Milo on dormant lawn

[fun4me2]

Is it ok to apply Milo on a dormant lawn?
We are expecting rain this week and I wanted to apply my "wake up" dose.
I think this is the time I usually do it but my lawn never went shall we say full dormant like this

[turf_toes]

It won’t help your lawn if the grass is dormant. Yes. You’re feeding the soil. But if the grass isn’t awake, it won’t see the benefit

[ronfitch]

It won’t help your lawn if the grass is dormant. Yes. You’re feeding the soil. But if the grass isn’t awake, it won’t see the benefit

Will it even absorb into the soil? In the dormant spots of our lawn (we were in drought for much of July and August and a couple of large areas of our back yard get direct sun 10+ hours a day), the water on the dormant grass areas either runs off if enough accumulates or it dries/evaporates.

[MorpheusPA]

Eventually, it'll absorb. It's not like it has anywhere else to go, unless it can manage to run off with the water.

You can get the soil ready to accept moisture by spraying it with the soil conditioner, or any shampoo at 1-2 oz per gallon over a thousand square feet or so. It breaks up that hydrophobic tendency of very dry surfaces.

Really, the Milo's fine to apply on dormant grass. When/if rains resume, it's feeding the roots around the time they're coming back to life in September. I dropped my soy in August, even though things are dry here and I'm watering just enough to keep stuff going.

[fun4me2]

Thanks for the responses.
We are on strict water restrictions here. Have been since beginning ofJune.
Mother Nature has not been generous this year.
I think I will wait for the rain that's suppose to happen this week then drop the Milo after.

[ronfitch]

Eventually, it'll absorb. It's not like it has anywhere else to go, unless it can manage to run off with the water.

You can get the soil ready to accept moisture by spraying it with the soil conditioner, or any shampoo at 1-2 oz per gallon over a thousand square feet or so. It breaks up that hydrophobic tendency of very dry surfaces.

Really, the Milo's fine to apply on dormant grass. When/if rains resume, it's feeding the roots around the time they're coming back to life in September. I dropped my soy in August, even though things are dry here and I'm watering just enough to keep stuff going.

Thanks, Morph. Though I did catch the "if" part of your "When/if rains resume" in the response and that feels more appropriate than I wish.

[MorpheusPA]

Well, I mean, it's not like the La Nina pattern will never break back to neutral and/or fall will never get here.

I say this as I watched my 80% chance of rain dwindle to a 30% chance of showers for tomorrow, and that's it for another week at least, so yes, I feel your pain.

[fun4me2]

Well, I mean, it's not like the La Nina pattern will never break back to neutral and/or fall will never get here.

I say this as I watched my 80% chance of rain dwindle to a 30% chance of showers for tomorrow, and that's it for another week at least, so yes, I feel your pain.

That is what happened in my neck of the woods also.
The forecast has changed for any kind measureable rain this week.

[MorpheusPA]

I watched that 30% chance of showers dwindle to no rain at all for at least 9 days. There's a faint, off-chance of a thunderstorm today, but with 45% humidity, I'm not counting on it.

The lawn actually still looks pretty good, and this year, again, it's a sharp dividing line between mine and the neighbors'. I gotta take pix. There are a few browning spots that I'm touching up, but not much.

[edslawn]

I watched that 30% chance of showers dwindle to no rain at all for at least 9 days. There's a faint, off-chance of a thunderstorm today, but with 45% humidity, I'm not counting on it.

The lawn actually still looks pretty good, and this year, again, it's a sharp dividing line between mine and the neighbors'. I gotta take pix. There are a few browning spots that I'm touching up, but not much.

We've finally been getting some rain here (near Harrisburg) but I've been adding a little water to the mix too. Getting some green up and preparing to drop MIlo for the wake up.

[MorpheusPA]

Still nothing. Three and a half weeks without rain. Oddly, my lawn looks OK with only minor touch-ups, although it has some crispy areas. Everybody else's? Straw. I do have to water the gardens weekly, they simply can't go without water.

Our next chance of rain is now Sunday and Monday; near-certainty has fallen to 50%.

[ronfitch]

Still nothing. Three and a half weeks without rain. Oddly, my lawn looks OK with only minor touch-ups, although it has some crispy areas. Everybody else's? Straw. I do have to water the gardens weekly, they simply can't go without water.

Our next chance of rain is now Sunday and Monday; near-certainty has fallen to 50%.

We went from wetter-than-normal months in April and May (and half the days with winds hitting 30 mph or faster during the first four months of the year, a record for each month by double or more ... that was fun) to drought for much of June, July and into August. Everything headed our way would either break up or go around us. Most in my neighborhood let their lawns go dormant - mine held up better than most, due - I believe - to the soil amendments I have made over the years based on recommendations on this forum. But some spots in constant direct sun got seriously baked (more than double the 90+ degree F days than normal as well).

And now, five inches of rain in the past three weeks.

Expecting locust soon.

[Masbustelo]

I mow my grass at 3.5, follow the recommendations from this site. Follow the high input fall protocol, my yard never went dormant. It looks like second week of May. Until yesterday I had only applied one shot of May Milorganite as fertilizer in all of 2022, I always mulch mow. My neighbors yards are brown and dormant. I never watered once. Any one reading this pay attention to the years of advice on this site.

[edslawn]

Put down the wake-up Milo on Sunday. It rained yesterday and again today. Still on the lookup for those locusts...

[MorpheusPA]

No locusts here (the grasshoppers are of unusual size, but that's normal), but we did get the flood. 4" of rain atop the August feeding of soybean meal, which is the first rain in a month. At least it perked up the lawn and the mower got the day off.

And it's thundering again, so more rain is on the way.

[ronfitch]

No locusts here (the grasshoppers are of unusual size, but that's normal), but we did get the flood. 4" of rain atop the August feeding of soybean meal, which is the first rain in a month. At least it perked up the lawn and the mower got the day off.

And it's thundering again, so more rain is on the way.

Grasshoppers of Unusual Size was considered for "The Princes Bride" but the costume budget killed that idea. Or so I hear.

[MorpheusPA]

Have you ever tried to fake a grasshopper of that size? Seriously, those things can hop.

[edslawn]

The grasshopper comments are making me laugh since I just watched Jurassic World Dominion and they have very large locusts flying around.

[ronfitch]

And now we at 7ish inches of rain for August, more rain tonight. Sump pump busy.