thanks again for all the advice. I'll try to post some pictures when the sun comes out.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> Ware is Milo part of your regimen as well?


Not exclusively, but yes I use it a lot. It's definitely not the most cost effective source of N, but for me some of the benefits outweigh the cost for a lawn the size of mine.

I really like the even/thorough coverage I can get when using lower N content products. For example, I can easily spread two 50 lb bags of Greens Grade Milo over my 7k lawn in two directions to get a modest ~0.85 lb of N. With something like a 32-x-x, I would only spread 18.6 lbs of product to get that same amount of N. Depending on the SGN, I'm not sure my spreader would feed that consistently if I reduced the setting enough to spread it in two directions.

I like that I can work with full bag quantities, even on my smaller lawn. I can use 1-2 50 lb bags of Greens Grade, or 2-3 36 lb bags of standard Milo to tune my N rate without weighing product or dealing with leftover or partial bags.

I also really like how easily the SGN 90 Greens Grade Milo flows from my spreader and falls down into my dense turf canopy.

The recent reduction in Fe from 4% to 2.5% bothers me a little, but I probably won't stop using it.



FRD135i said:


> Milo breaks down with heat not water like other ferts. That's why you don't need to water in and it works better with higher temps.


But worth noting that 2.5% of the 6% total N in Milo (~42%) is water soluble. So like Redtenchu, I've never had any trouble getting some response within a week following application.


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## Davie_Gravy (Mar 2, 2018)

I know of the bible, but are some of you planning to reduce the amount of N you put down this year? I have heard/read with the addition of humates, we may get by with less. If so, what are you targeting total N/1000 on bermuda this season?


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> I know of the bible, but are some of you planning to reduce the amount of N you put down this year? I have heard/read with the addition of humates, we may get by with less. If so, what are you targeting total N/1000 on bermuda this season?


I applied Milo @ 12lb/1k (0.6lb N) last season and had great results. I'm toying with the idea of using less, but I have not determined what that number will be or for how long.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> I know of the bible, but are some of you planning to reduce the amount of N you put down this year? I have heard/read with the addition of humates, we may get by with less. If so, what are you targeting total N/1000 on bermuda this season?


That is something you would have to play around with yourself as each lawn is different and will require less/more input to get your desired results. You could just start gradually cutting back on your inputs to see where the lawn responds and if it is acceptable to you.


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## Davie_Gravy (Mar 2, 2018)

Red, how many applications though? I'm talking total pounds of N for the season.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> Red, how many applications though? I'm talking total pounds of N for the season.


I would shoot for 4-6 lbs/K for the season.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> I would shoot for 4-6 lbs/K for the season.


+1


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> Red, how many applications though? I'm talking total pounds of N for the season.


12lb/1k Monthly. March-October. Total of 4.8N/1k for the year. I haven't applied any this season.


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

Ware do you use a drop spreader or a broadcast? Also any tips on a good fertilizing regimen? I have a Bermuda lawn only 5k sq ft.


Ware said:


> Davie_Gravy said:
> 
> 
> > Ware is Milo part of your regimen as well?
> ...


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Kballen11 said:


> Ware do you use a drop spreader or a broadcast? Also any tips on a good fertilizing regimen? I have a Bermuda lawn only 5k sq ft.


I use and recommend a broadcast spreader for fertilizer applications.

Have you read this yet? If not, I would start there, but always feel free to ask any questions you may have. Generally I would say you'll want to apply somewhere between 0.5-1.0 pound of N per thousand square feet per month from the time the lawn greens up fully to about 30 days before the first expected frost. You can adjust up or down based on how it is responding, how much growth you want to push, etc.

Welcome to TLF! Glad you're here. :thumbup:


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Davie_Gravy said:


> I know of the bible, but are some of you planning to reduce the amount of N you put down this year? I have heard/read with the addition of humates, we may get by with less. If so, what are you targeting total N/1000 on bermuda this season?


You're not going to get the same N reduction benefit from humates using Milorganite (due to the large proportion of Milo N being microbe dependent for release) as you would with synthetics.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

I've used Milorganite regularly in the past as a slow release bridge between urea apps and to supplement P and as an iron source. Like Ware, I like the coverage of the small prill. I doubt if I buy it in the future with the iron content reduction, but seeing as I still have 3 or 4 bags of the 6-2-0 pro grade with 4% iron, I'll still use it for two more years.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

You can always throw in a bag of the Scott's green back that has the extra iron in it here and there


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

https://www.milorganite.com/blog/milorganite/milorganite-iron


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## Kballen11 (Mar 26, 2018)

Ware said:


> Kballen11 said:
> 
> 
> > Ware do you use a drop spreader or a broadcast? Also any tips on a good fertilizing regimen? I have a Bermuda lawn only 5k sq ft.
> ...


I saw people referencing the "bible" and was confused. It all makes sense now.... thanks!


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## MarkV (Mar 22, 2017)

Kballen11 said:


> I saw people referencing the "bible" and was confused. It all makes sense now.... thanks!


Just a bunch of religious fanatics over at The Lawn Forum. 

I too, use Milo. It's simple, easy, and hard to screw up. Could I get better lawn results with a more complex fertilizing plan? Sure. I could also have six pack abs if I stopped eating pizza and went to the gym. But those things are not going to happen.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

MarkV said:


> I could also have six pack abs if I stopped eating pizza and went to the gym. But those things are not going to happen.


+1
:lol: :nod: :thumbup:


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