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Ferrous Ammonium Sulfate | Liquid Iron for Lawns

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419K views 1K replies 221 participants last post by  Grizzzman  
#1 ·
I've been using this solution for many years with pretty good success on my Tifway lawn. This stuff is similar to the Iron sprays you can buy but it is much cheaper to make it yourself and the products are easily available on eBay. Spraying this solution will help give your lawn a deeper darker green and will generally last a few weeks. This is what you will need.

Ferrous Sulfate(Iron)

Ammonium Sulfate

One of THESE will come in handy to mix it all together.

For every 1K of lawn you will want to mix 4oz of Ferrous Sulfate, 3.4oz of Ammonium Sulfate in 1 Gallon of water. I usually mix it in a 5 gallon bucket of HOT water as it will dissolve faster and easier than it will with cold water. In that 5 gallon bucket, I will mix everything for 8K of lawn in one shot and then dilute it in the sprayer tank.

You will want to spray this in the evening when it isn't as hot outside to reduce the chance of burning your lawn(I have never had an issue with it). You will want to leave it on your lawn for as long as you can. I usually spray it the night before my irrigation is set to go off. I have gotten into the habit of mixing this with my PGR app every 3 weeks as it seems to be perfect timing for applying the stuff.

I wouldn't worry about the 21-0-0 in the Ammonium Sulfate as you are applying such a small amount that it shouldn't have any effect on your overall Nitrogen applications. The Ammonium Sulfate is in the solution to help give it a faster and more intense green up and CAN be omitted if you choose. I have never sprayed without it so YMMV(Your Milage May Very).

The Ferrous Sulfate is the MAIN ingredient for the dark green color.

The Ammonium Sulfate basically acts as a booster for the Ferrous Sulfate and will enhance/speed up the greening process.

Ferrous Ammonium Sulfate for every 1K of Bermuda Lawn
4.0 oz of Ferrous Sulfate (0.8oz of Fe)
3.4 oz of Ammonium Sulfate
1 Gallon of Water(preferably Hot or Warm)

Ferrous Ammonium Sulfate for every 1K of Cool Season Lawn
2.0 oz of Ferrous Sulfate (0.4oz of Fe)
1.7 oz of Ammonium Sulfate
1 Gallon of Water(preferably Hot or Warm)
Avoid the iron on the leaves in summer temperatures.

Edits: add cool season rates to avoid a black lawn.
 
#3 ·
GrassDaddy said:
Does this work for cool season lawns?
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Yes, but since I don't have one, I can't say how well it will work. I think in the Spring and Fall for Cool Season grasses should be fine and I think KBG can take the same dosage as the Bermuda can. I would maybe start off with a half dose and work your way up to the full dose depending on the grass type and how "hardy" it is.
 
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#936 ·
You can use ammonium sulfate for nitrogen content...however I believe the bulk ferrous sulfate 50 lbs bag may be ferrouse magnesium sulfate when mixed turns milky white? You only need ferrous mag sulf to help with helping wake up turf 2 or 3 times per year. However with the suggested solution mix,I would use the mix milky white for to help complete the clorophyl process which adjusts the ph....with the other ferrous iron sulfate, the mix will turn dark brown or dark amber with this recipe. Hi yield makes iron sulfate....try buying IRONITE 30lbs bag and dissolve 8 oz cup in warm water, then add in 2-4 tbsp of ag surfactant...comes in gallon jug when you buy just the surfectant. Mix in 10.10.10 fertilizer 8 oz. And apply at 6 oz per gallon dial in hose sprayer with garden hose and walk in rows until you run out...experiment till you get desired results
 
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#939 ·
Check out all the synthetic granular feet's and organic alternatives as well...such as ... 10.10.10 fert granular or high nitrogen 20.0.4 granular for liquid mix recipe. Foliar Sea 90 at 1 tbls per gallon mix...has natural trace minerals. Composted manure bags at hmdpt or minds for manure tea or compost tea natural non burning npk.
 
#6 ·
SGrabs33 said:
Do you need to worry about these coloring/staining sidewalks/driveways like most other iron products?
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Yes, It will stain a driveway or sidewalk just like any other Iron product. I have found that a pressure washer will remove any of the stains though.
 
#7 ·
Mightyquinn said:
GrassDaddy said:
Does this work for cool season lawns?
Click to expand...
Yes, but since I don't have one, I can't say how well it will work. I think in the Spring and Fall for Cool Season grasses should be fine and I think KBG can take the same dosage as the Bermuda can. I would maybe start off with a half dose and work your way up to the full dose depending on the grass type and how "hardy" it is.
Click to expand...
Yes, it works great for cool season grasses. I use 3oz ferrous sulfate and 2.5 oz ammonium sulfate per thousand for KBG. Don't go much higher that that, it will burn the grass. Don't ask me how I know.
 
