Bermuda Tif 419 Fertilizer

[quiet]

I've been in discusssions about spring fertilizer purchases, and one supplier suggested the following custom blend:

25% Ammonium Sulfate
25% Methylene Urea
50% Biosolids
10% Sulfur

I Know - that's 110%!

Soil analyses are all very similar. Here's a recent one:
ph = 8.0
Phosporus - 47 ppm - High
Potassium - 192 ppm - High
Calcium - 64356 ppm - Very High
Mn - 683 - high
Salinity - 266 - none
Zinc - 2.55 - High
Iron - 6.30 - High
Mg - 4.07 - High
Sodium - 372 - Low
Sulphur - 98 - High

The fertilizer works out to a 16-2-0 analysis. Cost is high = $1.96/MSF

I'm a little wary about no K at all for summer heat stress . . . and it gets hot here in Central TX.

But it sounds like a pretty good mix for my area. Opinions?

[SWD]

Is that for one turf site, or for all?
Depending upon a whole host of considerations, this fert combo may or may not be appropriate.
Bear in mind soil tests will provide a relative benchmark that indicates a well informed starting point, it doesn't necessarily mean this is the only fert for your applications.
Site location, useage, traffic, irrigation, trees, landscape, elevation, height of cut, frequency of aeration/verticutting, etc, etc are just as important as a general soil test.

[ThreeWide]

I assume this is a home lawn, not an athletic field.

Since your K is currently at 192, you shouldn't worry about applying it during the Spring. IMO, the K is more important to have for Winter stress as bermuda generally takes heat in stride.

Remember that K moves through the soil at a moderate rate. As long as you apply 2-3 pounds of K per 1,000 before the end of the growing season, things should be fine.

If this was an athletic field with summer play involved, you definitely need to apply K in the Spring.

[quiet]

Home lawns. Very, very little traffic. Irrigated frequently. Mowing height - 1.5" early, then up to 2" or 2.25" when rapid growth slows in late spring - God forbid if a scalp mark appears in the far corner of the back yard!

[ThreeWide]

A couple of my properties have soil tests somewhat similar to that. One in particular I have scheduled for a 19-0-19 Novex for the first Spring application.

Most of my properties tested low in P, so they will receive an 18-24-12 application before rolling into the slower release products. Some also were treated with DAP 18-46-0 during the past month to help correct that deficiency.

FWIW, all of my bermuda properties in Summer 05 will be treated with either UF or Novex products which both use slow release methods. The goal is to make the growth rate more managable during the summer months. Yes, scalp marks are very bad.

[timturf]

IMO, the K is more important to have for Winter stress as bermuda generally takes heat in stride.


I agree, the stress would be higher in the winter than summer, but I could be wrong for your area!



I would apply potash, preferably sop, at a rate of 2/3 your nitrogen rate!

Way so much sulfer in the mix?

What is the anaylsis of bio solids? I assume the bio solids contains micro's!

How much is slow release?

how many lbs/m/year of n will this mix deliver?

[Ric]

I agree, the stress would be higher in the winter than summer, but I could be wrong for your area!



I would apply potash, preferably sop, at a rate of 2/3 your nitrogen rate!

Way so much sulfer in the mix?

What is the anaylsis of bio solids? I assume the bio solids contains micro's!

How much is slow release?

how many lbs/m/year of n will this mix deliver?

Tim

On a home lawn I agree with the 2/3. However in High wear 419 turfs I say 1/3 . St Augustine I go at least 1/1 every app but we have a year round season and sandy soil with little or no CEC. Summer rainy season I back off N and increase K to 1/3 .

[quiet]

Biosolids - I'll guess, but on the order of 6-2-0 as Milorganite is

Slow Release N - MU is all slow release, and the 6% N in the biosolids is all slow release also.

The High Sulfur - with a ph of 8.0, why not?

Lbs.N/MSF - 1lb/M x 5 or 6 for 419 over the year.
8,000 sf from a 50lb bag at 16-2-0

Winter stress - Tif has gone dormant now. Had a low of 19 recently during a cold snap, but 70 now. Winters are brief and mild, only brief "cold" snaps here in Central TX. Does root growth continue on 419 during dormancy?

[ThreeWide]

Winter stress - Tif has gone dormant now. Had a low of 19 recently during a cold snap, but 70 now. Winters are brief and mild, only brief "cold" snaps here in Central TX. Does root growth continue on 419 during dormancy?


Yes, the roots will continue to grow during the dormancy period.

