Dry Spot Experiment

[GeorgiaDad]

I'm starting to see a trend here. I just went back and looked at all of my reno photo's. What I am seeing is the last sections to germinate / fill in are the first areas going brown. Dang! I should have seen this coming. Live and learn I guess. Off to search LDS and see what I need to do? I have started spraying shampoo again. I thought since I sprayed SG I wouldn't need it. Guess its back to every 2 weeks for a while till I get it back to where it was.

Edit: Lawn faces north.

[MorpheusPA]

so how would soap help that retain water?

A couple ways. You've noticed soapy water doesn't bead up and gets things wetter faster? Ditto on the soil, and it doesn't take much soap to do that. The water sheets instead of sticking to itself and it's happier to hang around the soil particles. In a sandier soil, instead of clinging to itself as it runs through, it's more content to hang around a little.

For greasy decay (grease being a natural byproduct, along with natural waxes), it helps break those up and get rid of them. That hydrophobic soil becomes less hydrophobic over time, eventually returning to normal. That can take a while.

[MorpheusPA]

Speaking of the screwdriver test. I did some random tests. Most areas, even ones I thought were questionably dry along the sidewalk and a couple other spots, went beyond a foot w/ ease. One area along the walkway went down to 12 inches with ease, then a dead stop. Obviously must be some concrete there. Is this an issue in this area or is the 12" sufficient?

Twelve inches is more than sufficient. KBG roots reach that far, but not much further--the normal absolute maximum, usually in a sandy soil with lots of oxygen, is about sixteen to eighteen inches. I have about six to seven in my silt with a few thicker roots penetrating deeper--that's an improvement over the four inches I had three years ago.

Fescues and ryes can go deeper, but twelve is more than good enough.

[MorpheusPA]

I'm starting to see a trend here. I just went back and looked at all of my reno photo's. What I am seeing is the last sections to germinate / fill in are the first areas going brown. Dang! I should have seen this coming. Live and learn I guess. Off to search LDS and see what I need to do? I have started spraying shampoo again. I thought since I sprayed SG I wouldn't need it. Guess its back to every 2 weeks for a while till I get it back to where it was.

Edit: Lawn faces north.

Some people are reporting that SG seems to help with water retention. To date, I haven't seen that. My bad spots--there are three--wilted exactly when they should have for the weather.

Shampoo will help with LDS. So would Cascade 16g Plus if you want to use that, but it's the same stuff, just in solid form. The only other thing that helps is attention and time to let the soap work.

[John_in_SC]

What I found after using the wetting agent....

Water soaks in faster... It takes less irrigation to see the same effects compared with "Pre-wetting agent"....

Water also seems to stay in the soil longer - so I find I can go longer between irrigation than before...

Now... It doesn't make up for physical problems like shallow soil, mineral deficiencies, and the like.... so if you had a dead/dormant spot over the septic tank or a giant rock because the soil is 4" deep and it gets full sun all day long.... Well... Not much you can do there except plant Bermuda grass or make a mulch bed full of day lillies and hope for the best... The soil is going to warm up there faster and hotter than it does where the soil is deeper....

Thanks

[nclawnguy]

What I found after using the wetting agent....

Water soaks in faster... It takes less irrigation to see the same effects compared with "Pre-wetting agent"....

Water also seems to stay in the soil longer - so I find I can go longer between irrigation than before...
Thanks

Same here John, I've been using Southern AG soil wetting agent since last year, what a difference it's made on my water bill. As you know our summers down here are brutal, especially on cool season turf.

[MorpheusPA]

Update! Warranted, I applied this on the 24th, three days ago, but portions of the lawn are starting to show a little shock as we've had reasonable temperatures but lots of sun with very dry air and windy conditions.

That section hasn't faded in the slightest. This is a very good initial sign, although I won't have the final conclusion until around the Fourth.

I irrigated the entire front last night when two sections started to fade out. Those sections had also been watered on the 24th, although lighter than the inch and a half I gave the trouble spot.