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#1,027 · (Edited)
j4c11 said:
Yes, it works great for cool season grasses. I use 3oz ferrous sulfate and 2.5 oz ammonium sulfate per thousand for KBG. Don't go much higher that that, it will burn the grass. Don't ask me how I know.
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Do you think it burned the grass from too much Ferrous Sulfate or too much AMS? I was thinking of spraying .2 lbs/N/1k of AMS with 2 oz of Ferrous Sulphate and .1 lbs of Sulphate of Potash for my biweekly foliar fert application. I'd prefer to spray the iron in one go vs spraying it separately due to my higher nitrogen rate. The nitrogen rate suggested above (1.7 oz of AMS) would only be .02 lbs/N/1k of AMS, which seems like a tiny amount.
 
#8 ·
j4c11 said:
Yes, it works great for cool season grasses. I use 3oz ferrous sulfate and 2.5 oz ammonium sulfate per thousand for KBG. Don't go much higher that that, it will burn the grass. Don't ask me how I know.
Click to expand...
Do you usually water after applying?

I tried this once in combination w/ PGR, but, the grass looked sickly afterwards. I didn't try it again. I was very conservative with my rates too. I applied 2oz FS and 1.7 AS to my TTTF/KBG backyard. The PGR + FAS combo looked and smelled like orange soda. :lol:
 
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#10 ·
Mightyquinn said:
I wouldn't worry about the 21-0-0 in the Ammonium Sulfate as you are applying such a small amount that it shouldn't have any effect on your overall Nitrogen applications. The Ammonium Sulfate is in the solution to help give it a faster and more intense green up and CAN be omitted if you choose. I have never sprayed without it so YMMV(Your Mileage May Very).
Click to expand...
Hey MQ I'm a little confused by this last paragraph. If this solution is intended for a quick dark green up and as you say above, the AS is what does the greening part, then why would one choose to omit it? What does the FS(Iron) do? I need to get some 'pop' out of my grass, it's green, but far from a nice dark hunter green(and that's what I want).

TIA
 
#11 ·
Alan, I think what he is saying is to not worry about the 21% Nitrogen content of the Ammonium Sulfate - as you're not applying much of it by weight. In other words, there is no need to reduce your overall N applied via regular fertilizer applications because you are using FAS. Make sense?
 
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#12 ·
Well, yes and no. I get the part about not worrying about the 21% nitrogen since it's in such a small amount it will nearly have zero effect on one's fertilizing schedule. However, what I don't get is if the AS does the greening part and per MQ that's what It achieves, then why omit it? Isn't that the purpose-to get the dark green? And if you do omit it, what does the FE do if applied alone?
 
#13 ·
Ware said:
Alan, I think what he is saying is to not worry about the 21% Nitrogen content of the Ammonium Sulfate - as you're not applying much of it by weight. In other words, there is no need to reduce your overall N applied via regular fertilizer applications because you are using FAS. Make sense?
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Ware summed it up pretty good right there! The AS in the solution just helps to speed up/intensify the greening of the FS. It's basically a booster :D
 
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#15 ·
He does say you can omit it.

I suppose it would have been clearer to us novices if the purpose of each ingredient was explained. So here's my take away:

Ferrous Sulfate(Iron)- dark greening component

Ammonium Sulfate- booster to the above to increase efficiency uptake or improve performance.
 
#16 ·
Alan said:
He does say you can omit it.

I suppose it would have been clearer to us novices if the purpose of each ingredient was explained. So here's my take away:

Ferrous Sulfate(Iron)- dark greening component

Ammonium Sulfate- booster to the above to increase efficiency uptake or improve performance.
Click to expand...
I edited the original post to explain better. Sorry for the confusion on this :eek:
 
#19 ·
Alan said:
Mightyquinn said:
I edited the original post to explain better. Sorry for the confusion on this :eek:
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Thank you. I wasn't trying to pick apart your post, in fact, I appreciate it. :thumbup: I appreciate it more so now. :D
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No, Thank you Alan!! My intent was not to confuse anyone and anything I can do to help clarify anything, I am more than happy to oblige. :thumbup:
 
#21 ·
OState_Patriot said:
Could this be applied with a hose end Ortho sprayer?
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In my opinion, the Ortho sprayer has a spray pattern that is a bit too coarse. But it will work. The other problem you run into is you can only dissolve so much iron in 16-32 oz of water, so depending on your lawn size you would have to split it up into multiple apps. Using distilled or RO/DI water helps.
 
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#26 ·
I did my first application of FAS Sunday afternoon. We had rain Monday, Tuesday and today. So far the results are amazing. The depth of green already has made this well worth the time and effort of spraying. I was supposed to throw down PGR, but was not sure I wanted to mix it in with the FAS after reading mixed reviews on mixing the two... and since we've rained the last three days, it will have to wait till tomorrow after I cut the lawn.

I REALLY need to get the PGR down, as it is really starting to take off.

+1 MQ, thanks for sharing...
 
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