My guess is that 19 degrees came right after a warm spell where some top growth can be triggered. With temperature extremes from 19 to 70, that is exactly why you need a nice supply of K in the soil prior to Winter.

Those are situations when winterkill can occur if too much N still remains available.

[quiet]

I appreciate the input! I'm still scratching my head though. I used several different brands of fert last season for the March/May/July applications, and all were similar 1-0-1 ratio types; Novex 19-2-19, and UHS's (Verticon) Signature Brand 19-2-19. I think UHS's was really the best performer for color, and turf density. I was less impressed with Novex.

All were MU/Biosolid/SOP/High Sulfur formulas. And all were really slow to green up during the cool, wet spring! I am considering AS in the blend for a quicker response in the spring.

Fall apps in September received 21-7-14 (3.22% MU, and 2.28% WIN), and the Fall pre-m apps were 5-5-25 w/Barricade.

The customers seemed very pleased, except for the very slow green up. I'd like avoid that.

[SWD]

If you want quicker green up in the spring, you have to address soil temps and compaction.
Aerate once soil temps consistently are around 60*F, apply a micro trace package high in iron, then drag in the cores, perhaps topdress with compost, then irrigate.
If quicker spring green up is what you are after, and wish to limit spring dead spot, an app of Bayleton immediately prior to dormancy onset in the fall will provide substantially quicker green up-about two-three weeks earlier than untreated plots.
You can aerate and apply the Milorganite for a more cost effective approach to spring green up.
With the poor clay soils common to Texas, topdressing is a good idea to help the structure and chemistry of the soil.
Where in Texas are you located?

[ThreeWide]

In addition to what SWD stated above, the key to a faster greenup is Spring scalping down to 1/2 inch or less combined with a free source of N such as Ammonium Nitrate or Sulfate. I've seen scalped lawns greenup 1 month sooner compared to those without.

It is a nasty job, but I've found it easier to perform a progressive scalping process starting in early in the year as opposed to doing it all at once. You can gradually get it down to 1 1/2 inches without causing any problems.

Soil temperatures will tell you when the time is right to do the final scalp . Do it too early, and you promote weed growth. Just make sure the pre-em is down prior to scalping.

My preference is to wait until after 100% greenup in May to begin aerating and/or topdressing.

[quiet]

Again, thanks for the input.
The lawns were scalped in Feb down to 1". I hadn't given compaction the consideration it needs; the soils here are clay with only a couple inches of topsoil added on top. They are highly compacted which is why I feel the need for constantly adding a % of Biosolids to the fert program.

SWD - I recall from an earlier thread about maintaining fall color that you've found adding Iron to your fall fungicide app keeps the green lasting longer in the fall. And now you're mentioning Bayleton applied just prior to dormancy will help facillitate green up in the spring. Interesting! But I'm having a hard time connecting the two. How does a fungus app in fall help spring green up?

[Ric]

Again, thanks for the input.
The lawns were scalped in Feb down to 1". I hadn't given compaction the consideration it needs; the soils here are clay with only a couple inches of topsoil added on top. They are highly compacted which is why I feel the need for constantly adding a % of Biosolids to the fert program.

SWD - I recall from an earlier thread about maintaining fall color that you've found adding Iron to your fall fungicide app keeps the green lasting longer in the fall. And now you're mentioning Bayleton applied just prior to dormancy will help facillitate green up in the spring. Interesting! But I'm having a hard time connecting the two. How does a fungus app in fall help spring green up?

Quiet

Brown patch is a fall disease in the south. Actually it is there all summer long but heat and fast growth hide it. Fall apps of fungicide cure the Brown Patch or at least suppress it long enough to allow your turf to be healthy in the spring. High temperatures suppress Brown Patch.

Note: if you have an out break of Brown patch this year, you will have it in the same place next year. Keep records and do a preventive treatment.

[timturf]

Ric,

I knew we hear from you, And quiet needs input from somebody that isn't growing common bermunda in the upper end of the transition zone!

The bio solids will release @ when the soil temps are greater than 50 degrees , and should find the green up will start after soil temps are greater than 55 degrees at 3 inch depth consiently, at least that's what I found in my location. Using bio solids or uf would be a good source of n that would start to release when bermunda is starting to grow. remember, a wet soil is slower to warm up!

iron will help retain the green color if available before dormancy, and if you don't mow it off!

