Prodiamine on sod

[edslawn]

I had sod laid in my back yard last August and I'm planning to apply prodiamine shortly to the front yard. Can I also safely apply in back on this sod too? Also, do you think a standard nitrogen regimen is ok too (memorial day, july 4 and labor day)?

[MorpheusPA]

It's fine. August-laid sod will be fully rooted after a full fall in the ground.

It should also be ready for a regular feeding regimen as well.
I'm having the slightest (OK, major) feeling you're going to notice a little (considerable) paling out on that in spring and be tempted to feed it in late April. Don't. Just let it go for a bit. That sod did spend a lot of energy rooting last year, and it's likely to run out of resources a little early. I'd rather let it go a bit hungry in May than have you feed it.
If you absolutely cannot resist, then feed the sod with Milorganite, a full dose, on May 5th-10th or so, and you can either count that as the Memorial Day feeding, or feed again at half rate with a synthetic on Memorial Day when you do the front. That won't cause any problems at all, and will rapidly re-green your new sod.

[edslawn]

Got it. I'll resist ... Thanks Morph!

[edslawn]

@morpheus Ha...you were right. I'm anxious to drop some milo!

[MorpheusPA]

Stop, you. S-T-O-P. You'll kill it with love. Or at least damage it.

I knew this would happen. It's getting that paler green color, isn't it? And growing fast? Yep. I knew it. This is completely normal, and the grass is not dying, it's not that hungry, and it's not having problems. What's happening is that the root systems aren't quite deep and wide enough just yet to tap sufficient iron and nitrogen and store enough carbs over the winter to keep it completely happy for spring.

And you're not going to get it to grow into that by feeding it right now. The only thing that will happen is that nitrogen will speed top growth, tap the energy in the roots, drain those roots, and leave it with low reserves as summer comes on--nice, weak grass just as the heat hits and the hardest season of the year for grasses comes on. Don't do that.

Hands off, you. Go read a magazine. Play an old game. Fallout 4 is fun. Watch some heads explode. Nuke something.

On May 10th, you can feed it at bag rate with Milorganite or any other organic. Organic. Not synthetic. And I'd rather you used Milo for the extra iron (that's one thing the grass is running out of due to the shorter roots). That's only 22 days. Then on Memorial Day, you can feed with half to full rate synthetic (half rate would be fine after a full rate organic two weeks earlier).

Two feedings this spring isn't out of range for a relatively new sod, and make sure to hit it really hard this fall to establish those roots for next spring. If you want my schedule for that? Below. This pours on nitrogen in fall for root growth and root storage for winter and into spring.

Recommended Fall Feeding Schedule For The Emerald Green Lawn:

August 10: Feed with a good organic (I like soybean meal, but whatever) to target 1 pound nitrogen per thousand square feet.

Labor Day to September 20th, whenever you have time: Optional: Feed with any good synthetic at 1/2 pound nitrogen per thousand square feet (lightly because you're already applying nitrogen organically).

September 10: Feed with a good organic (I like soybean meal, but whatever) to target 1 pound nitrogen per thousand square feet.

October 1: Feed with a good organic (I like soybean meal, but whatever) to target 1 pound nitrogen per thousand square feet. (Not a misprint; move this back to October 1 to buy some time in case October is cold). Optional: Feed with any good synthetic at 1/2 pound nitrogen per thousand square feet (lightly because you're already applying nitrogen organically).

Growth stoppage: Feed with any high-nitrogen synthetic fertilizer when you do the last mow and the grass is still green.

[MorpheusPA]

Oh, note that if you delay the Labor Day synthetic feeding, also delay the October 1st synthetic feeding to keep it at least 2 to 3 weeks behind. And keep that at least 2 to 3 weeks behind the growth stoppage feeding.

The grand total nitrogen for the year is:

Spring: Nitrogen: 0.8 pounds organic, 0.5 synthetic = 1.3 pounds (a bit high, but fine for any lawn).

Fall: Nitrogen: 3.0 pounds organic, 2.0 synthetic = 5.0 pounds (high, but again, with most being organic, fine for any lawn).

Total: Nitrogen: 3.8 pounds organic, 2.5 pounds synthetic = 6.3 pounds (very high, but with almost 4 of that organic, not a problem).

Don't do all that synthetically, it would be an issue and a burn risk, particularly in May and September. There's an entirely different schedule for that. This is the one I find works well on a very hungry lawn for highest-level maintenance.

[edslawn]

But I really wanna drop some milo

[MorpheusPA]

No, you. Go away now.

[edslawn]

Seriously, thanks for the plan Morph!

[MorpheusPA]

No problem at all. If you need encouragement to stay away from feeding it, come over here and we'll restrain you further.

[gordon]

Taking notes on this so that I can fine tune my approach....Thank you Morpheus...heading to Albright's in the morning.

[edslawn]

It's fine. August-laid sod will be fully rooted after a full fall in the ground.

It should also be ready for a regular feeding regimen as well.
I'm having the slightest (OK, major) feeling you're going to notice a little (considerable) paling out on that in spring and be tempted to feed it in late April. Don't. Just let it go for a bit. That sod did spend a lot of energy rooting last year, and it's likely to run out of resources a little early. I'd rather let it go a bit hungry in May than have you feed it.
If you absolutely cannot resist, then feed the sod with Milorganite, a full dose, on May 5th-10th or so, and you can either count that as the Memorial Day feeding, or feed again at half rate with a synthetic on Memorial Day when you do the front. That won't cause any problems at all, and will rapidly re-green your new sod.

Ok, on Friday the weather forecast showed three days of mostly gentle rain so I couldn't resist anymore. I dropped 10 x 30lb bags of Sunniland slow-release 6-4-0 with 2% iron (a milo clone) on about 20k of lawn. This is about 25% higher than the recommended bag rate. The rain came as promised and we've had three days of off-and-on rain (.3 inch). I'll hit the front yard with Urea at the end of the month.

[MorpheusPA]

Sounds flawless. May 9th is late enough for a Milo clone. I'm getting the itch to drop myself, so sometime soon here, I'll drop my organics for spring. With the gardens now complete, any evening where I get the time will be fine for me as well!

Really, the urea is overkill. May feeding can be relatively light, but certainly adding urea at the end of the month won't hurt, either.