Soy and Milorganite

Is that soyorganite? Perhaps!

I tend to like applying a heavy mass of organics to the lawn in August to feed it in September when the grass really wants a nice dinner. I'll do it again in September for October.

I just applied 16.7 pounds per thousand of soybean meal, plus 17.1 pounds per thousand of Milorganite. The grand total protein is about 14 pounds per thousand square feet, or about 2 pounds of nitrogen (eventually) per thousand. Other elements are low except iron, which is almost 0.7 pounds per thousand.

Don't try this with synthetics or you'll burn the lawn badly. For organics, it's fine, and provides a nice base for fall.

Garden Feeding

I'm trying to transform the garden soil to the same standard (or better) than the lawn soil.  So I fed again with another 72 pounds of Milorganite, or 36 pounds per thousand, plus added 16 pounds of starter fertilizer to raise the phosphorus level in the soil.  The lawn is stabilized at 20 PPM, the gardens should be identical as they received the same treatment.  40 to 60 PPM would be better for gardens where I ask for a great deal of blooming all season long.

So far, that's a grand total of 117 pounds of Milorganite per thousand this year.  Although extremely high (and it will be struck with 50 pounds of soybean meal Friday), I'm trying to add as much organic food as possible before I mulch next week.

The Last of the Milorganite

For the season, anyway! I put down 108 pounds over 6,000 square feet (about 18 pounds per thousand), and went heavily through the Township-damaged areas. I'll follow up with photos of those when I can face them...

Normally I'd publish my entire year of organic additions, but I'll hold off until the leaves are done. I'm still importing them at a fairly high rate.

The Winterizer is yet to go, but that has to wait for soil temperatures to fall under 40. So far, that looks like it won't happen for some time yet.

The First of the Fall Milorganite

I've fed with 108 pounds of Milorganite (15.6 pounds per thousand square feet) to start the fall feeding on the lawn. I can certainly use the iron, as well.

This year, Milorganite continues to be added every two weeks either through the end of October or beginning of November, depending on how the weather plays out.

I've passed well over 5,000 pounds of material for the year so far, and I'm approaching 800 pounds per thousand square feet.

I Fed Again...

We're moving toward September, so down went another 350 pounds of corn meal, 3 bags of Milorganite, and about 40 pounds of leftover compost (scattered very thinly across the property). That works out to about 80 pounds per thousand.

Fortunately, this is the last year. My back hurts.

Still More Feeding and Compost Update

We're getting a large amount of rain this week, so I put down another 350 pounds of cracked corn and 72 pounds of Milorganite yesterday. I fed the swale again to prepare it for fall.

That's down to another 1.3 pounds of nitrogen, but I'm adding it more for the soil changes than feeding the lawn.

The composting is working well in the free garbage can. The first load was very heavy on torn up sod, so it didn't break apart very well. I added more shredded junk mail and garden trimmings and the pile is now at 144°. Hopefully that will break apart the sod a little more.

At this rate, I should have a load of compost by the end of September, just in time to start composting the fall leaves.

Another Heavy Feeding

Summer isn't even thinking about winding down yet, but organics take a while to work in. I added 110 pounds of soybean meal and another 72 pound of Milorganite to the lawn over 7,000 square feet--I usually don't feed the swale, but I've done considerable work back there and it could use the energy to spread.

For those of you playing along at home, that's 1.6 pounds of nitrogen, which is a very heavy feeding for July. That's on top of the 1.7 pounds that went down at the beginning of the month. Fortunately there's no chance of burning it, and the number of worms is exploding again.

This is the last year I'm going to be striking it this heavily.

I have to take photos of this. The lawn resembles June more than July (however, so does the weather around here), and is an incredible dark green with an aquamarine overtone. The color is more from the iron than the feeding, however.

More Corn and Milorganite

I fed with another 50 pounds per thousand square feet of cracked corn today, and added another 18 pounds of Milorganite on top of that. Hopefully the Milorganite will repel the birds and rabbits a bit.

Our weather is holding more like early June than July and we're still getting sufficient rain, although June's deluge seems to have stopped at least temporarily. While I wouldn't normally feed that heavily in July, this year won't be an issue.

Looking at the soil condition lately, this is the last year I need to apply at these incredibly high rates. The soil's finished transforming from solid clay to something much more friable. Technically, I could stop now, but there's no issue with continuing through the end of the season.

I do need to update the photos as the lawn is continuing to darken from the iron applications. I'll wait until I mow to do that.

Milorganite vs Ironite

I keep seeing this search and thought about it for a bit. It's a good question.

First, the basics. Milorganite is 5-2-0 fertilizer with 4% iron and a few micronutrients in it. Ironite is 1-0-1 additive with 4.5% iron and a host of micronutrients in it. I hesitate to call Ironite a fertilizer when it has such low numbers.