I would be concern about scalping too early, i would think you would want to just before greenup!

believe you should have plenty of k and fe for winter stress, since both help the plant handle the stress! A study done in va, early 90,s ?, founf bermunda that received no k, sop, and mop, the first to greenup was sop, and the last was mop!

Queit,
When I was in the midwest we grew bentgrass putting greens on a mix that usually ran a ph somewhere between 6.8 and high 7's, would apply maximum sulfer to bentgrass, and never see ph drop! Do you find that to be the case in your area! Our water had a very high ph!

I was taught that bermunda roots die back or are killed just before greenup, is this correct? Again, I was dealing with common bermunda!

slow release,
milorganite is 90 to 95% slow release, and I don't believe that all the methylene urea is slow release ? So, how many of the 16 units is slow release of your 16-2-0?

How many of your 5-6 applications will you use the 16-2-0?

Am. sulfate should help with the ph if you can have any effect, as will the sulfer, ( my question, why the sulfer, maybe was a dumb question) Remember, a wet soil is slow to warm up!

Well you deep warm season boys, did the transition boy have anything worth while to add this thread? Or was all my experience in the transition zone worthless to you?

[quiet]

Your input is always highly valued, as is SWD's, Turf Unltd.'s and Ric's. Texas A&M did a study on adding sufur and found that adding a ton of sulfur to a 10,000 sf plot reduced the ph from 7.8 to 7.6 . . . temporarily. By the end of 3 weeks the ph had returned to 7.8. I have a notion that the addition of S will help temporarily in the uptake of nutrients from a fert application.

I did take the wet soil into consideration last spring and had to ask several customers to stop watering. 9" of rain from Mid March to Mid April, and these people were watering on top of all that rain!

My fall app of 21-7-14 concerns me now. The K source was potassium chloride. Since soil temps drop and microbe activity slows or stops, I had hoped the impact on the microbial population would be minimal, and since K moves through the soil there wouldn't be a significant impact when activity resumes when soil temps rise.

Interesting! And, again, all of your inputs are sincerely appreciated!

[timturf]

Your input is always highly valued, as is SWD's, Turf Unltd.'s and Ric's. Texas A&M did a study on adding sufur and found that adding a ton of sulfur to a 10,000 sf plot reduced the ph from 7.8 to 7.6 . . . temporarily. By the end of 3 weeks the ph had returned to 7.8. I have a notion that the addition of S will help temporarily in the uptake of nutrients from a fert application.

I did take the wet soil into consideration last spring and had to ask several customers to stop watering. 9" of rain from Mid March to Mid April, and these people were watering on top of all that rain!

My fall app of 21-7-14 concerns me now. The K source was potassium chloride. Since soil temps drop and microbe activity slows or stops, I had hoped the impact on the microbial population would be minimal, and since K moves through the soil there wouldn't be a significant impact when activity resumes when soil temps rise.

Interesting! And, again, all of your inputs are sincerely appreciated!

Quiet,

texas a&m study, 2000lbs/10,000sq ft, or 200lbs/m would reduce the ph from 7.8 to 7.6 for 3 weeks!!!!!!!!! I don't think its worth applying sulfer to home lawns to reduce ph!

[quiet]

That was the point of the study. Sulfur's effects are minimal to begin with and insignificant in the long haul. But I think it does help with the uptake of nutrients, and as I understand it, help increase microbial population, if only somewhat, for the very short term.

And as Ric mentioned regarding turfgrass diseases, I'm under the impression that Brown patch, and particularly Take-All Patch (a real problem in St. Aug lawns) prefer alkaline soils. Sulfur is insignificant to the cost of fert, so why not add even if only to incrementally and temporarily aid the soil profile, the microbial population, plant nutrient uptake etc.?

[Ric]

Quiet

Better re-read your Take-All Patch. True the microbes are more active in Higher pH and CEC it slightly higher with a lower pH. However Take All Patch is a disease of opportunity. It mostly attacks very stressed St Augustine. Now preventive measures are to apply a systemic fungicide in early spring. It is believed that Take All Patch starts with the roots and is very well on its way long before signs of it are visible. It occurs in poor drained soils more often than well drained soils. All Turf grasses response better in lower pH soils.

Now as far as your pH testing done by the University. I think that can not be taken as Gospel. What was the soil profile of the area they tested. How much sand Silt and clay can make a big difference in response and therefore skew the results. Sulfur has been used for decades as a pH lower practice successfully. However be aware of sulfur layering in the sub-soil, it tends to be anaerobic and give off sulfuric gas that kills the plants above. This generally occurs in poorly drained soils.