[GeorgiaDad]

So this is just plain ole Dawn dish washing soap? Amazed you saw a change that fast. Hmmmmmm....could be a trip to Walmart coming up.

[Bra]

So this is just plain ole Dawn dish washing soap? Amazed you saw a change that fast. Hmmmmmm....could be a trip to Walmart coming up.

Stay away from the antibacterial style.

[GeorgiaDad]

So this is just plain ole Dawn dish washing soap? Amazed you saw a change that fast. Hmmmmmm....could be a trip to Walmart coming up.

Stay away from the antibacterial style.

Duly noted.

[MorpheusPA]

Just to keep the data set for the experiment on the up and up, I bought 240 pounds of horse bedding pellets. Traditionally, those get concentrated in the Problem Areas plus a small general cast, to the tune of 600 pounds per thousand in the problem areas.

Given how well that "bad" spot is doing, I cut that amount back by about half. The others look like there was a sawdust snowfall of a quarter inch at the moment, that area got an eighth inch.

[MorpheusPA]

Three more dry spots showed up yesterday (unsurprising in this weather). I applied sawdust to those, plus expanded the Dawn to three more spots since the original one is doing so well!

At this point, all four dry areas out front have been treated with high levels of Dawn liquid. As of this morning, they've all recovered (but were watered last night, except for the original one which didn't need it).

[NiciPicki]

Morph, I'm not too worried about shocking the grass since I'm killing it all in about a week anyway. Would there be any disadvantage to me speeding up the SC process with a heavy dish soap app like this now? I know it's a marathon and not a sprint, but I'm guessing a heavy app would be a pretty terrible idea after I've seeded.

[ Post made via Android ]

[MorpheusPA]

Morph, I'm not too worried about shocking the grass since I'm killing it all in about a week anyway. Would there be any disadvantage to me speeding up the SC process with a heavy dish soap app like this now? I know it's a marathon and not a sprint, but I'm guessing a heavy app would be a pretty terrible idea after I've seeded.

[ Post made via Android ]

Go right ahead. Actually, some soap (perhaps not 50 ounces per thousand...) accelerates seed sprouting, so a normal app of soil conditioner when you seed will help out the seeds. It holds water against them and helps it dissolve and penetrate the seed coating faster.

[NiciPicki]

Oh, good to know! I think I may do a heavy app of dish soap to my problem areas soon, and I'll definitely do a regular soil conditioner app at seeing. Thanks!

[ Post made via Android ]

[MorpheusPA]

And more data to keep the experiment in the open. I did a general application of 25 pounds per thousand sawdust to the entire lawn. So far, it's a grand total of 500 pounds over 9,000 square feet (which would give you a total of 55 per K, but I don't count spot apps in my numbers).

App rates are:

General transmission to non-trouble areas: 25 per K
Southern face or areas I know the irrigation system fights for: 50 per K
Trouble spots: 600 per K

I still have 100 pounds in storage for anything else that goes before the main lawn wilts.

[NiciPicki]

I applied my Dawn on Sunday. The dosages varied anywhere from 6 oz/k to 50 oz/k depending on the area. I have to say, I did not expect that to be such a ferociously dull task. I began with my Chapin hose-end sprayer at about 8 PM after the storm had passed through and didn't finish until around 10 PM. The neighbor next door seems to be the male version of me (young, unmarried, bought a house just 'cause he could) except that he seems to have no interest in fixing his abysmal lawn/gardens. He ran an errand while I was washing the yard after dark and openly stared with that "WTH" look on his face as he went to/from his car.

[John_in_SC]

Now you see why I like a granular commercial product..... I am lazy!

[NiciPicki]

I used 112 ounces over 7.5k, all told. The back yard was really fast because that was the light app. The front yard is when I began wondering if the neighbor is right, and maybe I really am crazy.

[GeorgiaDad]

You should have used the hose-end sprayer. Then you would have been able to see those "Tiny Bubbles"