►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄
Hey Brian, I think you made this video just for me. Man, this goes back to one of your past videos on lawn mistakes to avoid. First, I will not seed again in the Spring- too many weeds and sacrificing not applying pre-emergent. Second, I made the mistake you are speaking of right now which explains the lime green color I’m seeing . I applied a urea based starter fertilizer high in nitrogen ( 20-0-5) the same time of seeding. Trust me for any watching this video, this man knows what he is talking about. I seeded early in spring and had I known , I would not have applied starter fert with urea. Not the results I was hoping for. Perhaps you posted a past video about this but wish I knew. Won’t make this mistake again! Now I have to figure out how to fix the lime green color. I do need to apply tenacity to control the weeds, I’m just concerned about browning the my grass. Again, thanks for this hard lesson I just learned on lawn mistakes not to make! You need to educate some of these lawn gurus if you ask me. May I send you a picture of my lawn?
Hey Thurston, I'm glad this was timely but a bit late for you. Spring is such a natural growth period for grass that it's easy to push unsustainable growth. Baby grass is the same, the structure of the grass needs to establish well before top growth is pushed hard. That's why minors, trace minerals, hormones, and stimulants work well. I didn't even mention in this vid but I also applied a heavy dose of biochar before the topsoil. As for the weeds during seeding, most people know about mesotrione but they overlook the short-lived effects of the product. Last Spring when seeding my small area I applied Tenacity four times every 24 days or so depending on weather from late April into late June! It's a big task to stop those weeds during Spring seeding that most people just don't follow all the way through. Go ahead and send a pic, my brian@ turfmechanic.com email should work. I'm terrible at responding to it but I do look at it from time to time...I need to get better at working email into my work schedule; I'm starting to get messages a lot more frequently than ever before.
By far the most in depth video this year. I agree mostly all starter fertilizer has fast release nitrogen in it and it's not available for the new germinating grass.Also I agree but most people don't seem to understand is that oxide form of any micronutrient is not plant available for a long long time. I cant wait to see the results.
Thanks Marc, I'm glad this is being well received. I wasn't sure, had my doubts just winging it. It's been a week. Anyway, those are the main takeaways, fert at time of seeding is just too early unless you go out of your way to apply stuff that won't be available for a month or so to begin with, minors need to be available otherwise you should apply knowing they won't be available for a LONG time. Azomite does assimilate into soil VERY slowly though so that's something I didn't go into at all. Greensand is faster but even harder to apply, it's basically a dust! Also, me too! I'm so excited to see the results. I'm planning a full reno video for June with the reveal. I want to do it sooner than later but I'll be so tempted to real early. It'll be a beast of a video though so it'll probably get released on a saturday or sunday in mid june to give subs a chance to see it with more free time on hand. We'll see. I'm not good at making short videos for my big projects but I'll try my best to keep it kind of tight. lol
@@TurfMechanic this is definitely not your average lawn renovation by far!!!! You really go the extra mile on teaching the lawn community about lawncare and go in depth on products. Keep up the amazing work!!!!
I have a question that has been bothering me for so long and Google search was no luck. For example in a 15 pound bag of 12-12-12 fertilizer, I understand that 12% of the bag is N, 12% is P, 12% is K. What in the world exactly is in the other 9.6 pounds of the bag?
Videos like this is why I love your channel. Complete over-thinking things just for entertainment value, and it's just really interesting to watch. I'll continue just using Anderson's starter with weed control, but I love seeing your process here. Watched the whole video.
"Complete over-thinking things just for entertainment value" - LOL, this might be my favorite comment in a while! This is exactly what I do! LOL - Thank you for your comment and for your regular viewership, I value people like you Patrick!
I've done everything right before overseeding my 30 year old lawn. I cut it short, dethatched it with a pull behind unit, swept all trimmngs, and dead grass with a pull behind sweeper, ands seeded 2 pounds turf type tall fesque in Michigan. I can only find 12-12-12 fertilizer. I will put it down just after is sprounts. BUT, how much do I spread? I heard 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per thousand sq. ft. But that's different for different analysis blends. So how much do I put down? Thanks for responding back. THUMBS UP!!!f
Thanks for sharing, never gave it thought about the N timing, that is helpful, seems like we are wasting too much Nitrogen on the early stage. I use 10-20-20 to feed my trees so i also use it on my new seedings or in sparse areas to promote growth.
