Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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MorpheusPA
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Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 22nd, 2011, 9:16 pm

'Tis the season. The seed is down, the stuff is sprouting and growing, and then it stops and stares you down for a while.

That's sprout and pout. It can last weeks. Annoying, intolerable weeks. You may not even leave sprout and pout before the end of the season, depending, although early renovators will probably notice it ending in early October.

Fear not. The grass that seems to be doing nothing is actually setting up root systems. It has enough greenery to do that, and it's happier working on the things that will let it survive the winter and regrow strongly next spring. Right now, top growth is secondary and unimportant to the grass--even if it's really important to you.

Don't use high nitrogen feeding to force the grass to grow--it won't work anyway. It's going to leave sprout and pout when it's durned well ready and not before. But feed as you should, that will help the roots develop.

This is yet another case where nature's goals are at odds to ours, but nature's actually make sense. Ours do not.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by TheWags » August 22nd, 2011, 9:20 pm

Would a light dose of starter fertilizer do more harm or good? Would milorgonite be better? Especially if it can be done without too much traffic on the seedlings?

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by simpson » August 22nd, 2011, 9:28 pm

I hate this part of the renovation. You wake up to nothing, hurry home from work to nothing, and you check again before bed to find nothing has changed.

Well once you start mowing and the blades start to tiller out things will start to come along. Then the nights get cooler and the rains return just in time for a fall fertilizer. Then it starts to happen you will start to see what you are looking for.

WAGS milorganite is always a good feeding for new seedlings. If you did a full app of starter at seeding time I would wait 30 days before your next application. Then I like to switch to half apps every two weeks. That gives the lawn a nice even feeding.

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Last edited by simpson on August 22nd, 2011, 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by silver8ack » August 22nd, 2011, 9:32 pm

Is S&P more relevant to KBG than say TTTF or PR?

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by andy10917 » August 22nd, 2011, 9:33 pm

+1 Simpson. Don't try to solve a problem that ain't a problem. If you want to locate the problem, put your right hand on your right ear, and your left hand on your left ear. The "problem" is halfway between your hands.


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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by nothing0 » August 22nd, 2011, 9:35 pm

simpson wrote:You wake up to nothing, hurry home from work to nothing, and you check again before bed to find nothing
:shock: :rotfl:

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by simpson » August 22nd, 2011, 9:47 pm

That Sum Bit^H is everywhere lol

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by new to this » August 22nd, 2011, 9:48 pm

nothing0 wrote:
simpson wrote:You wake up to nothing, hurry home from work to nothing, and you check again before bed to find nothing
:shock: :rotfl:
ever come home when it was dark and shine a flashlight on the lawn to check for growth?? Yep, me last week.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 22nd, 2011, 10:05 pm

silver8ack wrote:Is S&P more relevant to KBG than say TTTF or PR?

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Yes, although TTTF and PR both Sprout and Pout as well. The cycle is a little faster, though.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 22nd, 2011, 10:14 pm

TheWags wrote:Would a light dose of starter fertilizer do more harm or good? Would milorgonite be better? Especially if it can be done without too much traffic on the seedlings?
If your soil test shows low P, the starter will help. If not, it's not worth bothering.

Milorganite, soybean meal, corn, alfalfa, and so on are never a bad idea and I used a lot on my reno every two weeks. You can't overdo them easily, and they're not going to force the grass to do anything the grass is not ready to do yet.

Think of the grass kind of like a child. Right now, it's a baby. You have to feed it carefully, make sure it gets liquids, and so on. Fortunately, no diaper changes are required; your watering does that by washing out biological waste.

By October it'll be a toddler. It can do a few things for itself, but not reliably, and it requires your constant attention lest it play with matches or something.

November sees it to school age. It can handle some time away from you, but it has to be monitored constantly for issues.

Next May you'll be along to junior high school. It could theoretically go without you for some time, but it's still unwise.

July, high school. It's not ready to move out and do adult things just yet, but it thinks it is. It starts talking back to you and staying out all night...but I digress. Maintenance is still required, but mostly just watering to make sure it doesn't drought stress (a big no-no the first year).

By next September it's in college. It's mostly pretty responsible if you raised it right, but it does go to frat parties and do things it will never tell you about until it hits thirty at the earliest. This is normal, just keep an eye on it and intervene if anything untoward happens.

