Anyone still dropping Milo?

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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northeastlawn
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Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by northeastlawn » June 21st, 2020, 9:26 pm

My lawn looks Ok despite the high temps and lack of rain. My irrigation seems to be doing its job, but right about this time I start doubting my fertilizer plan. I usually I drop BSF (Milo) at 1/2 bag rate very two weeks from May 1st to July 1st, on the last app in July I'll add SOP so i get 3 SOP apps in for the year.

The thing is we have nothing but muggy low 80's for at least the foreseeable future and no rain in sight. The lawn is growing well, but it really seems to be a struggle to get it to consistently grow from 2" to 3 1/2". Some of it is, but other parts are just growing very slowly, I think all the KBG seed heads robbed me of a spring flush this year, but its all good as it seems very healthy and is spreading.

I guess am curious if anyone is still dropping milo or are people holding off due to the high temps and lack of water?

I would be putting down BSF (Milo) at half bag rate (10#/k) this week if i decided to go for it.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by schreibdave » June 22nd, 2020, 5:22 am

I dropped Milo yesterday despite the heat/humidity/drought. I do have irrigation. I am worried about fungus though, so I am monitoring for that.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by jskierko » June 22nd, 2020, 5:54 am

I have only been dropping Milo in small doses where I transplanted some sod/plugs. I have also been spreading it in landscaping beds, as I find it to be a much greater rabbit repellent than the liquid fence sprays.
northeastlawn wrote:
June 21st, 2020, 9:26 pm
The lawn is growing well, but it really seems to be a struggle to get it to consistently grow from 2" to 3 1/2".
Agreed. I tried raising HOC to 3.75" a few weeks ago, but due to the inconsistent growth my NoMix did not look uniform at all when mowing that high. Dropped back down to 3.25" to give it a cleaner look.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by Dargin » June 22nd, 2020, 11:41 am

My last app was 5/30.
I plan to use about 1/2 rate to apply micros Thursday.
Other than that I'm done.
I pushed it last summer and didn't like my results.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by MorpheusPA » June 22nd, 2020, 12:03 pm

I'm done until August first, when I use organics with no slow release if the rains are resuming (September first if they haven't by August).

Rainfall now is irregular at best and temperatures are far too hot.

The gardens are a different story as put in plants that adore heat, and I'll be feeding heavily on July first and August first, which will be the last feeding of the season.


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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by PSU4ME » June 22nd, 2020, 12:42 pm

I dumped my last BSF application about 10 days ago and I’ll take about 8 or do weeks off.

Actually stopped cutting too as this heat and direct sun combo is putting a hurting on the yard.

Might consider an app of ground up corn late July but haven’t committed to that yet.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by KBGkicksazz » June 22nd, 2020, 2:57 pm

northeastlawn wrote:
June 21st, 2020, 9:26 pm
My lawn looks Ok despite the high temps and lack of rain. My irrigation seems to be doing its job, but right about this time I start doubting my fertilizer plan. I usually I drop BSF (Milo) at 1/2 bag rate very two weeks from May 1st to July 1st, on the last app in July I'll add SOP so i get 3 SOP apps in for the year.

The thing is we have nothing but muggy low 80's for at least the foreseeable future and no rain in sight. The lawn is growing well, but it really seems to be a struggle to get it to consistently grow from 2" to 3 1/2". Some of it is, but other parts are just growing very slowly, I think all the KBG seed heads robbed me of a spring flush this year, but its all good as it seems very healthy and is spreading.

I guess am curious if anyone is still dropping milo or are people holding off due to the high temps and lack of water?

I would be putting down BSF (Milo) at half bag rate (10#/k) this week if i decided to go for it.
Nada. With this heat and dry spell even when the rains finally come it will take a couple weeks for the lawn to recover.

Next fert app for me will be around Sept 1

My lawn looks like doo doo now.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by northeastlawn » June 22nd, 2020, 4:37 pm

Thanks for all the replies and bringing me to my senses, I will hold off on the BSF (Milo) until late August when it’s time to wake things up.

The icing on the cake is that I noticed what I thought were KBG seed heads browning was actually my old friend Poa-Annua. I thought I pulled most of it this earlier this year, but some where in the last few weeks it popped up and made another foot hold. Now a lot of it is browning out already.

If it’s hot and dry enough to effect the POA, it’s probably too hot for BSF.