Yeah timing is always the hard part and it's why bags of starter fert are so alluring, apply everything, seed and fert all at the same time. It's palatable for the average homeowner but certainly not the best solution for seed starting. Another thing I didn't mention in the vid was walking over new seedlings is bad for them..but walking over seed prior to germination is not that bad. I applied the fert last week on Thursday the 12th I think, seeded on Friday the 13th, and I walk all over it keeping it moist. By Wednesday the 18th I'll finally walk over it again using my spray solution of Tenacity and Seabird Guano just prior to my anticipated germination date on the 19th and 20th. That way I can let the seedlings grow for nearly 21 full days before I finally walk over them again with the sprayer for round two of mesotrione and a reel mower.
Thanks Dan, im glad I checked you out after seeing you referenced on the Girlzlawn vid - there's a lot of us so it's hard to keep up with everyone especially during season when we're all busy doing stuff filming and editing. Dec through Feb is for catch up, lol. I saw your post about your hearing, hope you and docs can figure things out! Stay positive, it goes a long way.
Thanks Brian. Love how you tweak the process and make it your own. Last time I overseeded I just sprayed kelp and humic to the area and had amazing results. Starter fertilizer always scared me because of the high nitrogen and phosphorus. IMO I felt there is no way those high N and P would coincide with the grass nutrient need timing. In retrospect if you are doing a decent job of maintenance simply getting that amazing bio stimulant kick from kelp with its amazing nutrient profile is all you need. Thanks again for your perspective. Have you always had braces? You are slowly turning into the Robert Redford of southern Oregon
A lot of good information here. did you till up the top 4 inches after killing the old grass off to get the thatch well mingled in? So far, i am not in favor of using any form of herbicide around the first two months of seeding. I am sure some areas are really bad and need some sort of selective pre-emergent, but i find that it slows things up by 2x. I just pull the big ones up as they come and then do a spot spray of post-emergent (ex Tenacity) later if it gets out of control.
Instead of tilling soil I removed all (most) dead material and thatch with a weed eater to the dirt then covered the lawn with a thin layer of topsoil after a deep rain event. The lower ground was pretty moist from the rain so I don't suspect the seeds will have any trouble rooting down. The Lawn will end up being slightly flatter now than it was originally. I suspect we'll see first sprouts on Friday so tomorrow I'll be applying tenacity along with cytogro, then three weeks from now I'll do it again with a bit of the bat guano solution mixed in. Other than tenacity I don't think there will be weed pressure of any major level but only time will tell.
Excellent video. Thanks for going the extra mile to do this. After gaining some experience with conventional products, I am now much more interested in getting results with natural ingredients. This was very helpful for that….along with the explanations. Well done!
Definitely organic over chemical And something most people don’t know is, the only real guano is seabird. Everything else is just crap. And because the seabirds main diet is fish, it is rich in micronutrients Used it for 30 years in hills of Mendocino co. Makes a great tea for watering in to soil or foliar feed. 1600, from Spanish guano "dung, fertilizing excrement," especially of sea-birds on islands off Peru, from Quechua (Inca) huanu "dung."
YES!! getting ready for this video I couldn't help saying the word guano way too often around the house using the full Ace Ventura voice! LOL I am excited to make my foliar app, I will have fun with it :D
Hey Brian, Great video. I wish I've watched it a year ago when I was planning on overseeding my lawn this year. So it's been 21 days since I've overseeded with tall fescue and I was recommended by the nursery store to put starter fert can't remember the brand but it was a 16-16-16. I will be doing the first mow. My question is, do I need to reapply starter fertilizer? Or should I go with regular fertilizer? which fertilizer would you recommend me using and when to apply it?
Wow great vlog Brian lot info. I have same question as lysaw. My phos soil test is always way high and I don't use phos much at all. When seeding can I eliminate the phos??.