So which should you use? What are you trying to do and what do you need?

For standard lawn feeding, the Milorganite is definitely the better choice. The iron in it is sufficient to green your lawn without burning it, and the nitrogen is organic and also will not burn.

If you have chlorosis (an iron shortage) or a known shortage of the other nutrients in Ironite, the Ironite is the superior choice. The nitrogen is water-soluble, but there isn't much at only 1%. The iron, at 4.5%, is slightly superior to Milorganite and will green the lawn faster.

To determine if you have a shortage of the micronutrients in Ironite, you should have your soil tested.

Many people state that Ironite (and, for that matter, Milorganite) have too many heavy metals like lead and arsenic. Milorganite meets the highest standards for fertilizer, and Ironite's heavy metal numbers are very reasonable for usage while correcting a shortage. I wouldn't use it as a matter of course, however.

I certainly don't advise the use of Ironite without a soil test as adding micronutrients you don't need is at best useless. At worst it can damage your lawn and gardens.

If you'd rather not add any level of heavy metals but do need iron, ferrous sulfate is another source. Usage will depend heavily on your soil pH and local conditions, so some research is necessary.

At this point, I've used Ironite three times this year. From this point forward, I'll be using ferrous sulfate instead as I don't feel comfortable increasing the other elements any more than they already are.

For other micronutrients, most are available in a sulfate or other form. Those numbers should be calculated by an expert, and you can visit the Bestlawn soil management forum for much more information.

More Milorganite and Ironite

I've just applied 4 more bags, 144 pounds, about 25 per thousand of Milorganite to the lawn. Additionally, I added another 4 bags, 160 lbs, of Ironite to continue to increase the iron levels. The grass is definitely less chlorotic and I'm hopeful that next years' soil test will show considerably improved iron levels.

I'm still working on the annuals, but I'm close to completion. I picked up a few heliotrope and Gerber daisies for pots, but I don't think I need anything else.

The Certainty application from earlier on the nutsedge is definitely working, although I may still patch some of the larger areas.

More Milorganite and Ironite

I'd applied a considerable amount of iron last week and the color deepened, but the new growth is already becoming considerably lighter. With soil tests of 1.4 ppm iron, I'm not terribly surprised.

I applied another 72 pounds of Milorganite and 60 pounds of Ironite to get my iron levels up a little higher. It looks like I'll need to do that again in two weeks as the levels now should be measuring around 9 ppm which is still too low.

Milorganite and Purchases

The grass is starting to awaken very slightly (so of course we'll be getting 2 to 4 inches of snow tomorrow). I put down 144 lbs of Milorganite as a feeding now that the dog food has been consumed by the birds and worms.

I ordered 200 lbs of kelp meal from Dirt Works for $258 including shipping. That's a bit expensive, but I can't get it locally and that's enough for the whole year. I also bought a second EZ Flo system from Dripworks and a 50 pound bag of Sul-Po-Mag from Planet Natural. That should take care of most of my needs for the year as far as extras go. Other than that, the plan is for soybean meal in April, May, June, August, and September, and Milorganite in July and October.

Soybean and Milorganite

I've actually applied two doses of soybean meal this month for a total of 28.6 pounds per thousand square feet. Today I'll add a bit of Milorganite just to diversify the mix a little bit.

More Milorganite

Today was July's second feeding with 2 bags of Milorganite (a grand total of around 0.5 pounds of nitrogen again, so 1 pound total for July). Note to most people reading this: don't feed that heavily. I'm bringing in a first year bluegrass lawn and it's very hungry. For most of you, half that would be fine on any northern lawn. Southerners with Bermuda need to ignore me and feed very heavily during summer.

After this, it's back to soybean meal until October when it's getting too cold for that.

Organic Interdependence Day

Yes, I did just make that up. Deal. :-)

As of yesterday, I dropped 72 pounds of Milorganite (about 10 lbs per thousand square feet) on the lawn. I'd already done the gardens at 18 per thousand the week before.

At the same time last week, I sprayed the lawn and gardens with Nature's Magic. It's composed of about half humic acid, half kelp extract. I think it improved the color a bit, and it does seem to be helping the soil to retain even more water.

It wouldn't be something I'd recommend to people with an established lawn, but mine is first year and still feeding very heavily. The color is still improving slowly, and I couldn't be happier with the density. I'll take photos once it stops pouring...which may be this week. Maybe.

Milorganite

The grass is starting to come back, but it hasn't grown through the dead layer yet in most places. At least the patches where it has are growing larger. Given the on again, off again weather, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

This month's fertilization is 140 pounds of Milorganite (the other 20 went into the gardens), so about 20 lbs per thousand square feet of grass. I'm calling it 1.2 lbs of organic nitrogen, 0.4 lbs phosphorous, and no potassium. There's an additional 0.8 lbs of iron in there as well.