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Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 14th, 2019, 11:01 am
by deboy922
Please make a selection a feel free to discuss.

If you plan to spread more than 1 lb, maybe just select the 1 lb and then state how much you plan to apply. And if you plan to spread less than 1 lb (for example 0.33 lb), just select 0.50 lb and state how much you plan to apply.

Thanks!

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 14th, 2019, 2:37 pm
by bpgreen
I voted for 0, but that's because I have a lawn with lots of native grasses and I'm basically ignoring the more traditional grasses.

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 14th, 2019, 4:55 pm
by agn015
I also voted zero but that’s because it’s illegal to apply nitrogen fertilizer in Suffolk county NY from November 1 to April 1. Otherwise I have gone aggressive on the N getting weekly apps down since September 2. If all goes well I will have 4lbs of N down by between 9/2 and 10/31. Hoping the grass sucks it all up and won’t be starving too badly for any kind of winterizer after growth truly stops.

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 14th, 2019, 8:44 pm
by Green
I would vote, but I'm not seeing a way to vote...I'm only seeing the results. Not sure why that is. Is the poll expired or closed?

Anyway, I'm in the 0.5 lb or less Winterizing group. Will be going with 0.50 lb on the main lawn areas (same as last year) because newer research points to that being almost as good in terms of results as 1.0 lb but with less waste to leaching on sandy loam (the same research also suggests not winterizing sand-based soil at all because of extreme leaching and no nutrient benefit). I will also will be trying 0.333 lb on another area to see if it works as well as 0.50. Might also do test plots of 0.50 and 1.0 lb in that area to put all three rates against each other. Historically I've done 1.0 lb, but started reducing the amount a few years ago, first to 0.75 lb, then 0.67 lb, etc. The highest I've ever used was 1.25 to 1.5 lb per K.

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 14th, 2019, 9:18 pm
by andy10917
I'm not a fan of managing a lawn or landscape by polls or popular opinion. I have found in my experience that things turn out best when you decide an approach and stick with it all the way through -- whether that's high-input, low-input, natural/organic, or something else. Every approach has upsides and downsides (cost/effort/time/etc). Switching horses in the middle of the river all the time due to popularity isn't a plan, it's a mess. It's the "mixed vegetables" of lawn/garden care, IMO. I have enormous respect for folks like BPGREEN that stay their own course year after year, and make it work.

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am
by deboy922
Appreciate everyone’s input...thank you for sharing. I greatly enjoy reading the different approaches. It is very educational and interesting!

@Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.

I plan to do 1 lb for winterizer this year. I was only able to apply 2 lbs this fall, as it has been very dry, and I rely on rain to water-in the fertilizer. If I would have been able to maintain being “aggressive” and got down 3 lbs or more, I may have skipped the winterizer.

Please keep posting your plans, as this is a great place to learn.

Thank you.

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: November 24th, 2019, 7:11 pm
by Green
deboy922 wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am
Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.
Partly because of your post, but also because I've been wondering how low I can go and still get the effect of the fertilizer, plus some more recent research showing best "bang for the buck" (my takeaway from their data) with late-season apps occurred at approx. 0.5 lb/K on loam (fraction uptaken versus that leached off) I decided to run a little informal test this year. I marked off some plots yesterday, and then applied differing amounts of winterizing Nitrogen in each, spanning from 1 lb/K, all the way down to none at all as a control. We'll see in the Spring how much difference there is between the plots in terms of green-up speed, color, density, growth rate, etc. Traditionally, I have not fertilized with Nitrogen in Spring at all until at least early June. I credit the winterizer app with supplying the Nitrogen that is used in the interim, as well as some organic Nitrogen and methylene urea stocks that I've built up in the soil over time (coupled with the organic matter from mulching leaves, etc.).

Re: Winterizing Poll

Posted: November 25th, 2019, 10:42 am
by deboy922
Green wrote:
November 24th, 2019, 7:11 pm
deboy922 wrote:
October 15th, 2019, 9:38 am
Green - your comments above are exactly my reason for this poll. I have been reading a lot of differing theories on winterizing and am curious to see the thoughts of this community. Please keep us posted on your results with the differing amounts of N.
Partly because of your post, but also because I've been wondering how low I can go and still get the effect of the fertilizer, plus some more recent research showing best "bang for the buck" (my takeaway from their data) with late-season apps occurred at approx. 0.5 lb/K on loam (fraction uptaken versus that leached off) I decided to run a little informal test this year. I marked off some plots yesterday, and then applied differing amounts of winterizing Nitrogen in each, spanning from 1 lb/K, all the way down to none at all as a control. We'll see in the Spring how much difference there is between the plots in terms of green-up speed, color, density, growth rate, etc. Traditionally, I have not fertilized with Nitrogen in Spring at all until at least early June. I credit the winterizer app with supplying the Nitrogen that is used in the interim, as well as some organic Nitrogen and methylene urea stocks that I've built up in the soil over time (coupled with the organic matter from mulching leaves, etc.).
I will be following your journey. Thanks for taking it on!