Hi Brian, thank you for these amazing videos. Being a new home owner, I have learned a lot from you. I did a soil test and my soil has high P and K and very low N. I want to overseed my front yard and my backyard just has weeds and some grass. In this case should I go with a balanced NPK ratio or just something with N ?
Hi Brian. Great knowledge. Do you do any consulting? I am beginning to do do a 8500 sf area that I'm seeding with zoysia. In this video you talk about putting down fertilizers before the top soil. I just want to get it right. I want to know if you could write down the steps and what product to put down and when. Let me know if you could do that at a fee?
Great video , question i have is. When seeding. My phos is high would something like 10-0-2 soy bean meal be fine at seeding , always used starter fert ...
straight soybean meal is closer to a 7-1-2 ratio which is better than 10-0-2. For those that have naturally high P levels in your lawn soil like you say you do then I'd try to get something less balanced - mix in something extra to get some extra (or less) P and K - Langbeinite is an 0-0-22 and Bone meal is 3-15-0 - if you mix these kind of products together it's easy to get something somewhat balanced or correct for your soil that is all slowly available to the plants as they grow from seed. Rock phosphate is another option that is heavy on P and slowly available as a 0-3-0. while alfalfa meal is good to at 2.5-0.5-2.5.
YM SOP has a coating that doesn’t appear to breakdown very fast. I applied on April 5th and can still find the orange capsules. When you press them, they ooze out what looks like a gray substance (potash?).
Interesting, I'll look for this. In all honesty I'm glad to hear it breaks down slow. It's a very concentrated capsule. I actually wish it had more filler so I could get more material down, would be easier to spread thinnly IMO. My guess is moisture and higher temps than many places get on 4/5 would break that coating down faster though. Just an assumption.
Shipping can be expensive, agreed, I did tye online purchase though from yard Mastery. One bag covera a lot of territory though so ill be able to use mine for a long time.
I get a lot of my stuff from my local Grange Co-op or in this case from my local gardening supply store. I go to a local place called Basin Indoor Gardening and recommend my viewers to find the local gardening stores near to them. Think of your lawn as an "ornamental ground cover garden". It'll change your perspective on the lawn quite a bit. My local guys carry the "Down To Earth" brand which I use a lot. Some of there stuff is on Amazon but not everything.
In simplistic terms, some leaches away, some goes through nitrification, some gasses off, some is used by soil microbiology (critters) in the lawn, some is held in the soil as a nutrient balance for use later. In summary, a lot is wasted on things unrelated to the growth of grass. Urea gasses off much more than other forms and that is frequently found in bagged starter fertilizers while ammonium sulfate leaches away is used by non-grass activity.
you are right, and that's why companies bag starter fertilizers - for spreading prior to germination. Most people spread at time of seeding, better is to spread just as seeds germinate, best is to spread these after seeds have grown for a week...except new sprouts are delicate and walking on them right after germination isn't advised. That's why I'm a proponent of putting slowly released nutrients down prior to germination so that we don't have to walk on the lawn for a while after the seedlings sprout. If I can time nutrient availability for after seeds have grown for a week or two then that's best but harder to achieve.
Wow! This video was great Brian, thank you for getting so comprehensive. Explaining not just the what but the why as well. I've been using the Scott's for my starter. I've seen alfalfa meal and wanted to try it for a year now. I guess I now have the confidence and a plan. Thanks again for the great content.
Dude! Thank you! I was worried it was coming out too messy. I'm glad so many people seem to be finding it a good value add to their day. Definitely get yourself a bag of alfalfa meal and add it to any seed you ever drop, it's so good for seeding even though it's lacking a bit in the P dept. Through in some cytokinins and trace elements and that grass will be so strong so quickly. Azomite is a slower release of trace elements but easier to apply, for something nearly as good but harder to apply but releases trace nutrients faster go with greensand. All of this stuff is awesome and it's what the best gardeners use for soil building.
Question for ya on the meso... Seed Super Store told me not to use meso on fine fescue when seeding... I used their shady mix SS6000... Have you heard that about meso and fine fescue?
