Hahaha

[DeepGreenLawn]

OK, I treated my first lawns today with my organic "earthy" smelling fertilizer. :laugh: Earthy, yeah, that somehow doesn't really fit what I would call it. I treated my in-laws homes. My mother/father-n-law have woods in their back yard and said they thought there was a rotting animal out there. My brother/sister-n-law said they were checking all the trash cans and looking up and down the street, finally put it off as a sewage problem somewhere on the street. As I was wrapping up my own lawn my neighbor from two houses down came out and asked what the h*$# that awful smell was. I said I was sorry but I had forgotten to take a shower that day. Something about his face told me he wasn't planning on going organic any time soon.

Any suggestions on how to get the smell covered in some way?

Most everyone I talked to about it said that as long as it was gone the next day they didn't care. I am just going to have to make sure that I make it clear to my customers that the smell is not exactly pleasant when I treat and give them a heads up before I show up. I still think it may be hard to pick up new customers who are neighbors though. We will see.

[DeepGreenLawn]

Actually, at first I thought it might have smelled a little like butter scotch, but I don't like the stuff so I am probably getting it confused with something else. Now I like to relate it to the beach, like if your in a bay and there is a lot of fishing around there or if the seaweed is really bad. That is pretty close to the best way of describing it I think.

I thing Treegal said something about the dogs being interested in it which kind of worried me but for the most part they could have cared less. The fert that I am using, not the ICT, was a NASTY brown goop. I thought it was going to be more liquid. What a mess it made. But I guess you live and learn.

[brianlooft]

What exactly are you using that smells so bad?

[DeepGreenLawn]

I use a couple of different products. One of which is ICT Bills product, but that isn't the one that I use. The fert I use is what smells, I think it has a lot of fish oils or something, it's nasty stuff though. And boy does it make a mess.

contains fish solubles, a rich source of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. It also contains specially selected cold water kelp concentrate, another rich source of potassium along with micronutrients, stress relieving hormones and chelating agents. The combination of fish and kelp creates an all-purpose fertilizer that can be conveniently applied to the soil or directly on plants as a foliar spray.

[ICT Bill]

Use more water when applying to dilute the smell, if you move to 3 to 5 gallons per 1000 it will help alot. vanilla will also absorb a lot of the odor as well if tank mixed with other

Kelp and fish can have a very strong odor especially when spraying when its hot. Some fish products have a lot of oil in them, it is the fish oil that has most of the smell

[DeepGreenLawn]

vanilla will also absorb a lot of the odor as well if tank mixed with other



other what? regular vanilla? I will have to look into this. I was talking to the inlaws last night at dinner and my little sister-n-law who is 10 said to throw perfume in it. My older sister-n-law said "yeah, then you will have flowery smelling s^*t":D

[ICT Bill]

Yep plain old vanilla really absorbs odors

If you use more water as a carrier you will be fine

[DeepGreenLawn]

if I lower my mixing rate will I have to apply more? Or will I get the same effect? Right now I am using one and a half of jugs of your product per 200gal tank. Maybe drop back to 1 per 200 gal? I am using 5 gal of my fert.

[ICT Bill]

The idea is to use lots of water with the application. It may slow you down a little but you'll get better results and less smell. Maybe you will have to fill up again half way through the day.

That's the great thing about Mix and Spray in the field, just take the carton with you and fill up while your eating lunch

It was hard for me to realize at first that the water is just a carrier for the microbes. If you apply at 2 gallons per 1000 or 5 Gallons per 1000 the same amount of biology is going into the same area. Compost Tea applications are supposed to be more towards soil drenches, not really a spray til light drip application

Just adjust the dilution rates accordingly

[DeepGreenLawn]

I don't know if your familiar with these or not but I have the typical spray nozzle on my lesco space saver. It doesn't put out much liquid period. Is there a way I can increase my volume? I would think it would be hard with the size hose, it has a 3/4" hose I think.

[DeepGreenLawn]

Hey Bill, or treegal, or anyone... I was wanting to know how much vanilla it would take to help nock down the smell. Or if anyone else had any ideas too that would be nice.

[ICT Bill]

My head isn't doing the math for some reason but we use 2 Gallons in 275 gallon totes to cut the smell on one of our products so not much

I'm not sure what that ratio is

[DeepGreenLawn]

my wife worked at a restaraunt, she's taking off due to the newborn, and she said she didn't think the stuff was too cheap. Are we talking about the same stuff?

[treegal1]

first try some molasses, and then get the water wand out, that will give you a more open flow less pressure, and twice the volume, then add more water, and some molasses/yucca.

[treegal1]

you can also add some charcoal fines, the vanilla is a great smell blocker, just to rich for me$$$. there are also several other smells that can mask the odor, we have fell in love with some lavender extract, and it was not to expensive

[DeepGreenLawn]

sounds good, what are charcoal fines? and the water wand? is that what you get for like washing your car? I had a half full/ half empty tank this morning, filled it back up with some water, added ICT's product to make up for the added H20 and left the fert the same, now being half the app. I figured since I have two registered ferts I was already doing more than most, so cutting one in half couldn't hurt things too much. I got two lawns treated today, one RIGHT before the rains hit, and the second as it was raining. The rest of the day was slap full of estimates. I plan on only treating tomorrow and MAYBE an estimate or two if they are in the right area. I do have a few meetings in the morning that I don't particularly look forward to but that's business.

[RigglePLC]

For the odor--you might try laundry detergent. Some types have built in "Fresh Laundry" odor. I use detergents sometimes to enhance the wetting ability of the spray solution. Helps to loosen clay soils also. Use about 4 ounces per load--I mean tank. Family Dollar has some off brands that are inexpensive. Fabric softner would probably work also.

[DeepGreenLawn]

I love smart people.

[ICT Bill]

Its true that dish washing soap, and the like, disrupts surface tension in water it is a great surfactant

[Daner]

I don't know if your familiar with these or not but I have the typical spray nozzle on my lesco space saver. It doesn't put out much liquid period. Is there a way I can increase my volume? I would think it would be hard with the size hose, it has a 3/4" hose I think.

How about diluting the concentrate Itself before mixing?:)

That fish can really smell bad...It will also a track the animals at night