Now as to pH lowering practices. Nothing short of amendment will change the pH of a given soil. Acid forming fertilizer can fool the rhizoshere into acting like a lower pH but given time it will alway revert back to its natural pH. Compost can help lower pH for an even longer period of time, however once again it will end up back to its original pH.

[timturf]

Quiet

Better re-read your Take-All Patch. True the microbes are more active in Higher pH and CEC it slightly higher with a lower pH. However Take All Patch is a disease of opportunity. It mostly attacks very stressed St Augustine. Now preventive measures are to apply a systemic fungicide in early spring. It is believed that Take All Patch starts with the roots and is very well on its way long before signs of it are visible. It occurs in poor drained soils more often than well drained soils. All Turf grasses response better in lower pH soils.

Now as far as your pH testing done by the University. I think that can not be taken as Gospel. What was the soil profile of the area they tested. How much sand Silt and clay can make a big difference in response and therefore skew the results. Sulfur has been used for decades as a pH lower practice successfully. However be aware of sulfur layering in the sub-soil, it tends to be anaerobic and give off sulfuric gas that kills the plants above. This generally occurs in poorly drained soils. Now as to pH lowering practices. Nothing short of amendment will change the pH of a given soil. Acid forming fertilizer can fool the rhizoshere into acting like a lower pH but given time it will alway revert back to its natural pH. Compost can help lower pH for an even longer period of time, however once again it will end up back to its original pH.

Yes, sulfur has been sucessful in lowering the ph, but I KNOW in the midwest, (Ill), we couldnt lower the ph on bentgrass, we used the maximum amount of sulfer you could on bentgrass, with no lowering effect. Problem was, the irrigation water had a high ph! The only solution was to pre treat the irrigation water!

Yes, the sulfur layering in wet soils was causing a black layer problem in the midwest, giving alot of superintendents problems on their bent putting greens!

[SWD]

Quiet, the purpose of a fungicide application prior to the onset of dormant C4 turf is to limit spring dead spot. One of the other posters may correct me, however, if my memory serves me correctly, spring dead spot is the common name for the graminacia (spelling?) pathogen.
When I was an active golf course superintendent, one of the seminars I attended addressed overseeding, the transition both into and out of, and disease suppression. That is where this information was originally obtained.
I also believe the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has research supporting this practice. You might like to check with the USGA staff agronomy people for more information. Additionally, I just remembered that NC state and Rutgers provided info on this as well.

[greenerpastures]

Quiet,
your getting good input from the guys far east of us. I too have dealt with slow 419 green-up in the past. I too am going to try Am.suf. as the geen-up app this spring on ballfields. Your soil analysis is common, so I assume you are somewhere in the blackland prairies. Last season, I believe slow soil warmup was much of the cause of slow green-up. In addition, it was very dry and few of my clients were irrigating properly. The cultural practices mentioned above seem to be a good place to start as well.

Sulfur is a great add anytime for our soils. No I don't think it is feasible to lower pH with it, but it simply seems to boost the N. I am not so sure that its chemisty is functional in a microenvironment that our normal soil tests don't properly detect. On our ag fertilizations where only yield matters, S is the one addition to N that seems to pay on our topdress treatments of grains. And as you probably know, the fert formulators say that sulfur-coating on ureas do little or nothing as an amendment----you have to add elemental S or AmS to get available sulfur ---usually taking the place of N, thus necessitating more #/ac.---not a good thing if you do a lot of large acreage properties.

On the disease issue. Bermuda + scorching hot summer weather seems to take care of 99% of it for us. I have been trying different K rates and have yet to reach a conclusion on what is best. I would be interested how it works out for you after this spring.

[quiet]

Yes, the input from the East is always valued, as is the input from you and just west of me.

I'm still undecided about going to a No K blend, and cost/MSF is high at $1.96.

Yeah, green-up last year was exceedingly slow, but whereas you say you were dry up in the Metroplex, we were exceedingly wet here in Austin starting in February and lasting, well, it was the 3rd wettest year of all time. ('04 - 52" of rain, '03 - 21" of rain! Normal is 32"). It'll be interesting to see what this spring's weather is like.

Other than the slooooooow green up, I had such good results with 1-0-1 ratio ferts last year, that I'm somewhat reluctant to change, but that's another cost issue there for greens grade ferts. The only problem I had was with fungus' on the few St. Aug lawns I do.