Yeah, I caused some bleaching on some of the fine with the meso. I was going to do multiple rounds of it but decided against. It didnt kill all the fine but I'm sure it probably killed some of it. I will probably have to do a light fine overseed in August to ensure we've got a good mix of fescues in the final mature lawn.
@@TurfMechanic I seeded with it last fall, and didn't use anything for weeds... I did not kill off what was there first though, wish I did now, but is what it is, but I used TZone on it this spring mostly for clover and it seemed to handle that well.
@@TurfMechanic Not as far as I could tell... It said to use 1.2-1.5 fl oz per 1,000 sq ft... I used the lower 1.2 per gallon... Took out the clover, still green... Can tell because I missed one area (got distracted I guess) where clover was and the grass there still looks like the grass in the rest of the lawn
I was hesitant to cut all the dead material back because it's a bit time consuming. If you don't add soil on top of it then it would reduce seed soil contact...but would help retain moisture and keep seed moist longer while also reducing the chances of runnoff. I chose to cut it away though because leaving it there would result in a slightly lumpier lawn. I added soil on top so even if I had left it I would still have had good seed/soil contact and with soil on top of it the dead material would decompose a lot quicker.
@@TurfMechanic fair enough. Here in Canada I’ve never seen anyone burn a lawn like you Americans do. Here when people renovate, they mechanically remove the old turf, and come in with a couple of inches of top soil.
@@homer009x I'm curious since I know Canadians regularly don't have access to products USA residents can buy, can Canadian residents actually buy glyphosate or glufosinate? If not then mechanical removal becomes far more attractive choice even though it is costly.
Yes actually, Round-up is one of the rare chemicals we can still buy. Although maybe not for much longer. I think it’s a cultural thing, people have been made scared of chemicals and most will favour the mechanical approach.
You clearly know your sh!t and your videos single handedly made my lawn look like a baseball field along with putting my neighbor's lawns to shame but I don't understand the overseeding and herbicide rule. I can proudly say I no longer use weed and feed products in the spring, now I just spot weed with a tank sprayer, that being said fall is near and I'm 2 weeks into my seasonal overseed project, my grass seed has germinated and currently standing at a soft 2" and growing but due to this higher-than-average Kansas summer drought I have more weeds than normal. RUclips says never use herbicides when overseeding because it will abort the baby grass. Please advise so I don't become a grass seed murderer.
LOL At the end he says the best option is a multi bag + bottle option which is highly not user friendly, I suppose this video is more geared towards the 1% of really strict lawn growers out there. not for the average person.
That's probably a good piece of advice even when talking about a utility sink on a septic system. I'm not immune to making suspect decisions, in this case the mixing location could be improved. 👊
►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄
Every time you slapped the bags I gained a bit more trust in the advice given..well played sir
lol
Hey Brian,
I think you made this video just for me. Man, this goes back to one of your past videos on lawn mistakes to avoid. First, I will not seed again in the Spring- too many weeds and sacrificing not applying pre-emergent.
Second, I made the mistake you are speaking of right now which explains the lime green color I’m seeing .
I applied a urea based starter fertilizer high in nitrogen ( 20-0-5) the same time of seeding.
Trust me for any watching this video, this man knows what he is talking about. I seeded early in spring and had I known , I would not have applied starter fert with urea.
Not the results I was hoping for.
Perhaps you posted a past video about this but wish I knew. Won’t make this mistake again! Now I have to figure out how to fix the lime green color. I do need to apply tenacity to control the weeds, I’m just concerned about browning the my grass.
Again, thanks for this hard lesson I just learned on lawn mistakes not to make!
You need to educate some of these lawn gurus if you ask me.
May I send you a picture of my lawn?
Hey Thurston, I'm glad this was timely but a bit late for you. Spring is such a natural growth period for grass that it's easy to push unsustainable growth. Baby grass is the same, the structure of the grass needs to establish well before top growth is pushed hard. That's why minors, trace minerals, hormones, and stimulants work well. I didn't even mention in this vid but I also applied a heavy dose of biochar before the topsoil. As for the weeds during seeding, most people know about mesotrione but they overlook the short-lived effects of the product. Last Spring when seeding my small area I applied Tenacity four times every 24 days or so depending on weather from late April into late June! It's a big task to stop those weeds during Spring seeding that most people just don't follow all the way through. Go ahead and send a pic, my brian@ turfmechanic.com email should work. I'm terrible at responding to it but I do look at it from time to time...I need to get better at working email into my work schedule; I'm starting to get messages a lot more frequently than ever before.
