# Fertilizer Question



## fifthmanstanding (Apr 11, 2021)

Hi all,

It's been awhile since my last post. We got moved into the new construction home and finally set up. The seed the builder put down was tall fescue that, as expected, didn't survive a month with this heat. What did spring up, however, was a whole metric f-ton of whatever seed was in that straw that went in with it. I'm looking at a hodgepodge of weeds and what I believe is perennial rye grass (has purple veins running through it). The weeds and I have formed a temporary alliance as anything that's going to hold the soil down between now and the end of hurricane season will be allowed to live...until next year. In the mean time I hit up Southern Seeds (great company) and got several bags of Bermuda (North Shore and Highlander mix) and spread that on top of the extant straw that was still down while I waited for the soil report to come in. Naturally we got two days of absolute deluge halfway through the germination and it resulted in a bunch of wash that took the straw with it down into the ditch. The seed germinated better than any I've ever used _but_it's not where I wanted it to be so...lesson learned. My next move was to till up the interior side of the lot where even the rye grass was struggling, rake, level and prep with Scott's starter fertilizer. I calc'd the area at around 10k sq. ft., bought a brand new and better quality spreader, picked up some straw, seeded and straw'd the whole section. It turned out absolutely great with good germination rate and a very even spread.

_Which brings me to my question. My soil report:_


















It says I'm basically growing grass on the surface of Mars. The lot is formerly farm land so I expected this. Phosphorus may as well not exist, Potassium is about half of where it needs to be and humic matter is practically gone. pH is sitting at 5.9 so that's at least in the good range. I know I need to get tons and tons of topsoil brought in and spread but the current budget isn't going to allow for that until months from now. As far as fertilizing goes, I was looking at Sunniland Weed & Feed to put out about 8 weeks from now once the new crop of Bermuda gets established. Is increasing the amount of available nitrogen and potassium with this product going to create a problem with the new grass or is this the kind of situation where any available nutrient at all is a good nutrient to have at this moment?

Thanks in advance for any insight.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Read the label and see what it says about applying on new grass. It's not giving you any phosphorus. You could use a balanced fertilizer, like 10-10-10 to get you N, P, and K and use a separate herbicide when it's safe to do so.

Bringing in tons of topsoil isn't really practical. It would require regrading, would be stressful on your trees (could even kill them if you cover the roots with too much soil), could create issues with whatever hardscapes you have. You could add organic matter often from various sources. Your cation exchange capacity (CEC) is very low meaning your soil does not hold onto nutrients well. You could spoon-feed or use slow release products to give the grass a better chance of getting nutrients before they slip away.


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