Search found 3108 matches

by Dchall_San_Antonio
September 18th, 2023, 3:11 am
Forum: Water cooler
Topic: Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS)
Replies: 1
Views: 1285

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS)

I've been looking at ways to clean grout in a shower and the idea of quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATS) has come up. Quats seem to be the ingredients in bactericidal and disinfecting soaps, so I'm thinking morph is going to have some information about quats. Certainly anyone with knowledge about ...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
September 15th, 2023, 4:01 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Patchy Emerald Zoysia
Replies: 3
Views: 1988

Re: Patchy Emerald Zoysia

It has been a full summer now. How do your patchy areas look now?
by Dchall_San_Antonio
September 15th, 2023, 3:59 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Freshly Laid Emerald Zoysia Sod - Problem?
Replies: 1
Views: 607

Re: Freshly Laid Emerald Zoysia Sod - Problem?

You've probably already paid them, but they should replace the dead pieces of sod. Also they should have smushed the sod pieces up against each other instead of leaving those huge gaps between them. Also they should not have tilled and added topsoil, but all that is water under the bridge. Overall i...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
August 5th, 2023, 4:00 am
Forum: Water cooler
Topic: No-see-ums
Replies: 2
Views: 1180

Re: No-see-ums

I have never tried a good test of this, but I had occasion to be on a crew in a Louisiana swamp for a few days (many years ago). As we drove out the first day I mentioned that I had Avon Skin So Soft to keep bugs away. One guy grabbed it right out of my hand and said, "Will this work for noseeums?" ...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
August 5th, 2023, 3:48 am
Forum: Organic lawn care
Topic: Biochar
Replies: 1
Views: 493

Biochar

I've never been as excited about biochar as a lot of my fellow organic gardening cohorts. At best I saw the material as a possible substrate to hold minerals and possible nutrients for future uptake by plants. I just came across an article which suggests something I never considered. The linked arti...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
June 12th, 2023, 6:01 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Patchy Emerald Zoysia
Replies: 3
Views: 1988

Re: Patchy Emerald Zoysia

First of all, the yard looks pretty danged good.* Regarding pictures 1 and 3, it often happens that when two massive concrete structures come together like that, the heat retained by the concrete will dry out the soil much more quickly than the rest of the lawn causing the grass to suffer from dryin...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
June 12th, 2023, 5:30 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: renovation advise
Replies: 1
Views: 590

Re: renovation advise

When you say, "Very reputable," what does that mean? Some people thing Tru-Green is very reputable. While they can be reputable in certain locations, others are not. I know this because I worked with a guy in a different industry who was a salesman for Tru-Green. I asked him some questions, and he a...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
April 26th, 2023, 4:09 pm
Forum: Organic lawn care
Topic: Few organic questions
Replies: 2
Views: 1417

Re: Few organic questions

If you visit Tractor Supply you can find pelletized corn products as well as alfalfa products. Their chicken and fish food are practical examples. The pelletized versions will flow better through a spreader than a meal, which tends to absorb humidity and stick to itself. You do pay for the pelletize...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
March 3rd, 2023, 3:59 pm
Forum: Water cooler
Topic: Dry Pour Concrete
Replies: 1
Views: 1523

Dry Pour Concrete

Has anyone here "poured" a concrete slab using the dry pour method ? In a nutshell, they set the form, fill it with dry ready-mix concrete, screed the top surface round the edges with a normal rounding tool, roll the surface with a dry paint roller to even the surface, mist the surface with water an...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
March 3rd, 2023, 2:48 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)
Replies: 4
Views: 1319

Re: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)

This is not my personal diary, here. Anyone, feel free to comment. We've had an early spring in San Antonio. We just escaped another freeze a few weeks ago, and with higher than normal temps for the past month, stuff is blooming all over town. In the past week I watered NEW grass. Normally the grass...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
February 21st, 2023, 5:03 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)
Replies: 4
Views: 1319

Re: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)

Mowed on Prez-Day and am about to spray for weeds? Seriously?! We're running a full month ahead of schedule here with temps in the 80s. What I mowed was 99.9% the dormant straw, but there are signs of life coming up. The weeds are mostly winter rye which we got by disturbing the soil and bringing up...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
February 5th, 2023, 3:22 pm
Forum: Lawn Care Basics 101
Topic: Beginner question....
Replies: 6
Views: 838

Re: Beginner question....