@@TurfMechanic Thanks Brian
Emailed two sets of pictures
Can't wait to see the progression of your project, love seeing new grass grow
Me too Del, new grass from seed is literally the best! So much nicer than sod or "old" grass. :D
You're batting 1000. Your videos really are next level.
One of these I'll hit a line drive right to the shortstop! LOL
By far the most in depth video this year. I agree mostly all starter fertilizer has fast release nitrogen in it and it's not available for the new germinating grass.Also I agree but most people don't seem to understand is that oxide form of any micronutrient is not plant available for a long long time. I cant wait to see the results.
Thanks Marc, I'm glad this is being well received. I wasn't sure, had my doubts just winging it. It's been a week. Anyway, those are the main takeaways, fert at time of seeding is just too early unless you go out of your way to apply stuff that won't be available for a month or so to begin with, minors need to be available otherwise you should apply knowing they won't be available for a LONG time. Azomite does assimilate into soil VERY slowly though so that's something I didn't go into at all. Greensand is faster but even harder to apply, it's basically a dust! Also, me too! I'm so excited to see the results. I'm planning a full reno video for June with the reveal. I want to do it sooner than later but I'll be so tempted to real early. It'll be a beast of a video though so it'll probably get released on a saturday or sunday in mid june to give subs a chance to see it with more free time on hand. We'll see. I'm not good at making short videos for my big projects but I'll try my best to keep it kind of tight. lol
@@TurfMechanic this is definitely not your average lawn renovation by far!!!! You really go the extra mile on teaching the lawn community about lawncare and go in depth on products. Keep up the amazing work!!!!
Great video, Brian! You must have to purchase all those compared products out-of-pocket. It is appreciated.
I have a question that has been bothering me for so long and Google search was no luck. For example in a 15 pound bag of 12-12-12 fertilizer, I understand that 12% of the bag is N, 12% is P, 12% is K. What in the world exactly is in the other 9.6 pounds of the bag?
Videos like this is why I love your channel. Complete over-thinking things just for entertainment value, and it's just really interesting to watch.
I'll continue just using Anderson's starter with weed control, but I love seeing your process here. Watched the whole video.
"Complete over-thinking things just for entertainment value" - LOL, this might be my favorite comment in a while! This is exactly what I do! LOL - Thank you for your comment and for your regular viewership, I value people like you Patrick!
I've done everything right before overseeding my 30 year old lawn. I cut it short, dethatched it with a pull behind unit, swept all trimmngs, and dead grass with a pull behind sweeper, ands seeded 2 pounds turf type tall fesque in Michigan. I can only find 12-12-12 fertilizer. I will put it down just after is sprounts. BUT, how much do I spread? I heard 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per thousand sq. ft. But that's different for different analysis blends. So how much do I put down? Thanks for responding back. THUMBS UP!!!f
Thanks for sharing, never gave it thought about the N timing, that is helpful, seems like we are wasting too much Nitrogen on the early stage. I use 10-20-20 to feed my trees so i also use it on my new seedings or in sparse areas to promote growth.
Yeah timing is always the hard part and it's why bags of starter fert are so alluring, apply everything, seed and fert all at the same time. It's palatable for the average homeowner but certainly not the best solution for seed starting. Another thing I didn't mention in the vid was walking over new seedlings is bad for them..but walking over seed prior to germination is not that bad. I applied the fert last week on Thursday the 12th I think, seeded on Friday the 13th, and I walk all over it keeping it moist. By Wednesday the 18th I'll finally walk over it again using my spray solution of Tenacity and Seabird Guano just prior to my anticipated germination date on the 19th and 20th. That way I can let the seedlings grow for nearly 21 full days before I finally walk over them again with the sprayer for round two of mesotrione and a reel mower.
love these fertilizer videos... i tend to get a little creative with my plan too, the azomite & alfalfa look awesome!
