Search found 33 matches

by BobL
March 7th, 2020, 1:59 am
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: BobL's Soil Test 2020
Replies: 2
Views: 237

Re: BobL's Soil Test 2020

Thanks, Andy, sounds consistent with what I was thinking. pH from my first test (1999, iirc) was something like 5.7-5.9, so I'm guessing it may also be the rain acidity, surrounding soil, climate, etc., working to get the soil back to it's natural long-term state. In the past I've let it drop over t...
by BobL
February 22nd, 2020, 10:39 pm
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: BobL's Soil Test 2020
Replies: 2
Views: 237

BobL's Soil Test 2020

Test is in in for this year. I'm writing off last year' P number as an anomaly. I use the same sampling process every year, but something seems to have contaminated it. K and S keep climbing, but i may need to increase the SOP rate this year as it still has a way to go. Fwiw, I'm still skeptical of ...
by BobL
January 27th, 2020, 1:25 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: 2020: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?
Replies: 255
Views: 25305

Re: 2020: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?

I dug up all of the forms and contact info for soil testing, and made plans for overseeding next week based on the weather forecast. I'll pull samples for soil testing as part of the prep work.
by BobL
January 27th, 2020, 1:22 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Dormant Seeding Work for you.
Replies: 24
Views: 1395

Re: Dormant Seeding Work for you.

I'll probably be out on February 3 raking the ground and laying down seed in bare spots and then overseeding the rest of the lawn. We have about 3 days of above freezing weather, so I can do a bit of prep, then a day of rain turning to snow to water it down into the thawed soil, cover it up, and sta...
by BobL
February 21st, 2019, 5:35 pm
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Fall Nitrogen Regimens
Replies: 1227
Views: 200132

Re: Fall Nitrogen Regimens

I think my take is along the same lines, but my question relates to his follow-up comment after banking N from November - a spring application that could have the same effect In that past I've dropped .5lb N via straight Urea alongside pre-emergent in very late March and seem to get pretty much the ...
by BobL
February 21st, 2019, 12:44 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Solution additives question
Replies: 3
Views: 276

Re: Solution additives question

DMSO will also go through the nitrile gloves you might think to use as a protectant. If you're going to experimenter with it, get neoprene, butyl rubber or thick latex gloves.
by BobL
February 16th, 2019, 12:40 am
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: Eskcipher 2019 Soil Test
Replies: 19
Views: 487

Re: Eskcipher 2019 Soil Test

Wow - I can't wait to see the interpretation of this one.

(Sorry, nothing of value to add :)
by BobL
February 5th, 2019, 5:02 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: 2019: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?
Replies: 391
Views: 19059

Re: 2019: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?

As I was cleaning the garage this weekend I ran across some leftover seed I had used last fall, just after reading a Kansas State study showing early February as the best time for dormant seeding - https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/agent-articles/lawns/dormant-seeding-lawns.html - so I gra...
by BobL
January 28th, 2019, 11:43 pm
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Fall Nitrogen Regimens
Replies: 1227
Views: 200132

Re: Fall Nitrogen Regimens

Some interesting research around fall fertilization, potentially at odds with existing beliefs/practices. My interpretation is that it may indicate that post-stoppage treatments actually don't get taken up by the roots and sit in the soil until Spring. In sandy soil, it might leech away and have lit...
by BobL
January 12th, 2019, 1:47 am
Forum: Equipment
Topic: What's the difference between a cheap lawn tractor and a pricey one?
Replies: 37
Views: 2476

Re: What's the difference between a cheap lawn tractor and a pricey one?

