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PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 2:22 pm 
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I believe this is the time for corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent..right? Can I apply an organic lawn fertilizer with it like Texas Tee? or should I apply those at seperate times?

BTW - two years ago and the year before that I applied compost, dried molasses and a little green sand to my ailing bermuda lawn (I've been organic for 6 yrs). The lawn continues to go downhill and now has more weeds than grass. I live in an older home (1920's) could the lawn just be giving out?

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 4:18 pm 
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Just apply the CGM at this point. Wait about 4 weeks after the CGM to apply the fall fertilizer application. Remember to give your lawn a good deep soaking before you apply the CGM, then water the CGM in very lightly and try to keep it dry for 10-14 days post application.

How much CGM are you applying? You may want to increase it to 40 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. to give the microbes a little extra to munch on and see if that will help the lawn.

Also, you may want to get a soil test to see why your lawn is in decline. Something may be out of balance or missing to have a healthy lawn.

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:14 pm 
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How much shade do you have where your grass is?

How often and how much do you water? Are there any big trees?

How often and how high do you mow?

How often and how much do you fertilize?

Do you overseed with rye in the winter?

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 7:44 am 
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How much shade do you have where your grass is? [i]It's in full sun, facing north[/i]

How often and how much do you water? Are there any big trees? [i]I water very infrequently, but deeply...I have only watered a few times this year due to all the rain.[/i]

How often and how high do you mow? [i]I mow about every 2 weeks, sometimes a little more frequently due to the fact the weeds grow faster than the grass and I have to keep them cut. I cut the lawn to about 3 inches or so and keep all the clippings on the lawn.[/i]

How often and how much do you fertilize? [i]I haven't fertilized this year at all, guess I'm totally disgusted with the lawn. I usually fertilize twice a year w/ Texas Tee. I follow the label instructions on how much.[/i]

Do you overseed with rye in the winter? [i]no[/i]

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:22 am 
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sandih wrote:
How often and how high do you mow? I mow about every 2 weeks, sometimes a little more frequently due to the fact the weeds grow faster than the grass and I have to keep them cut. I cut the lawn to about 3 inches or so and keep all the clippings on the lawn.


Of course I can't be certain, but I see a couple of things that at least pique my curiosity. I believe you said you have a Bermuda grass lawn. If you are mowing Bermuda at 3", I have found that to be a recipe for disaster in my lawn. Because I have a variety of grasses in my lawn (Bermuda, St. Augustine, Tall Fescue), I tried mowing the lawn all at one height. Doing so I have pretty much managed to thin out the Bermuda to non-existence. Another thing, I don't know how you can go 2 weeks between mowings without having to cut two much leaf. My lawn requires cutting every 5-7 days. I haven't watered my lawn at all this year, because of the rains.

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:51 pm 
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I do not always mow every 2 weeks, but sometimes every week. It just depends on how it looks. My lawn has been in decline for about 2-3 years now.

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 1:01 pm 
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I agree with Mr. Clean and think you need to drop your mower down a bit. Try mowing it at 2.5" once a week for the rest of season and see if that helps to thicken it up. Next spring, if your lawn is smooth enough, try mowing at 2" and that will help the Bermuda get thicker but won't become a ton to maintain like if you were to mow it at 1-1.5". If it is browning with each mowing at 2", go ahead and raise the mower deck up to 2.5" roughly. This should give you a nice lawn but not a golf course, but, I get the feeling a golf course is not the look you are after anyway.

With the addition of the nitrogen from the CGM you said you are putting down you may get some new growth out of the Bermuda this fall before it goes dormant. Make sure to put down a good organic fertilizer like the Texas Tee you mentioned this October so the roots/microbes have some food for the winter. Water it in with some molasses and liquid seaweed for even more food to grow on. I would just use one cup each in a hose end sprayer and give everything a light drink the morning before you water.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:40 am 
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Interesting because I've been mowing to the height suggestion that Howard has been talking about. You're suggustions seem awful short...but I'll give it a try.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:19 pm 
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Scott,

You mentioned not watering the lawn for 10-14 days after CGM. Won't that dry out the rest of the landscaping? Should I be using CGM for the beds as well? What about mowing? This is my first year at this and I have the CGM and am planning on using it this weekend and applying Gardenville's 7-2-2 a few weeks after the CGM. Is this the time of year for application of beneficial nematodes?

