Fertilizer help

[Fire guy]

Looking for help with fertilizer. I’m in Illinois with about 4 acres of movable grass. Most is of bluegrass and rye mix. Looks great when properly fertilized but just seem to always have a bad spot. I currently get my fertilizer from a sod farm down the road from me. I apply every 6 weeks of 36-0-5 and then the fall application of 20-10-10. I do a spray weed control in the spring and fall. I tried calling the comfrey company to look for an application rate but never seem to get a uniform look. I use a pull behind broad cast spreader There are sections that are stellar and then others that are pathetic.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Fire guy

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Hey there fire guy!

I manage a larger area as well. Is it all irrigated? My first advice is to get a soil test so you know what it needs. Check out the soil forum and the Logan labs test.

If you have weird areas consider testing those areas separately if you dont mind the extra 25. Its money well spent on that much area.

There are lots of things that can make a difference in good and bad in 4 acres, like irrigation, sun, shade, different grass types, pooling water, etc.

[Fire guy]

Thanks for the tips. It’s not irrigated and most of it was clay. We put a nice layer of black soil before the seed. I’ll look into the test and see what I can find out.

Do you have any fert techniques that would help?

[andy10917]

As HLG said, you need to know what is needed in the soil before we can offer fertilizer regimens - otherwise you are doing the equivalent of trying to fix your car by randomly replacing parts and hoping you bang into the right part that needs replacement. Especially on a larger lot, this is an expensive, wasteful approach. You'll recover the cost of the soil test quickly by knowing what is needed - and you'll get results much faster.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Thanks for the tips. It’s not irrigated and most of it was clay. We put a nice layer of black soil before the seed. I’ll look into the test and see what I can find out.

Do you have any fert techniques that would help?

In terms of techniques on HOW to apply fertilizer, I'd start with getting the biggest pull behind you can find. A typical application on 4 acres of urea would be something like 400 lbs of material. Not sure I've seen that ig equipment on the shelf. You are in farming equipment territory. But a 200 lb capacity spreader may do with refills.

When you apply it, set it low enough that it flows freely, and go over it multiple directions in at least 2 perpendicular directions.

And good call finding a high volume low cost supplier of fertilizer. I buy from a farm co op.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Ok. The best thing you can do for weed control is get a pre emergent down at the right time in the spring with your sprayer setup. I recommend prodiamine wdg. A jug of it that treats 5 acres is about 50 bucks. You could put a half application out late August with 24D for existing weeds you get from Rural King. Mix in some ammonium sulfate.

Then next spring do a full rate application of prodiamine when the forsythia blooms.

[Fire guy]

Thank you all for the help and tips. I’m going to get the soil test and will re post

Thank you again.

[cmcgill]

Can I hijack this thread for just a moment to ask HLG where he gets his fertilizer? I live in the same area.

[Fire guy]

What about milgronite fertilizer. I hear a lot about it but not too sure on it. Any thoughts?

[HoosierLawnGnome]

What about milgronite fertilizer. I hear a lot about it but not too sure on it. Any thoughts?

A great way to fertilize if you need P, N, and Fe. Its particularly helpful for soils that cant use iron supplied in other forms.

Also a great way to recycle waste in a more organic program than synthetic only.