Just a note from the other side.... A “real” tractor is certainly needed if you’re plowing snow, pulling heavy loads, etc. and racking up 1000 hours in a few years, as noted above. On the other hand, I bought a “big box” version from a Home Depot 11 years age (L115) and have used it to mow the 17K s...
by BobL
January 12th, 2019, 1:33 am
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels
Replies: 69
Views: 2652

Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

A majority of fertilizer ingredients are salts. The salt index relates their osmotic potential to that of sodium nitrate. 100 is just a defined index, much like you can buy gas with an octane rating from 85 to 110+. 100 isn’t a magic number, it’s just the knock resistance if pure octane, to which ot...
by BobL
January 12th, 2019, 1:19 am
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels
Replies: 69
Views: 2652

Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

Chemically, salt is a general term used to describe an ionic compound formed from the reaction of an acid and a base. NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl, KAI(SO4)2 are all salts (the latter is a double salt) as are hundreds of other compounds, with a broad range of color, melting point, taste, solubility, Oder, etc....
by BobL
January 7th, 2019, 5:25 pm
Forum: Weather
Topic: What Was Your 2018 Final Precipitation Number?
Replies: 3
Views: 407

Re: What Was Your 2018 Final Precipitation Number?

60.8 inches at the WeatherUnderground station down the street from me. Most cities/towns around hear broke all-time annual records, typically 60 +/- 5 inches.

NWS says the annual average is 38.4
by BobL
January 3rd, 2019, 5:24 pm
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: 2019: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?
Replies: 391
Views: 19059

Re: 2019: What Did You Do On Your Lawn Today?

I finally closed out 2018 year-end activities. I cleaned/serviced the mower, trimmer, etc., over Thanksgiving, but it was time for my every-3-years overhaul of the tractor. After filters, plugs, oil, etc., I dropped the deck and scraped/wirebrushed pretty much everything that was painted. Then, give...
by BobL
December 28th, 2018, 2:42 pm
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: End of season pictures
Replies: 5
Views: 640

Re: End of season pictures

I found this as I was sorting through photos. Looked pretty good late in the year, other than right up against the street.
Image
by BobL
December 21st, 2018, 6:07 pm
Forum: Soil management and compost forum
Topic: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels
Replies: 69
Views: 2652

Re: Reading and Interpreting Fertilizer Labels

(1) What are the source ingredients for Nitrogen (N) in the fertilizer? Urea - straight CO(NH2)2 - the fast release N in this mix - urease/AOB quickly breaks this into NH3 or NH4+ and HCO3- Ureaformaldehyde - produced from urea and formaldehyde - decomposes into CO2 and NH3 slowly through microbial ...
by BobL
December 21st, 2018, 5:34 pm
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Grass dormancy & coloring
Replies: 2
Views: 316

Re: Grass dormancy & coloring

I've noticed both of these. My lawn always has a layer of yellow-ish grass low in the yard that doesn't really grow much. So when I cut short it looks more yellow, as that grass is visible. As the good grass grows, the green covers and hides the yellow underneath. In the Spring, just as growth is st...
by BobL
December 4th, 2018, 2:55 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: 2018: What did you do on your lawn today?
Replies: 725
Views: 27743

Re: 2018: What did you do on your lawn today?

Winterized the lawnmower and edger/weed-whacker - clean/wax, run final stabilized fuel until empty, oil in the spark plug hole, etc. Cleaned and put away the cart, spreaders, tools, gas cans, etc. The tractor is still taking a spot in the garage awaiting it's winterization. It's the only thing left,...
by BobL
November 26th, 2018, 1:40 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: Snow cover before winterizer.
Replies: 18
Views: 1115

Re: Snow cover before winterizer.

I highly recommend a soil thermometer - $17 at Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Vee-Gee-Scientific-82160-6-Thermometer/dp/B07BSSZX1C/ I've periodically look at Greencast and the NRCS Soil Temp graphs - the correlation to my own data is decent but nowhere near perfect. After 10+ years, I have a pretty...
by BobL
November 26th, 2018, 1:18 am
Forum: Cool-season grasses
Topic: 2018: What did you do on your lawn today?
Replies: 725
Views: 27743

Re: 2018: What did you do on your lawn today?

I made a last pass with the mower & tractor today, mostly to imprint a checkerboard for the winter and pick up leaves. There were very few clippings, so putting the urea down about 2 weeks ago worked out well. Equipment is now in the garage, waiting on the biannual strip-down, repaint, wax, etc, ful...