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| Wow, did we break the 3-week drought on Sunday. Over 3.5 inches of rain fell here in about 60 to 90 minutes. Union, Missouri got 4 inches. The 3.5 inches in my tin can and the 3.5 inches reported by the local news meteorologist correspond nicely. Those tin food cans really work.
We even got about a quarter-inch the day before on Saturday. Before the rain on Saturday, I applied about 26 pounds of CGM (Corn Gluten Meal from Bradfield Organics--their Luscious Lawn CGM product) to my front and side zoysia lawns. (Zoysia is a warm-season lawn. You wouldn't want to apply fertilizer right now to a cool-season lawn like bluegrass, fescue, or rye.) So my application rate was roughly 8 pounds of CGM per 1,000 square feet, but I applied more to the front lawn than the side lawns, possibly bringing the front lawn's application rate up to the usual 10 pounds of CGM per 1,000 square feet, or roughly 1 pound of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet (or more precisely 0.9 pounds of Nitrogen). I didn't apply any to the backyard. I was using CGM here as a fertilizer, not as preemergent weed control. As a preemergent you might choose to apply 20 pounds or more per 1,000 square feet. I actually was planning to apply the CGM back in June, but we had a 3-week drought after June 16, so I didn't find an opportune time to apply it after that date. I preferred using rain over a sprinkler to water-in the CGM. Dr. Christians of Iowa State says to water in the CGM with a quarter inch of rain or sprinkler water. I was surprised to re-read that after Saturday's quarter-inch of rain because that little amount of rain hardly dissolved or disintegrated the CGM at all. Even after Sunday's deluge of 3.5 inches of rain in about 75 minutes, the CGM still hadn't disintegrated totally. The CGM was less visible, for sure. All that rain drove it deeper down into the grass but if you looked at the grass closely you could see lots of CGM still undisintegrated. I guess it takes time for CGM pellets to disassemble fully. Maybe I'm wrong but I think I recall the 3-1-5 alfalfa pellets with chicken or porcine meat meal disintegrated much faster and more easily than the 9-0-0 Corn Gluten Meal when I applied the Bradfield Alfalfa on April 11. Or maybe it's just the case that the darker alfalfa pellets are less conspicuous than the brightly colored corn pellets, but I do believe the alfalfa pellets dissolved faster. Another difference between the two natural fertilizers is that the corn-like smell of the CGM can linger for a couple days. I gotta tell ya the natural alfalfa plus chicken/porcine meat meal gave my zoysia a beautifully sublime green color that I had never seen before. We'll see what the CGM does. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| That's exactly my experience with the Bradfield CGM pellets. If they've washed down into the turf enough that the lawn mower doesn't throw them around, you're Ok. My problem with a reel mower and 0.5 inch cutting height is that there's no where for the pellets to wash into. They lay on top and my reel mower (front throw) puts a bunch of them on the sidewalk where I turn around. I have the same problem with Milorganite. Somehow, it all works out anyway. Could be because I sweep them up and throw them back onto the lawn. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Tue, Jul 10, 12 at 21:51
| They must use a tougher glue to hold them together than they use on alfalfa. I put out alfalfa a couple weeks ago and watered. The next morning the pellets were gone and a pile of alfalfa stuff was left. |
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- Posted by KubotaMaster 7A-Arkansas (My Page) on Wed, Jul 11, 12 at 8:46
| Still raining in Arkansas they saying we've gotten nearly 6.50" in Little Rock (YAYYY). My Bermuda's already turning green again brown spots are going away. And we haven't had tri digit temps since Thursday ben 89° or less all week. Sorry no comment on the CGM never used it. I prefer alfalfa myself isn't so visible wen applied. And I.M.O it dissolves pretty quick I'd hate to bust a window with an undissolved pellet. |
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- Posted by texasredhead z8Texas (My Page) on Wed, Jul 11, 12 at 9:01
| I have never bought CGM in pellets. Always buy the ground up stuff. No problem with dissolving. |
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| The CGM pellets are smaller than a BB and don't weigh nearly as much. They won't break anything when they fly out of a mower. They only travel a foot or two. It's similar to Milorganite. Yeah, if I had a ready source of ground CGM, I might try it again. The one time that I did try it, it got wet and I had a sour mash smell for a couple of days. I've never had an odor problem with the pellets. Could be that it was just the wrong combination of temps and humidity that caused the smell. One instance doesn't make a trend. |
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- Posted by texasredhead z8Texas (My Page) on Thu, Jul 12, 12 at 11:17
| Any organic fertilizer I use smells for a couple of days, especially the chicken feather "crap." |
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| How effective was your "ground-up stuff?" I think I've read in the past that the usual ground-up (dusty) stuff doesn't have a high enough protein percentage to be effective as a preemergent. You might want to search for that old posting on this board that I made. What was the exact name of the ground-up product that you applied? The more details you can give us, the better we can determine the product's value as a preemergent. |
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| Oh, forget my previous posting. I just realized you were using the ground-up stuff as a fertilizer, not as a preemergent. |
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