You’re my favorite expert on evidenced based lawn care. Timely topics. I use the ortho dial sprayer. I use urea nitrogen (def) fill it up. Put it on tsp (lowest setting) and quickly “paint” the grass lightly. About once a week. Very little bit of the 32oz is deposited on my 2k sq ft lawn. The intensity of the green of my lawn is mind numbing. Everyone else’s lawns are yellowing now in November in Chicago and no burn, no measuring and it’s quick. I renovated and reseeded earlier this year and even because it was so cold got a sod or two 5’ x 2’ area and cut that up to put in areas where seed won’t grow because it is just too cold now. Because of the nitrogen they now looks like a uniform color and has grown in. You can barely tell where some pieces are small sod patches filling in TTT fescue. I guess they call this spoon feeding or nitrogen blitz. I just know it takes me less than 15 minutes a week for this tiny nitrogen application and I’m hoping the new renovation, over seeding and sod pieces survive a hopefully mild winter. Temps here are 62F day to low 50F. Filled in thick and Green Green Green. Even used the liquid iron in the dial n sprayer. Once every two months. Nice emerald green.
Great content and information. My weed control is down to a 1 gallon broadleaf control 2 to 3 times per year and no pre for the past 7 years. I will be trying this method with some liquid N and iron next season. Being a former gcs I would not thouught of doing this before even though we had to think outside the box many times. After 45 years in the business its fun to have the test plots and not the worries. Enjoy tour page and content.
Thanks! It's been hard work particularly the editing. I am getting more teckie though. As for the dial and spray..Yes, I was the same way. I thought they were totally a marketing trap. There again, 4 out of the 5 u reviewed would not work. But the ortho impressed me.
Hey Greg? But what about spraying liquid fertilizer? Do I have to spray it in the morning also because I'm putting water on the grass? I always water my lawn early in the morning to give my grass plenty enough time to dry out so I don't get fungus. Is it the same principle when you are spraying liquid fertilizer on your lawn? I would prefer to spray around noon instead. But I thought any time you put any amount of water on the grass it has to be in the morning. Thank you.
Hi greg. I have a question; every time i spray fert with my ortho hose end sprayer, i spray no later than 8 am because ive had brown patch a couple yrs in a row and im afraid if i spray my fert around noon that, that will keep my grass wet going into night. Am i correct spraying my ortho early in the morning just like i also water my lawn early? I see on videos people spraying in the afternoon but then when they give advice on watering, they say to water early in the morning. Sounds contradictory a bit because both are putting water on the lawn. I really hate getting up so early to spray but i feel i have to. Am i correct that even spraying fertilizer that it should also be done very early as well? Thank you.
Watering in the morning is a good move. Particularly if you have dew. The turf canopy is moist and you get water to the soil more efficiently that way. If you start watering when it's dry the first few minuets are spent saturating the turf canopy. Watering when dew is on gets the water to the soil faster. As far as pesticide applications. I noticed when I applied fungicide to my greens I got better control. I have no studies to back this up just my observations. My theory is that I applied the fungicide late evening, then the fungicide sat on the leaf blade overnight and was either absorbed by the plant with systemic fungicides or was in the moist turf canopy longer so it had more time to react with the fungus before drying mid morning the next day. When applying pesticides you really are not watering the turf. Watering grass is putting water in the soil profile in the root system. When you apply pesticides many need to stay on the leaf blade in order to be effective. Exception being pre-emergent herbicides. To sum up....water in the morning so 1) you are taking advantage of the dew. 2) if you can apply pesticides in the evening prior to sunset is in my opinion ideal. You can do either just about any time but I would consider that time optimum.
You’re my favorite expert on evidenced based lawn care. Timely topics. I use the ortho dial sprayer. I use urea nitrogen (def) fill it up. Put it on tsp (lowest setting) and quickly “paint” the grass lightly. About once a week. Very little bit of the 32oz is deposited on my 2k sq ft lawn. The intensity of the green of my lawn is mind numbing. Everyone else’s lawns are yellowing now in November in Chicago and no burn, no measuring and it’s quick. I renovated and reseeded earlier this year and even because it was so cold got a sod or two 5’ x 2’ area and cut that up to put in areas where seed won’t grow because it is just too cold now. Because of the nitrogen they now looks like a uniform color and has grown in. You can barely tell where some pieces are small sod patches filling in TTT fescue. I guess they call this spoon feeding or nitrogen blitz. I just know it takes me less than 15 minutes a week for this tiny nitrogen application and I’m hoping the new renovation, over seeding and sod pieces survive a hopefully mild winter. Temps here are 62F day to low 50F. Filled in thick and Green Green Green. Even used the liquid iron in the dial n sprayer. Once every two months. Nice emerald green.
Brilliant work!
Great content and information. My weed control is down to a 1 gallon broadleaf control 2 to 3 times per year and no pre for the past 7 years. I will be trying this method with some liquid N and iron next season. Being a former gcs I would not thouught of doing this before even though we had to think outside the box many times. After 45 years in the business its fun to have the test plots and not the worries. Enjoy tour page and content.
Thanks! It's been hard work particularly the editing. I am getting more teckie though. As for the dial and spray..Yes, I was the same way. I thought they were totally a marketing trap. There again, 4 out of the 5 u reviewed would not work. But the ortho impressed me.
Hey Greg?
But what about spraying liquid fertilizer? Do I have to spray it in the morning also because I'm putting water on the grass? I always water my lawn early in the morning to give my grass plenty enough time to dry out so I don't get fungus. Is it the same principle when you are spraying liquid fertilizer on your lawn? I would prefer to spray around noon instead. But I thought any time you put any amount of water on the grass it has to be in the morning. Thank you.
Hi greg.
I have a question; every time i spray fert with my ortho hose end sprayer, i spray no later than 8 am because ive had brown patch a couple yrs in a row and im afraid if i spray my fert around noon that, that will keep my grass wet going into night. Am i correct spraying my ortho early in the morning just like i also water my lawn early? I see on videos people spraying in the afternoon but then when they give advice on watering, they say to water early in the morning. Sounds contradictory a bit because both are putting water on the lawn. I really hate getting up so early to spray but i feel i have to. Am i correct that even spraying fertilizer that it should also be done very early as well? Thank you.
Watering in the morning is a good move. Particularly if you have dew. The turf canopy is moist and you get water to the soil more efficiently that way. If you start watering when it's dry the first few minuets are spent saturating the turf canopy. Watering when dew is on gets the water to the soil faster. As far as pesticide applications. I noticed when I applied fungicide to my greens I got better control. I have no studies to back this up just my observations. My theory is that I applied the fungicide late evening, then the fungicide sat on the leaf blade overnight and was either absorbed by the plant with systemic fungicides or was in the moist turf canopy longer so it had more time to react with the fungus before drying mid morning the next day. When applying pesticides you really are not watering the turf. Watering grass is putting water in the soil profile in the root system. When you apply pesticides many need to stay on the leaf blade in order to be effective. Exception being pre-emergent herbicides. To sum up....water in the morning so 1) you are taking advantage of the dew. 2) if you can apply pesticides in the evening prior to sunset is in my opinion ideal. You can do either just about any time but I would consider that time optimum.