New Sod Fertilizer???

[Paineless Creations]

I just got a new customer that just had new sod put in there back yard in April. She hired my services to mow and said do anything you need to keep my new sod looking green. So the question I have for you folks is how long do you guys wait to apply Fertilzer or what ever.

[Norcal]

Lawn care business tips

Usually the person installing the sod will fertilize the surface with regular fertilizer,lime or gypsum I recomend and so do most bags of dry fertilizer to apply every 3 months or 4 times a year if it was installed in april you should fertilize now also remember that the sod is fed every 2 weeks at the sod farm with lawn food there are all different types after it is cut it is lucky if it gets the fertilizer and water. Lawn food is expensive a quick way to green it up is lime or use house hold amonia in a jar feeder 2oz covers about 1200 sq ft.

[Steve]

or use house hold amonia in a jar feeder 2oz covers about 1200 sq ft.

How long does that last for and is it safe for the lawn?

[Norcal]

Originally Posted by Steve

How long does that last for and is it safe for the lawn?

I would only use it one to two times a year first time around the 4th of july second before fall or late fall yes it does work it is more of a home remedy kind of like ag grow or mo green all of it is full of nitrogen unlike dry fertilizer you can burn the lawn if you leave it on to long without water I dont care if it says it wont burn a jar feeder you are already adding water and it isn't a time deal slowly over the course of three months. You can also help decompose thatch using beer with the same formula 2oz 1200 sq ft also around the 4th of July try a test spot first if your still suspect on your own lawn

[swstout]

Originally Posted by Steve

How long does that last for and is it safe for the lawn?

From http://www.paghat.com/ammonia.html


A teaspoon to a tablespoon of ammonia per gallon of water won't kill the plants, & some people other than Jerry Baker do recommend it as a mild nitrogen fertilizer. However, anhydrous ammonia converts to nitrogen very slowly & ends up delivering very little nitrogen even in acidic soil. In alkaline soil it converts hardly at all. In either case it will likely wash through the soil from watering & rainfall before it has done much good in the nitrogen department. The least wash-through will occur in clayey soils that do not drain well, but the majority of gardened plants will not thrive in soil that doesn't drain.

If you have alkaline soils, there will be no nitrogen effect, so some have suggested adding twice as much vinegar as ammonia to that gallon of water, in order to acidify the soil while the dilute ammonia is poored around a plant. Tinkering randomly with pH is not necessarily a good thing for the plants, however, & it remains that rainfall & average watering will wash the ammonia out of the soil before it breaks down into nitrogen.

Additionally, surface evaporation of ammonia means it is just carried away on the wind. Dilute ammonia placed in the garden while the temperature is above about 50 degrees F. evaporates more swiftly than if applied on a cold day. Yet a warm day is essential if microorganism activity is to be at maximum. If the ammonia is applied on a cold day it does not stimulate the microorganisms which process the nitrogen, but if applied on a warm day it evaporates before it can be processed by plants or by microorganisms.

Steve

[irvinjr]

I'm curious to know how can i get the brown spots that i see throughout the lawn back green again with the rest of the lawn.I'm open for suggestions !

[swstout]

Originally Posted by irvinjr

I'm curious to know how can i get the brown spots that i see throughout the lawn back green again with the rest of the lawn.I'm open for suggestions !

Go here

http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=12096

Steve

[Norcal]

Originally Posted by swstout

From http://www.paghat.com/ammonia.html


A teaspoon to a tablespoon of ammonia per gallon of water won't kill the plants, & some people other than Jerry Baker do recommend it as a mild nitrogen fertilizer. However, anhydrous ammonia converts to nitrogen very slowly & ends up delivering very little nitrogen even in acidic soil. In alkaline soil it converts hardly at all. In either case it will likely wash through the soil from watering & rainfall before it has done much good in the nitrogen department. The least wash-through will occur in clayey soils that do not drain well, but the majority of gardened plants will not thrive in soil that doesn't drain.

If you have alkaline soils, there will be no nitrogen effect, so some have suggested adding twice as much vinegar as ammonia to that gallon of water, in order to acidify the soil while the dilute ammonia is poored around a plant. Tinkering randomly with pH is not necessarily a good thing for the plants, however, & it remains that rainfall & average watering will wash the ammonia out of the soil before it breaks down into nitrogen.

Additionally, surface evaporation of ammonia means it is just carried away on the wind. Dilute ammonia placed in the garden while the temperature is above about 50 degrees F. evaporates more swiftly than if applied on a cold day. Yet a warm day is essential if microorganism activity is to be at maximum. If the ammonia is applied on a cold day it does not stimulate the microorganisms which process the nitrogen, but if applied on a warm day it evaporates before it can be processed by plants or by microorganisms.

Steve

good to know its only effective on clayey soils that it pretty much the case where I live but the time I would use it it's going to evaporate. would aerating help im suspect because every thing I have read and heard tells you not to fertilize 3 to 4 weeks before or after you aerate?

[swstout]

Originally Posted by Norcal

good to know its only effective on clayey soils that it pretty much the case where I live but the time I would use it it's going to evaporate. would aerating help im suspect because every thing I have read and heard tells you not to fertilize 3 to 4 weeks before or after you aerate?

I use Aerify to aerate and mix it with Natures organic lawn fertilizer at the same time with no problems. I do not core aerate any more. It is not efficient and very messy.

I would not even consider using amonia!

Steve