I went from worrying about watering enough to hold off drought and disease, to stretching the watering out to kill off the poa-a. I really do hate the poa-a.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by PSU4ME » June 22nd, 2020, 7:13 pm

I can’t believe how quickly the brown our cane this year. I’m watering to keep it alive, weird how some spots go dormant and others maintain. I stopped cutting and I’ll let it get higher for a while. Wanna stay off it with the tractor.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by coldlawn » June 26th, 2020, 2:31 pm

I dropped Milo at half rate last night, but I'm in Minnesota, we've been getting rain, and I've learned the KBG just loves to be fed up here. We'll see what the weather and lawn does in July.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by spectrum1c » August 6th, 2020, 8:58 am

I dropped baystate about 2-3 weeks ago and now I think I'm dealing with brown patch 😬. At first I thought it was grass going dormant, but the patches are in well irrigated areas. Going to put down disease x tonight. Hopefully the grass will all come back. If not, it was a lesson learned, and at this point I'm just planning to overseed. Will new seed grow in areas ravaged by brown patch or would residual fungus cause me issues?

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by northeastlawn » August 6th, 2020, 1:56 pm

Sorry to hear that; can't help with the brown patch, but before you jump to any conclusions I would wait for some replies and take a look at the annual fall fertilization posting that goes up every fall.

To summarize grass does shed leaves and sends out new shoots in the Fall. In the last two weeks of August many of us drop milo or BSF to perc up the lawn for feeding and then transition to weekly spoon feeding apps in the fall. So while you were early, In wouldn't assume that is what caused all your problems.

I always enjoy the first August BSF drop, because it means summer recovery is getting close, for some reason when I saw your post I thought it was almost that time of the year.

Hopefully someone with more experience chimes in....

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by KBGkicksazz » August 6th, 2020, 3:56 pm

No more Milo for me. I’m more into humic acid products now.

I don’t like the PFAS issues that similar products have been found to contain.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by MorpheusPA » August 7th, 2020, 6:36 am

I just dropped soy (well, a Soy-Containing Product as I never made it to the grain mill this year due to COVID issues). With luck, that should kick in around the end of the month, and I'll drop the Labor Day feed at that point for that to boost in for October.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by schreibdave » August 7th, 2020, 6:40 am

What's "PFAS?" Heavy metals?

I am a huge believer in Milo. I spot applied a heavy dose in an area that I was trying to thicken up following last years renovation, and not only did the area fill in nicely (which it might have done anyway) but it turned a much darker green then the untreated area. It didn't grow any faster but the color was excellent and much better than the surrounding area. That must have been about 8 weeks ago and the color difference has just now faded.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by turf_toes » August 7th, 2020, 9:51 am

You’ve just opened a door on an argument no one will win. (About PFAS)

Some will warn of extreme danger.

Others, including state and federal environmental officials, will say the levels found in bio solid fertilizers (like Milorganite) are safe for consumers to use.

Ultimately you’ll have to pick a team, (just like religion or politics) and then declare religious war on those with opposing views. (They’re not just wrong, they’re evil) There’s no room for nuance.

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by KBGkicksazz » August 7th, 2020, 10:06 am

schreibdave wrote:
August 7th, 2020, 6:40 am
What's "PFAS?" Heavy metals?

I am a huge believer in Milo. I spot applied a heavy dose in an area that I was trying to thicken up following last years renovation, and not only did the area fill in nicely (which it might have done anyway) but it turned a much darker green then the untreated area. It didn't grow any faster but the color was excellent and much better than the surrounding area. That must have been about 8 weeks ago and the color difference has just now faded.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/ ... story.html

I’m on a well and not taking chances. Now I use micro feeds with humic and foliar iron apps. Way better green up than Milo and no wondering about potential PFAS issues.

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turf_toes
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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by turf_toes » August 7th, 2020, 10:10 am

You might want to revisit almost every other aspect of your life if this is a concern. PFAS is in many, many products - including fast food wrappers.

I understand the concern about the well water. But have you had it tested for PFAS? You might already have it in your well water. (Not that it should mitigate your concern if you did have it)

https://www.google.com/search?q=pfas&rl ... 14&bih=716

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by turf_toes » August 7th, 2020, 10:16 am

Here’s one decent read from the google search above. It claims 99 percent of us have PFAS in our blood.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/videos ... h-carolina

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Re: Anyone still dropping Milo?

Post by spectrum1c » August 8th, 2020, 8:29 pm

And some interesting info from Michigan:
https://www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse/0 ... --,00.html
Not sure the amount of baystate I put down at homeowner levels could be any worse than all the pesticides the pros keep placing on my neighbors lawns

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