Thanks again to all for your input! Keep it coming if you like, as I'm still undecided! I want biosolids, I want MU, I want SOP, and I think I want AMS for early spring app. And I want it for around a $1.00/MSF!

[Ric]

Sulfur, S. functions with nitrogen to produce growth and photosynthesis. Sulfur compounds helps to reduce pH. Acid forming fertilizers are important in our area and use sulfur or sulfur combined material. The label on fertilizer will state whether sulfur is free or combined. Sulfur does not translocate in the plant but does leach out of the soil.

Sulfur Deficiencies, first cause yellowing on new growth then the entire plants slows its growth. Finally the plant goes into decline. If you have ever put fertilizer on turf and had areas grow but turn yellow, you have seen what a sulfur deficiency can do. Sometimes if we leave these areas alone they green up. The reason is that nitrogen breaks down in the soil first and is in useable form before sulfur.

[greenerpastures]

Most soil tests for our area will be common to yours in the blacklands. A&M will tell you .7lbs to 1#/N/M every 6-8 weeks on 419. On your test that is probably all they recommend. -- We wish it were so easy.

If you are like me, you feel better adding 2# P2O5 and/or K2O at least once per season to maintain levels and of course S as previously stated.

Now a fert saleman is going to try and load you up on micro's and bio's because that is where their profit lies--- albeit they have their place.

At the end of the day, I insist on meeting the soil test requirement (which is usually only N) and then fill out the formulation with S,P,K,&Fe depending on season and budget.

The trend I am seeing from turf academia here is toward N only ferts in season. I assume some of this is due to phosphate pollution pressure.

[timturf]

quiet,

so after all this great advice, what is your mix going to be?

[quiet]

Haven't decided yet. Checking pricing thoroughly. The Verdicon (UHS) branch here has stopped their lawn fert distribution sales, and is going strictly with ag products only. I liked UHS's ferts.

The salesman that I've dealt with has left and is now with a very large regional distributor of ferts, and will be heading up their sales div. geared to LCO's (vs. golf courses and municipalities).

Will be talking to him next week. I wanna look at Lebanon's pricing. Anyone care to comment on Lebanon's products? Price? Quality? Value?

[quiet]

Gonna go with Lebanon's 19-0-19 63% MESA, SOP, 11% S
$2.02/MSF

[timturf]

Glad to see the sop!

[greenerpastures]

Sounds like you have reached an educated decision. What is your rate/1000 sq.ft or target rate?

I have decided on a 19-3-10+Fe+Mg which derives all N from AMS for first app in effort to apply S and achieve rapid green-up. Cost will be below $8.50/bag on truckload quantity. 2nd and 3rd apps I am leaning on switching to Uflex treated urea (30-0-10+Fe)from SCU(28-3-10). I can get about 10% more N for the money and the same slow release effect from the Uflex (if their data is true). I guarantee my clients minimum N specs, so I keep N analysis up.

Anyone with any experience with Uflexx? It is a nitrification inhibitor.

[quiet]

What is your rate/1000 sq.ft or target rate?

1 lb.N/MSF

I have decided on a 19-3-10+Fe+Mg which derives all N from AMS for first app in effort to apply S and achieve rapid green-up. Cost will be below $8.50/bag on truckload quantity.

Hard to argue with. Fast, pretty green up . . . and less than 1/2 the price.

"The trend I am seeing from turf academia here is toward N only ferts in season. I assume some of this is due to phosphate pollution pressure."
(This was from your post on Jan 5)

Yes. Had a discussion with a blender's sales rep earlier this week, and he's constantly debating this with A&M's turf people. Yes, a lot of P in our soils, but low CEC's should merit the addition of P. And he backed that up with an interesting statement: the turf roots only benefit from P when it is present right at the root tip. Then my mind drifted off while he was talking while I thought back on SWD's post from quite awhile back about Milorganite creating exchange sites in the soils . . .

[timturf]

greenpastures ask: What is your rate/1000 sq.ft or target rate?
Quiet's reply was: 1 lb.N/MSF

greenpastures asked: I have decided on a 19-3-10+Fe+Mg which derives all N from AMS for first app in effort to apply S and achieve rapid green-up. Cost will be below $8.50/bag on truckload quantity
Quiet replied: Hard to argue with. Fast, pretty green up . . . and less than 1/2 the price.
Timturf input Wouldn't you want to be careful pushing the bermunda too quickly in spring? What happens if you get a late hard frost? I would believe an fert with very high k, fe, would be beneficial for a spring application.