New Sub! looking forward to your future video! I cant believe I never seen your channel before now I am hooked!
Thanks Dan, im glad I checked you out after seeing you referenced on the Girlzlawn vid - there's a lot of us so it's hard to keep up with everyone especially during season when we're all busy doing stuff filming and editing. Dec through Feb is for catch up, lol. I saw your post about your hearing, hope you and docs can figure things out! Stay positive, it goes a long way.
Jeeeeeeziz dude, you stopped short of a blanket for each blade of grass to tuck them in at night!!
Don’t let the lawn care lunatics I mean fanatics see that spreader lol. Great video.
LOL! Don't tell Ryan or Allyn! They'd disown me! :P
Thanks Brian. Love how you tweak the process and make it your own. Last time I overseeded I just sprayed kelp and humic to the area and had amazing results. Starter fertilizer always scared me because of the high nitrogen and phosphorus. IMO I felt there is no way those high N and P would coincide with the grass nutrient need timing.
In retrospect if you are doing a decent job of maintenance simply getting that amazing bio stimulant kick from kelp with its amazing nutrient profile is all you need.
Thanks again for your perspective. Have you always had braces? You are slowly turning into the Robert Redford of southern Oregon
In Scotts defence, their seed bags say to wait 2 weeks before applying their scotts lawn food starter fertilizers.
Flip the bag - Smack the bag - Read the label. Every. Damn. Time. lol
It's the code we all know deep in our souls 😃
you said you did 1lb of each into your spreader, but how much sq ft did that 3 lbs of products mixed together cover??
A lot of good information here. did you till up the top 4 inches after killing the old grass off to get the thatch well mingled in?
So far, i am not in favor of using any form of herbicide around the first two months of seeding. I am sure some areas are really bad and need some sort of selective pre-emergent, but i find that it slows things up by 2x. I just pull the big ones up as they come and then do a spot spray of post-emergent (ex Tenacity) later if it gets out of control.
Instead of tilling soil I removed all (most) dead material and thatch with a weed eater to the dirt then covered the lawn with a thin layer of topsoil after a deep rain event. The lower ground was pretty moist from the rain so I don't suspect the seeds will have any trouble rooting down. The Lawn will end up being slightly flatter now than it was originally. I suspect we'll see first sprouts on Friday so tomorrow I'll be applying tenacity along with cytogro, then three weeks from now I'll do it again with a bit of the bat guano solution mixed in. Other than tenacity I don't think there will be weed pressure of any major level but only time will tell.
Excellent video. Thanks for going the extra mile to do this. After gaining some experience with conventional products, I am now much more interested in getting results with natural ingredients. This was very helpful for that….along with the explanations. Well done!
Definitely organic over chemical
And something most people don’t know is, the only real guano is seabird. Everything else is just crap.
And because the seabirds main diet is fish, it is rich in micronutrients
Used it for 30 years in hills of Mendocino co.
Makes a great tea for watering in to soil or foliar feed.
1600, from Spanish guano "dung, fertilizing excrement," especially of sea-birds on islands off Peru, from Quechua (Inca) huanu "dung."
Lol guano reminds me of of when ace ventura was eating bat guano w the African tribe and didn’t know what it was 😂
YES!! getting ready for this video I couldn't help saying the word guano way too often around the house using the full Ace Ventura voice! LOL I am excited to make my foliar app, I will have fun with it :D
Hey Brian,
Great video. I wish I've watched it a year ago when I was planning on overseeding my lawn this year. So it's been 21 days since I've overseeded with tall fescue and I was recommended by the nursery store to put starter fert can't remember the brand but it was a 16-16-16. I will be doing the first mow. My question is, do I need to reapply starter fertilizer? Or should I go with regular fertilizer? which fertilizer would you recommend me using and when to apply it?
Wow great vlog Brian lot info. I have same question as lysaw. My phos soil test is always way high and I don't use phos much at all. When seeding can I eliminate the phos??.
