Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
kluttery

Milorganite Gets The Nod

Kluttery
9 years ago

Early last fall I fertilized (Milorganite) a tall fescue lawn that had never been fed in thirty-seven years. The grass is so weak that it always turns brown throughout the winter.

This spring it came back thicker and darker than I've ever seen it. I can only attribute the improvement to the Milorganite.

Sure, the yard smelled awful for about a week, but I'm really impressed with this fertilizer. Looking forward to putting down more when I reseed this fall.

Comments (10)

  • slick2211
    9 years ago

    it's the best!!! you'll get used to the smell.

  • tnjdm
    9 years ago

    Vitamin M is Magic. The smell will process faster and faster as you continue to use it. The microbes wil break it down faster as they multiply. Soybean Meal is the same way.

  • Kluttery
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I've used soybean meal quite a bit in the past and really liked the results. Unfortunately, the only feed store in my area went out of business.

  • dakota01
    9 years ago

    My dad is a huge believer in Milorganite - when I had my front lawn re-installed and trees/shrubs put in the landscaper used Milorganite and my grass was green!

    I do wonder, I now use a company (not TruGreen) that fertilizes, kills weeds etc for my lawn, can I use Milorganite even though it's being treated with something else? Is it just a nice safe additive?

  • yardtractor1
    9 years ago

    As Milorganite now contains 40% fast release N, the only issue that comes to mind would be the possibility of applying too much nitrogen for the conditions which could damage the grass plants. If you apply Milorganite a couple of weeks before or after your service does their treatment, there should be no problem. The iron really improves the lawn's color.

  • andy10917
    9 years ago

    I apply Milorganite at twice the bag rate every week in May, June, late August and September, and have never had a single problem with overdosing symptoms. The lawn is very dark and thick enough to almost stall the mower.

  • yardtractor1
    9 years ago

    Twice the bag rate once a week for three and a half months? You must have a very small lawn or a very big wallet. :)
    Let's see, that works out to 8/10 pound of fast release N weekly. If Milorganite isn't overstating the amount of fast release N,, I'd say that pretty much confirms that a Milorganite application in addition to whatever N that the lawn service is applying wont hurt the lawn.

  • andy10917
    9 years ago

    It is my hobby, and I do it on a full acre. It still is lower than what I used to spend to keep a powerboat moving forward. In later September until frost, I apply Urea at 0.5 lb/K N per week. Then a pause and the winterizing app of Urea at 1 lb/K N.

    I wouldn't make any assumptions about what the lawn service is putting down. The WSN in Milorganite and any synthetics applied is a roll if the dice.

  • yardtractor1
    9 years ago

    I'm pretty confident you are aware that conventional "wisdom" would judge that to be excessive application of N.
    Would you mind giving your philosophy on the "heavy" application of N?
    Is your rational dependent on some difference between heavy application of N (WSN) derived from Nilorganite vs. an equally heavy application of synthetic N?
    I was also wondering, if the only source of N available to you was synthetic, what fertilizer regiment would you be using?

  • andy10917
    9 years ago

    "Conventional wisdom" begets conventional results.

    There is a big difference between using products that utilize the Nitrogen Cycle and those that are synthetics. Applied on a regular basis, they will be stored in the proteins of the very microbes (bacteria, fungi, microarthropods, etc). They behave like a bank, and that is totally impossible with synthetics. The ups-and-downs (the yo-yo effect) go away.

    When using synthetics, I brew my own fertilizers with Urea (for Nitrogen), Triple Super Phosphate (0-46-0) and Sulfate Of Potash (0-0-50) -- plus a custom mix of micronutrients, I never use Chlorides (like Muriate Of Potash),

    My approach is heavily documented on a different lawn forum, where I use the same username.