Fall Nitrogen Regimens

[seiyafan]

You want to stop feeding urea 3-4 weeks before the growth stops, since that date is hard to come by, we typically use first frost as the indicator for that, but understand that it's normal to have some fluctuations.

[Fullheadofturf1234]

You want to stop feeding urea 3-4 weeks before the growth stops, since that date is hard to come by, we typically use first frost as the indicator for that, but understand that it's normal to have some fluctuations.

So the point to stop urea apps is when the grass growth starts to slow down ?

I’ve already noticed a slow down with the urea apps and rain my grass should have need a double pass last week but only grew an inch...

[seiyafan]

Yes, you can say that. If this is your first year doing the regimen you can write down the date when the top growth stops completely, subtract 3-4 weeks and compare with your first frost date, this will give you a better idea for next year.

[andy10917]

Disagree - one year is far from enough. 3-4 years of the difference between average first frost and actual growth stoppage is needed before it's worthy of being trusted.

[Green]

Disagree - one year is far from enough. 3-4 years of the difference between average first frost and actual growth stoppage is needed before it's worthy of being trusted.

Mind if I jump in here to add anecdotal data for my specific case? Not sure if it'll help anyone with a similar pattern, but I hope it can.

My average first frost is between 10/14 and 10/20. After doing the final winterizer for 5 years now (2018 will make 6), the earliest I ever had growth stop was around Thanksgiving, which was a bit under 6 weeks. Often though (consistently), it's a longer pause. That's ok..as long as I don't make it unnecessarily long.

[Green]

Guess now I'm a little confused too.

Since we live fairly close together, the pattern you see will probably be similar to mine...if you'd like to use it a reference frame to clue you in.

Here, the leaves are just beginning to start coming down "for real" now. And color is starting to show on some trees.

[drawz]

How do you guys water in the final app? Seems like it would be pretty reliably freezing by then and I hope to have my sprinklers winterized before that point.

[TimmyG]

Rain.

[ken-n-nancy]

+1 on "Rain."

If no rain at all in the forecast, I either skip the "after top growth stops" application, or get out the hose and sprinkler.

[drawz]

Alright, rain it is. Thanks!

[rucraz2]

Andy says he turns his back on and waters in. Then re winterizes. That's too much work for me on my large l lawn. Last year we didn't get any rain after top growth stopped. I still did the last app since there was a chance for rain. I'm not sure if I will do it again? My lawn took a very long time to recover in spring and didn't look very good. But did bounce back and I didn't fertilize till late June. So I'm not for certain if it was from the urea not being watered in, or if that's just how this lawn is since it was the first spring in this house. But all the neighbours yards looked a lot better than mine early on.

[greenrebellion]

Rucraz - it can depend on the grass type too, some grasses and cultivars take longer to green up in Spring.

[rucraz2]

Yeah, im completely aware of that. I did see this yard the previous spring and I don't think it looked as bad as what it did this year. I just also had a lot of grass that did not revive that was not thatch, but under the canopy that I had to use a detaching rake to clear out. I know there could be multiple other factors going on here that caused this as well. But my first thought was not watering in the urea. But I could be completely of base with this thinking.

[greenrebellion]

Maybe heavier snow cover? Seems unlikely that Urea can cause issues once temps are around freezing.

Anyway...I dropped my last Urea app of the season before the winterizer. Last year I winterized on Dec 4th which feels really late but I was getting marginal growth of about 1/4" a week for weeks and weeks on end. We'll see how it plays out this year, but I suspect I have a minimum of 4 weeks before I'll be dropping the winterizer this year.

[smontgo150]

I check soil temp's with a Therma Pen when grass growth really slows down. When it is under 40 degrees I will apply if there is rain in the forecast. If there is not rain, I'll wait until 38 degrees and restart my already winterized irrigation to water it in. I will then blow out my sprinklers again and store my movers and move the Snow Blower to the front. I've actually applied before an early season snowstorm before here in MI. The melting snow the next day worked just fine.

[Oldschool]

Winterized today, November 1st. Last year was October 31st. Been lightly raining since and will be all night, perfect. Snow starts Monday and continues all week, right on time.

[RTM]

Felt good mowing the lawn today with the nice weather. Noticed landscaping crew at work put some seed down today

[rucraz2]

Still slowly growing here in Mn. I mulched up leaves yesterday and was still cutting grass. 5 days between mows.

[greenrebellion]

Definitely still growing here as well. Last year I winterized Dec 4 so I imagine I at least have a couple of weeks left.

[ronfitch]

Still slowly growing here in Mn. I mulched up leaves yesterday and was still cutting grass. 5 days between mows.

Guessing I am north of you (I am just east of St. Paul).

I mowed on Thursday the 1st and took .5" off for the most part. Some spots with less, but no spots were without clippings. If weather holds, will mow again this weekend.