Where are you? It's still not quite warm consistently for st augustine to fill in rapidly in Dallas area. It always seem to happen mid april-early may when that happens.

This year is different. It is the earliest green up I've ever seen due to lack of late freeze that always set them back in late March or even early April. It warmed up very quickly in late February which got st augustine started.

Wait a couple more weeks and they should fill in rapidly by then.

I'm actually right between you two-Austin to be exact.

There are some good runners going and I have little doubt by season's end things will fill in pretty well. I was just wondering if there's a way to facilitate the process. Sounds like patience might be key.

On a side note, I picked up some liquid molasses liquid fertilizer. I wanted something organic. How does it rate compared to other options?

Molasses is a source of ounces of sugar. Real organic fertilizers provide pounds of protein. The point of organic fertilizers is to feed real food to the soil microbes. The microbes cannot thrive on molasses alone, and certainly not on the minute quantity you could apply with a sprayer. I'm not saying it has no benefit at all, but it cannot be considered the mainstay of an organic fertilizer program. The same goes for virtually every product that comes out of a sprayer. You need to put pounds and pounds of material on the ground to get any appreciable results.

My favorite protein source is corn meal. Why? Because I can get it cheaper than any other ground up grain, nut, bean, or seed. When I first started I was getting a 50-pound bag for $3 at any of my local feed stores. Those prices are long gone but the idea is the same. The main alternaitve available almost everywhere is alfalfa. Look also for cottonseed meal, soy bean meal, linseed meal, or corn gluten meal. The application rate is 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If you want to double that rate you can with no harm done. At the higher rates you might find it starts to stink a little when it decomposes. Lower rates should not smell. It will never burn though. How often can you apply? You can apply any day or every day. The more that builds up the more chance you have of the smell coming to haunt you. I apply on the federal holidays (Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving). I know other organic folks who apply something every week. They literally apply hundreds and hundreds of pounds per 1,000 square feet every season. They do have stunningly beautiful lawns, so there is a benefit.

Back to your question, you may read or hear that mowing St Aug low will help it spread. I believe even Lou (above) makes that claim. I've never found that to be true.

My guess is patience ,light, and PH level. Cannot help you with patience as you have to learn that yourself.

Sounds like light was a problem which you addresses. Now check the soil PH and make sure there is not a problem there.

TW - I never really saw any issues with PH level. I sit on limestone rubble. So does dchall.

bjb - I often use molasses for soil drenching when planting trees, shrubs, etc (along with fish fertilizer, biozome, actinovate, etc) but not so much for spraying on the lawn. It probably works better at first but over time, soil is better and everything, molasses may not improve much.

Appreciating the responses. I seen pictures on here of your lawn, Lou, and that's definitely what I'm shooting for.

Well, I already have the molasses, so what the heck, sounds like I have nothing to lose.

What would be the best product to use, say monthly during the growing season? Organic is preferable.

As for soil ph, I'm sure like this whole area I'm alkaline, but everyone else in the neighborhood has St. A, so I'm not too concerned. I actually have surprisingly decent soil too.

I am confused on the mowing height issue. I always thought it was better to mow around 3" but then I read here that shorter mowing encourages lateral growth. Hmmm.

You read here that mowing St Aug lower than 3 inches would make it spread?

I buy cheap generic animal feed like soybean meal, cottonseed meal, etc. Soybean meal is the easiest to use with the spreader and probably least messy. Every 3 months. I used to spray molasses whenever I put down organic fertilizer.

You can speed up the filling in of SA by transplanting runners into the area that you want to fill in. Find an area where you have an abundance of runners. I usually yank them out from where they overgrow the curb or sidewalk. Make sure you they are long enough that you have a few knuckles where roots come out of the runner. Pop a hole into the area where you want to put the runner (I use a phillip's head screwdriver.) Push the runner down in getting at least 1-2 knuckles into the ground. Push the ground flat around it. Do a lot of them. Water regularly for a few weeks.

I used liquid molasses on my lawn and almost completely killed it. It made the soil too sugary.

Test an area first.

bdk, this is not really a discussion of molasses, although there seems to be plenty of mention about it. If you would like to discuss what happened to your yard, I would like to be a part of it. Please start a new thread about molasses. I'll be watching for it.