Yes, if youbhave naturally high P levels in tge soil then you could probably skip that nutrient. Just push slow N and K and you'll probably be fine.
Hi Brian, thank you for these amazing videos. Being a new home owner, I have learned a lot from you. I did a soil test and my soil has high P and K and very low N. I want to overseed my front yard and my backyard just has weeds and some grass. In this case should I go with a balanced NPK ratio or just something with N ?
Hi Brian. Great knowledge. Do you do any consulting? I am beginning to do do a 8500 sf area that I'm seeding with zoysia. In this video you talk about putting down fertilizers before the top soil.
I just want to get it right.
I want to know if you could write down the steps and what product to put down and when. Let me know if you could do that at a fee?
Good video information. Do you know roughly how much all these products would cost for an average 10,000 sq ft lawn? Thanks
Great video , question i have is. When seeding. My phos is high would something like 10-0-2 soy bean meal be fine at seeding , always used starter fert ...
straight soybean meal is closer to a 7-1-2 ratio which is better than 10-0-2. For those that have naturally high P levels in your lawn soil like you say you do then I'd try to get something less balanced - mix in something extra to get some extra (or less) P and K - Langbeinite is an 0-0-22 and Bone meal is 3-15-0 - if you mix these kind of products together it's easy to get something somewhat balanced or correct for your soil that is all slowly available to the plants as they grow from seed. Rock phosphate is another option that is heavy on P and slowly available as a 0-3-0. while alfalfa meal is good to at 2.5-0.5-2.5.
Will any type surfactant hurt your newly seeded area?
YM SOP has a coating that doesn’t appear to breakdown very fast. I applied on April 5th and can still find the orange capsules. When you press them, they ooze out what looks like a gray substance (potash?).
Interesting, I'll look for this. In all honesty I'm glad to hear it breaks down slow. It's a very concentrated capsule. I actually wish it had more filler so I could get more material down, would be easier to spread thinnly IMO. My guess is moisture and higher temps than many places get on 4/5 would break that coating down faster though. Just an assumption.
How much of the alfalfa meal do you put down per acre? Thanks for the videos!!! Priceless
Always great info thanks again brother
Thanks as always Allen for your regular views and comments - I hope I continue to add value for you!
where did you get your sulfate of potash? I can seem to find it anywhere except online and shipping is horrendous.
Shipping can be expensive, agreed, I did tye online purchase though from yard Mastery. One bag covera a lot of territory though so ill be able to use mine for a long time.
Do you have a video of the reseeding of this lawn?
Where did you get the alfalfa pellets
I get a lot of my stuff from my local Grange Co-op or in this case from my local gardening supply store. I go to a local place called Basin Indoor Gardening and recommend my viewers to find the local gardening stores near to them. Think of your lawn as an "ornamental ground cover garden". It'll change your perspective on the lawn quite a bit. My local guys carry the "Down To Earth" brand which I use a lot. Some of there stuff is on Amazon but not everything.
What uses the N if there is no grass growing? Or does it simply evaporate.
In simplistic terms, some leaches away, some goes through nitrification, some gasses off, some is used by soil microbiology (critters) in the lawn, some is held in the soil as a nutrient balance for use later. In summary, a lot is wasted on things unrelated to the growth of grass. Urea gasses off much more than other forms and that is frequently found in bagged starter fertilizers while ammonium sulfate leaches away is used by non-grass activity.
I feel like it would be much easier to wait until seeds start to germinate and then spreading out one of the starter ferts
Only problem with that is if you've covered the seeds, it's difficult to tell when they've begun germinating.
you are right, and that's why companies bag starter fertilizers - for spreading prior to germination. Most people spread at time of seeding, better is to spread just as seeds germinate, best is to spread these after seeds have grown for a week...except new sprouts are delicate and walking on them right after germination isn't advised. That's why I'm a proponent of putting slowly released nutrients down prior to germination so that we don't have to walk on the lawn for a while after the seedlings sprout. If I can time nutrient availability for after seeds have grown for a week or two then that's best but harder to achieve.
Wow!