It looks like the OP might have moved on, but for the casual reader, one problem with the tenacious weeds is they reseed prolifically. You may have killed the plants which were growing, but seeds continue to germinate. Thus you have to repeat the treatment as soon as you see new weed growth and befo...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
February 5th, 2023, 3:14 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Feb 2023 and they're selling bermuda seed
Replies: 0
Views: 997

Feb 2023 and they're selling bermuda seed

Walked through Lowe's and Home Depot yesterday and saw bags of bermuda seed for sale. If you want to buy seed now, fine, but keep in mind that spring is not the time to seed bermuda. Wait until the heat of summer, say, June, to put it down. But also, if you think you need more seed now on your dorma...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
January 22nd, 2023, 3:51 pm
Forum: Water cooler
Topic: I Dislike This Phone
Replies: 12
Views: 2241

Re: I Dislike This Phone

I've been through a few phone companies. I started with Samsung whatever their first two models were. I don't remember why but I ended my Samsung career with a Note, because it was huge. Everyone laughed at me holding a dinner plate to my face to make a call. Who's laughing now??? By the time the No...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
January 22nd, 2023, 3:32 pm
Forum: Water cooler
Topic: Olivia Died
Replies: 10
Views: 2054

Re: Olivia Died

I'm just now catching up. I don't want to bring up old memories, but do you have any pictures of her? Maybe some childhood pictures from the proud papa when you bought her?
by Dchall_San_Antonio
January 22nd, 2023, 3:22 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)
Replies: 4
Views: 1319

Re: 2023: What Did You Do To Your Lawn Today? (Warm Season)

After the 19 degree nights a couple weeks ago, we are as dormant as we could possibly be. Still, the "Autumn" leaves are starting to fall so my wife mulched them into the dead looking canopy to clean things up. The freeze was followed by many days of very low humidity, so we have watered once since ...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
January 22nd, 2023, 3:16 pm
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area
Replies: 5
Views: 596

Re: Ok to treat fungus on St Augustine now? Blanco area

Winter is fairly restorative to St Augustine in Texas. I would not do anything until at least April, which should give the grass ample time to awaken from dormancy. If you feel like you cannot wait, then I would suggest calling your local feed stores to find a 50-pound bag of ordinary corn meal (NOT...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
September 22nd, 2022, 11:29 am
Forum: Warm-season grasses
Topic: Ants
Replies: 18
Views: 10565

Re: Ants

PW405, what do the ants seem to be attracted to? And what bothers you about them? Except for fire ants, I haven't had an ant problem in decades, but prior to that I did have some ants. Off the ant topic, I see you have both bermuda and fescue. What grass are you overseeding and dethatching this time...
by Dchall_San_Antonio
September 22nd, 2022, 11:22 am
Forum: Organic lawn care
Topic: Not exactly lawn care, but...organic nevertheless
Replies: 0
Views: 6100

Not exactly lawn care, but...organic nevertheless

Here is a link to an interesting article about using coffee pulp (byproduct of the coffee bean processing) to restore tropical forests formerly used for agriculture.
by Dchall_San_Antonio
August 11th, 2022, 9:52 pm
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: Jonie's 2022 Soil Test
Replies: 9
Views: 1992

Re: Jonie's 2022 Soil Test

Hi Jonie, glad to see you here. I've been working with Jonie via email from Houzz for several weeks. When she showed up with the LL soil test, I referred her here, of course. One thing that is very pertinent to her situation is that her weather is entirely dictated by sea breezes from the Pacific. T...