The year following it's an adult. Young adult, so it still calls home for money occasionally and ignores you otherwise, but an adult. You can let it stand on its own feet (roots) at that point, but definitely send the money--it's seriously not kidding.

The year after that, fully adult. It calls more often just to talk and doesn't bother with the money thing any longer. :-)

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by new to this » August 22nd, 2011, 10:25 pm

keeping with the child references...my father told me when i was a kid he couldn't wait until i grew up and owned my own furniture so he could come over and jump on it...about how long until its safe to walk on with a spreader.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by NJDave » August 23rd, 2011, 12:33 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
TheWags wrote:Would a light dose of starter fertilizer do more harm or good? Would milorgonite be better? Especially if it can be done without too much traffic on the seedlings?
If your soil test shows low P, the starter will help. If not, it's not worth bothering.

Milorganite, soybean meal, corn, alfalfa, and so on are never a bad idea and I used a lot on my reno every two weeks. You can't overdo them easily, and they're not going to force the grass to do anything the grass is not ready to do yet.

Think of the grass kind of like a child. Right now, it's a baby. You have to feed it carefully, make sure it gets liquids, and so on. Fortunately, no diaper changes are required; your watering does that by washing out biological waste.

By October it'll be a toddler. It can do a few things for itself, but not reliably, and it requires your constant attention lest it play with matches or something.

November sees it to school age. It can handle some time away from you, but it has to be monitored constantly for issues.

Next May you'll be along to junior high school. It could theoretically go without you for some time, but it's still unwise.

July, high school. It's not ready to move out and do adult things just yet, but it thinks it is. It starts talking back to you and staying out all night...but I digress. Maintenance is still required, but mostly just watering to make sure it doesn't drought stress (a big no-no the first year).

By next September it's in college. It's mostly pretty responsible if you raised it right, but it does go to frat parties and do things it will never tell you about until it hits thirty at the earliest. This is normal, just keep an eye on it and intervene if anything untoward happens.

The year following it's an adult. Young adult, so it still calls home for money occasionally and ignores you otherwise, but an adult. You can let it stand on its own feet (roots) at that point, but definitely send the money--it's seriously not kidding.

The year after that, fully adult. It calls more often just to talk and doesn't bother with the money thing any longer. :-)
You've just outlined my child care plan for my 3 kids :rotfl:
Beautifully done.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by CTShoreGuy » August 23rd, 2011, 10:04 am

Bravo Morph :clapping:

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by xxryu139xx » August 23rd, 2011, 11:17 am

my grass isn't pouting yet. every morning the greenish tint of the lawn becomes more apparent. you no longer have to squint or stoop down to a certain angle to see em. today i can actually notice it from my 2nd floor bedroom window. :clapping:

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 23rd, 2011, 1:26 pm

It. Will. :-) You're still in increasing color. Eventually it'll stop, drop the monocot sprout leaves and grow three to five adult ones, and then just...sit there.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by xxryu139xx » August 23rd, 2011, 1:40 pm

ive noticed that with my pot. it appears that some of the leaves are turning white, almost like they are dying, except i think they are developing the boat shaped leaves. as far as growth they are stuck below the 2 inch mark and there are still some grass starting to poke thru the soil (Emblem?) and it has been almost 4 weeks now for this pot.

so i think with this pot as a representative to my mix, i think i will keep watering 3x/day for 28 days, just to make sure they all come out.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 23rd, 2011, 1:50 pm

That's wise. I was still getting sprout around day 40, but started so early that the hot weather was stalling my seed a bit. If your weather is like my weather today--absolutely perfect--that's not an issue for you.

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by xxryu139xx » August 23rd, 2011, 1:56 pm

oh man anyone else feel that earthquake? u think my seeds will fall into the soil and die? aaaaahhh!

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by MorpheusPA » August 23rd, 2011, 2:30 pm

If anything that should get them to adjust into the soil better. :-)

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Re: Renovators: Sprout and Pout

Post by southerncalpal » August 24th, 2011, 2:18 am

MorpheusPA wrote:
silver8ack wrote:Is S&P more relevant to KBG than say TTTF or PR?

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
Yes, although TTTF and PR both Sprout and Pout as well. The cycle is a little faster, though.
I don't know about TTTF, but my PR can be mowed in the 3rd week, and is IN full-growth mode by week 6. By 2 months, you wouldn't know it was new unless, well... you knew.

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