Fertilizer

[mdseverin]

I was late to the game this year and did not put down my Halts until April 19th. Becasue it has fertilizer (30-0-4) in it, when can I drop my regular spring fertilizer treatment? I usually do it about now, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea since I applied my Halts late.

[rydaddy]

I would say get it down, you did however miss the biggest window for the pre-emergent aspect. Others may have different input.

[g-man]

The recommendation is not to exceed 1lb of synthetic Nitrogen per month. Since you applied the product on April 19 (about a month ago), you should be fine.

In indy we had a fairly warm (+85F), sunny and dry week. The lawn is starting to show some signs of stress. I avoid pushing fertilizer when the conditions are not ideal.

[g-man]

Correction since I can't edit anymore: 1lb of N per 1000 sqft per month.

[Green]

That 1 lb per month might be ok in the Fall, but in the Spring, that much can be too much in some climates for cool-season grass. Generally, I only use 1 lb/K of N total in the entire Spring. Maybe a bit more for special conditions, but not ordinarily. That same 1 lb might be too much in the South. Someone further North and more inland with even less humidity than I have (occasionally, we actually get the Gulf Coast moisture blowing up the coast all the way to CT in July or August...we did last year for a few days) might even get away with more N.

As for when to apply it, I like to have it done by the third week in June here in this area. Probably earlier if it's organic. I don't like applying too early, such as mid May generally, because it makes the flush growth even faster. I prefer to wait until it has subsided. I think that helps the grass preserve its carbohydrate stores also, rather than run through them quickly.

Your region might be different, as far as when Spring green-up, flush growth, Summer heat, etc. occur.

[MorpheusPA]

While April 19th was too early for feeding, really, what's done is done and you can work with it. Next year, try to find a pre-emergent without fertilizer and apply it around the time the forsythia bloom in your area.

This year...while that's a fair clip of nitrogen, it's not at the right time. I might be inclined to add a half rate feeding of the lawn around Memorial Day, so half a pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet. There's no risk of burning or, really, of overfeeding it for spring by all that much, and it'll keep the grass well-fed during the period where it stores carbohydrates for summer.

Or you can feed at bag rate using Milorganite or a grain product (like 15# per thousand of soybean meal) right now. That would also get the job done more gently.

Dealer's choice on that one.

[mdseverin]

Thank you. I think I'll drop 1/2 this weekend and then the other 1/2 in mid June

[Lawnnut]

I just used 2 bags of milorganite on my front lawn 1600 sq feet. I usually only use 1 or 1 in a half bags but I kinda needed the boost. So I just used 2 hopefully it won't turn yellow or brown

[GaryCinChicago]

I was late to the game this year and did not put down my Halts until April 19th.

No you weren't. You were just fine. See pic below.

Use this tool http://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/dashb ... tailedView (you're only a few miles south) plus the usual visuals like forsythia.

And resume normal feeding schedule going forward now, a month later. If your lawn is seeding heavy like most in the area, know that seeding takes a lot of energy away from the plant and fertilizing after is recommended.