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:37 pm 
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Please see the answers I gave to your questions below:

You mentioned not watering the lawn for 10-14 days after CGM. Won't that dry out the rest of the landscaping?
With the cooler weather and the amount of rain we received today. The plants in your landscape should fair fine if you have been practicing good watering habits all season and they are hardened off of frequent watering. I usually go 5-9 days in between watering anyway that is why I say to give the lawn a good deep soak before you apply it, to give the grass enough to live on during this time. If at 10 days the grass is showing definite signs of drought stress, by all means, water if you feel the need to. If you have plants in your landscape that require more water, try watering them with a soaker hose so that it will not get the lawn area wet.


Should I be using CGM for the beds as well?
Only apply the CGM to the areas that you do not plan for seeds to germinate in. I plant all my annuals directly by seed, so I do not put any CGM in my beds at all. I just use mulch to suppress the weeds from germinating, IMO that is the best control method for bed areas.


What about mowing?
You will not want to mow either during that time. Try to mow before you apply the CGM if possible.


This is my first year at this and I have the CGM and am planning on using it this weekend and applying Gardenville's 7-2-2 a few weeks after the CGM.
Make sure to wait 3-4 weeks after you put down the CGM to apply your fertilizer.


Is this the time of year for application of beneficial nematodes?
I believe this is best done in the spring. If someone else has more info here, please chime in.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:43 am 
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I agree with the watering. My landscape has all adapted plants so they don't need hardly any water..especially since the waether has been cooler and we've rec'd a lot of rain.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:09 am 
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Scott-in-Texas wrote:
This is my first year at this and I have the CGM and am planning on using it this weekend and applying Gardenville's 7-2-2 a few weeks after the CGM.
Make sure to wait 3-4 weeks after you put down the CGM to apply your fertilizer.




I'm a newbie for organic, I started going organic this year and have couple of questions to ask


Why do we have to wait 3-4 weeks after put down CGM to apply fertilizer?

What's different between texas tee and gardenville fertilizer?

what're the purposes of molasses and seaweed?

thank you


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:26 pm 
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Please see my responces below your questions in bold below:

Why do we have to wait 3-4 weeks after put down CGM to apply fertilizer? Since both have nitrogen in them it is better to put the CGM down by itself and then the fertilizer later so there is not a large jolt of nitrogen. You do not want to cause a large amount of top growth at this point in the season and that is what it would do.


What's different between texas tee and gardenville fertilizer?
They are both feed based fertilizer, both should work well, it is just up to personal preference. Texas Tee is what he stated he was using so that is why I mentioned it. Personally, I use BioForm Dry or Greensense with poultry manure.

what're the purposes of molasses and seaweed?
The molasses is a bio-stimulant and promotes greater colonies of microbes by giving them a food source in the form of sugar, they also need protein where the meal based fertilizers come in. Liquid seaweed is a natural root stimulator. It helps the roots grow and become stronger, therefore increasing the hardiness of the plant.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:23 pm 
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Quote:
Corn gluten meal will fail as a pre-emergent if the soil and weed seed stay moist for a long period after treatment is applied. The constant moisture will override the herbicidal effect, the small roots will start to grown, and the fretilizer value of the corn gluten meal will give you very large weeds.

-- Garret, Howard. Texas Garening: The Natural Way. 2004; pg 214.

After reading the statement, I would be scared to water deeply before applying the CGM because the watering sounds like to reduce the effectiveness. I would understand a sprinkling to help integrate the CGM into the soil. Furthermore, if you water deeply, I would check the weather whether rain may occur within the next 10-14 days. But if it works on your lawn, great.

What is considered a "long period" (realistically) of time? I am located in the panhandle of Texas, that is around Amarillo.

Using Garret's books as a baseline, I am beginning to use Garrett's Texas Organic Gardening (1993) book for my hybrid bluegrass and actually going to only use a 1/4 of the program for the buffalo grass since I read to fertilize the buffalo once a year. For a foliar spray, this program calls for a mix of liquid seawead, liquid mollasses, and a biostimulant (i.e., Agri-spon). I'm afraid I might fertilize the buffallo to much. Should I do a foliar spray for my buffalo? (sorry, foliar question is kind of off topic). I need to read the posts about buffalo grass.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:51 pm 
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Quote:
After reading the statement, I would be scared to water deeply before applying the CGM because the watering sounds like to reduce the effectiveness. I would understand a sprinkling to help integrate the CGM into the soil. Furthermore, if you water deeply, I would check the weather whether rain may occur within the next 10-14 days. But if it works on your lawn, great.


That is a gamble we all take anytime we apply CGM. We can never know for sure when it is going to rain, especially this year. The reason you need to water deeply is so the area can stay dry for an extended period after you have put the CGM down. If you keep it wet afterward is when it loses its effectiveness and it does need to be watered in lightly, you are correct there.

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