This video was great Brian, thank you for getting so comprehensive. Explaining not just the what but the why as well. I've been using the Scott's for my starter. I've seen alfalfa meal and wanted to try it for a year now. I guess I now have the confidence and a plan. Thanks again for the great content.
Dude! Thank you! I was worried it was coming out too messy. I'm glad so many people seem to be finding it a good value add to their day. Definitely get yourself a bag of alfalfa meal and add it to any seed you ever drop, it's so good for seeding even though it's lacking a bit in the P dept. Through in some cytokinins and trace elements and that grass will be so strong so quickly. Azomite is a slower release of trace elements but easier to apply, for something nearly as good but harder to apply but releases trace nutrients faster go with greensand. All of this stuff is awesome and it's what the best gardeners use for soil building.
Question for ya on the meso... Seed Super Store told me not to use meso on fine fescue when seeding... I used their shady mix SS6000... Have you heard that about meso and fine fescue?
Yeah, I caused some bleaching on some of the fine with the meso. I was going to do multiple rounds of it but decided against. It didnt kill all the fine but I'm sure it probably killed some of it. I will probably have to do a light fine overseed in August to ensure we've got a good mix of fescues in the final mature lawn.
@@TurfMechanic I seeded with it last fall, and didn't use anything for weeds... I did not kill off what was there first though, wish I did now, but is what it is, but I used TZone on it this spring mostly for clover and it seemed to handle that well.
@@tomleiss5374 that's good to know - your saying tzone didn't harm the fine this Spring?
@@TurfMechanic Not as far as I could tell... It said to use 1.2-1.5 fl oz per 1,000 sq ft... I used the lower 1.2 per gallon... Took out the clover, still green... Can tell because I missed one area (got distracted I guess) where clover was and the grass there still looks like the grass in the rest of the lawn
@@tomleiss5374 thanks for that Tom!
Leaving the old dead plant material on the soil… doesn’t they lead to thatch or reduce seed to soil contact?
I was hesitant to cut all the dead material back because it's a bit time consuming. If you don't add soil on top of it then it would reduce seed soil contact...but would help retain moisture and keep seed moist longer while also reducing the chances of runnoff. I chose to cut it away though because leaving it there would result in a slightly lumpier lawn. I added soil on top so even if I had left it I would still have had good seed/soil contact and with soil on top of it the dead material would decompose a lot quicker.
@@TurfMechanic fair enough. Here in Canada I’ve never seen anyone burn a lawn like you Americans do.
Here when people renovate, they mechanically remove the old turf, and come in with a couple of inches of top soil.
@@homer009x I'm curious since I know Canadians regularly don't have access to products USA residents can buy, can Canadian residents actually buy glyphosate or glufosinate? If not then mechanical removal becomes far more attractive choice even though it is costly.
Yes actually, Round-up is one of the rare chemicals we can still buy. Although maybe not for much longer.
I think it’s a cultural thing, people have been made scared of chemicals and most will favour the mechanical approach.
Why fescue?
How about 16-16-16
You clearly know your sh!t and your videos single handedly made my lawn look like a baseball field along with putting my neighbor's lawns to shame but I don't understand the overseeding and herbicide rule. I can proudly say I no longer use weed and feed products in the spring, now I just spot weed with a tank sprayer, that being said fall is near and I'm 2 weeks into my seasonal overseed project, my grass seed has germinated and currently standing at a soft 2" and growing but due to this higher-than-average Kansas summer drought I have more weeds than normal. RUclips says never use herbicides when overseeding because it will abort the baby grass. Please advise so I don't become a grass seed murderer.
Just put the fertilizer down when the new grass is coming up.
To bad California doesn’t allow Tenancity 😭
LOL At the end he says the best option is a multi bag + bottle option which is highly not user friendly, I suppose this video is more geared towards the 1% of really strict lawn growers out there. not for the average person.
Where can i buy a generic tenacity?
Please don't open or mix herbicides in a sink.
That's probably a good piece of advice even when talking about a utility sink on a septic system. I'm not immune to making suspect decisions, in this case the mixing location could be improved. 👊
He said he was using his own.. bro, you're using your own poop? I mean if it works 😱😐😬😵🤨
🤢🤢🤮💩