Greenpastures said "The trend I am seeing from turf academia here is toward N only ferts in season. I assume some of this is due to phosphate pollution pressure." (This was from your post on Jan 5)
Quit replied: Yes. Had a discussion with a blender's sales rep earlier this week, and he's constantly debating this with A&M's turf people. Yes, a lot of P in our soils, but low CEC's should merit the addition of P. And he backed that up with an interesting statement: the turf roots only benefit from P when it is present right at the root tip. Then my mind drifted off while he was talking while I thought back on SWD's post from quite awhile back about Milorganite creating exchange sites in the soils . . .
timturf input A good reason to use a very fine particle fert, especial when applying p, since p is very immobile in the soil!

Just another though: I was taught that common bermunda had a massive root loss comming out of dormancy, so wouldn't you want to apply your yearly total of p at this time? Again, the finer the particle the better!

[greenerpastures]

Just another though: I was taught that common bermunda had a massive root loss comming out of dormancy, so wouldn't you want to apply your yearly total of p at this time? Again, the finer the particle the better![/QUOTE]

Yes sir, I agree. Root/shoot ratio applies and P immobility as well. We have taken P for granted in some cases here. I am doing random soil tests and finding a few that should warrant P addition that had not in previous years. Mostlly due to the new soil lab procedures. On those known areas I'll apply a 10/34/0 liquid mixed with the preM.

[Dallas Turf]

Greener Pastures
Since BBB has closed in McKinney Where do you pick up your 10-34-0 & uan 32 at?

Jason

[greenerpastures]

We stock "on-farm" being we are involved on the ag side also.


Try Martinek Fertilizers in Gunter or Helena Chemical in Whitewright. They deliver transport quantities only, but will sell smaller volumes at depot. I guess you know these are ag blends and will fry turf if used improperly.

[Dallas Turf]

Greener pastures,
I have been using uan32 on turf for 2 years and have never had a problem. As late as April I have applied up to 3/4 # N per 1msf from uan mixed with pre- emergent and water at 2 gal per msf. Other than that I usually run .15-.2#N per msf with my primo and Iron during the summer.

[greenerpastures]

Sounds like you are making it work. I will use them up to mid April as well, but then switch to granular for the rest of the season. Martinek also has a location in Celina.

[quiet]

OK. It's May 15. First round for Tif 419 lawns was the 19-0-19 w/62% Mesa and SOP. Green up was inconsistent. Some great, some OK, some very poor - still struggling into green up at this late date.

Weather was a major factor. The rains of the last 14 months shut down immediately after application; all apps were done during the week of March 28 to April 1. April had only 0.79" rain for the entire month, 1/2 of it in one event on April 10 (0.38"). But all the properties have irrigation.

The properties that were irrigated heavily from the beginning during this time have responded well. What's somewhat puzzling is that properties that didn't start irrigating until Mid-April, 3 weeks after application, have responded differently. Some caught up quite well, while others have responded poorly.

Finally had a good soaking rain last Sunday May 8. 1.30". Round 2 started last week. Gonna use the same thing. How has spring green up on Tif 419 gone for all of you?

[spray guy]

have been slower than usual. Many daytime high temperatures throughout the past 30 days have been cool without adequate moisture. Winter grass has been loving it. The properties I have treated in the past two - three weeks are really starting to green up nice especially after this past week. Pulled out the msma this week for the first time and will follow up in 7-10 days to take care of some dallisgrass.

[ThreeWide]

Our soil temps reverted quite a bit during the last week of April and the first week of May. We have just now started seeing consistent soil temps close to 70.

It has all of the sudden been very dry as well, so we are weeks behind normal greenup here. I used 25-2-5 with a good percentage of MESA last round, but with the odd conditions it is difficult to evaluate.

I'm going with 32-3-12 11% Nitroform/UF starting next week.

[quiet]

OK, time for Round 3 on Tif 419.

Hot and bone dry. No rain and temps mid to upper 90's for the last 3 weeks. Lawns are irrigated and doing well. Excellent response in Round 2 overall from 19-0-19 MESA/SOP formulation.

No rain in sight. Temps going up even more - we peak at an avg high of 97 in Mid-July.

Thinking of staying with the same blend. Need the sulfur. i'm concerned with stress so stay with the SOP in this blazing daytime heat and warm, humid evenings (lows in mid-70's). Like the color from MESA . . .

How you guys dealing with summer and Round 3 ?