It's close to the same stuff (close). With the price difference like that? Use it. Use it often, use it well.

timtsb,
i am going to stop my lawn service and use Milorganite.
Glad to hear you've had such good luck using it.
How many pounds per sq ft.? and how often did you apply?

thanks

I'm in NJ. Where do you find this Oceangro stuff?

http://www.ocua.com/OceanGro/SitePages/WhereToBuy.aspx

There's the Where to Buy link. I've heard of many people picking it up from them directly if they need larger amounts (and if memory serves, residents of some counties do get large discounts as they pay for the facility with their taxes).

The contact numbers are on the right-hand side of the page; I'd suggest trying the receptionist first and seeing if she can direct you properly.

I changed to Oceangro 3 years ago and saved a ton with the same results as Milorganite. I have to go out of my way to get it while Milorganite I can get 5 minutes away, but the extra travel is worth it. My recommendation is to stock up on it for the year in April as it is on sale. You save another $3/bag in April over the rest of the year.

>>As for amount of Milorganite (or Oceangro) to apply - whatever your heart desires, really, as it doesn't burn. Search for Milorganite in this forum and you'll get a lot of good info on it.

Within reason. I managed to damage one small area of lawn by spilling Milorganite. Whether that was nitrogen burn or bacterial damage, I don't know. It repaired itself the same season.

Twenty pounds per thousand, great. Forty...still not a problem. More than that? I'm not sure I'd go there.

Essentially, Oceangro is the same as the Milo, so I'd just treat it the same way.

Oceangro is a great environment friendly fertilizer that I have been using for 5 years. The analysis is 5-5-0 which is 5 percent nitrogen, 5 percent, phosphorous, and 0 percent potassium with 2.5 percent iron for a nice deep green. On the back of the bag is recommendations on when to apply and application rates. Also there is a list of spreaders and which setting to use for the application. Their website has a lot of great information as well. It is good to always follow the recommended application rates, that is how I achieve the best result for my lawn and garden.

I found this interesting on the OceanGro site:

Question: What rates are recommended for OceanGro use?

Answer: For Homeowners: One 50-lb. bag will cover 3,000 square feet. At this rate, 0.83 lbs. of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. will be applied. OCEANGROî should be applied at rates no greater than the nitrogen requirement of the plant. ...

Why does Milorganite recommend one bag (maybe 25 lb bag?) for 2500 sf in comparison? The cost savings evaporates if you need to use twice as much (of course I suspect you don't have to).

Plus, I never realized I was putting poo on my yard! :)

Milorganite is a 36lb bag. At 6% nitrogen the bag rate is .86 lbs of per 1000 sq ft...nearly identical to the Oceangro.

Overall you're putting 16.67 lbs per 1000 sq ft of Oceangro vs 14.4lb of Milorganite. For my roughly 7500 sq ft of grass, I will use 3 bags regardless of the product, so I'll get more down with Oceangro and still save at least $10 per application.

>>Plus, I never realized I was putting poo on my yard! :)

You aren't. Although my father used to love to scare people at Home Depot when we were buying Milorganite.

Really, it's post-composted poo so, like post-composted greenery, it bears no resemblance to the original item.

>>Why does Milorganite recommend one bag (maybe 25 lb bag?) for 2500 sf in comparison? The cost savings evaporates if you need to use twice as much (of course I suspect you don't have to).

Milo recommends 1 thirty six pound bag over 2,500 square feet, or 14.4 pounds per thousand for 0.72 pounds N.

Oceangro recommends 1 fifty pound bag per 3,000 square feet, or 16.6 pounds per thousand for 0.83 pounds N.

Really, that's pretty comparable. I tend to use Milo at 20 pounds per thousand for 1 pound N, and I'd personally use Oceangro at the same pounds per thousand for the same 1 pound of N.

App rates on organics are dealer's choice. If you told me you were targeting anything from 10 to 30 pounds per thousand, I wouldn't even blink.

>> Really, it's post-composted poo so, like post-composted greenery, it bears no resemblance to the original item.

Yeah, but it's still poo. Just ask my wife!

Those application rates mentioned above make sense. I wasn't sure of the weight of the milo bag so it seemed at the time that I could get about twice as much coverage with Ocean vs milo, but I see the math now with 36lb/6% vs 50lb/5%.

FYI, I spoke to one of the retail garden centers and they charge $7.99 per 50 lb bag if you buy minimum of 5 bags. It is $8.99 otherwise. Looking like a short road trip Sunday to stock up.

At that price, it might be worth my while to road trip it from the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border where I'm located! What store is that? Because I see a road trip in the cards for next April, and I'll just get enough for the entire season at once.

Morph --
Nice guy named Mike at Farris farms in East Brunswick. That just happens to be the northern most retail location. I'm sure the other locations probably have the same price. He just picked up 3 pallets or 120 bags.

Thanks! East Brunswick isn't all THAT terribly far. Not, you know, for sewage sludge, for which I'd go a lot further than that!

Sewage sludge technically yes, but if it passed through somebody at some time then it will always be poo. :)

Just FYI for any Monmouth County NJ people - I made a few calls and found a pretty good price at Twin Pond Farm in Howell. They charge $7.99/bag. A's Home and Garden Center in Manasquan and O'Brien's Florist and Nursery in Point Pleasant each charge $9.99.

timtsb: I never thanked you for the recommendation. I'm in north Jersey so I have to drive a little south to get to East Brunswick, but it is well worth the trip.

You saved me a lot of money. Thanks!!

Glad I was finally of help on this forum. I'm usually on the receiving end.

And to think I may even be responsible for the introduction of a new product to Morpheus' lawn... I may have to print and frame this thread.

>>I may have to print and frame this thread.

:-) Do so. Hey, it's not like *I* know everything. There's reams of research released every year and I can't possibly read all of it, or even a decent percentage.

A day you didn't learn something new was a wasted day. I'm open to new data.

Public Service Announcement: OceanGro is on sale for $7.99/bag this month only. I stocked up for the season at A's Home and Garden Center in Manasquan. Get it while it's cheap!

I just stopped at Twin Pond Farm in Howell, NJ. There are currently selling OceanGro for $6.99! That is almost half the price of Milorganite! Go to Twin farm, the young ladies there were so helpful. Upon entering the store, I was greeted and helped by two employees! Very good experience!

Can't find the Jacksonville, FL equivalent for cheaper than Milo... I'm surprised.

Oceangro is on sale every year in May. I stock up at this time for the whole year. I live in NY state and travel 50 miles to pick this up in East Brunswick, NJ. When I go I buy 20 bags and pay $6.99 per bag. Still a bargain when compared to Milo. I use it in my vegetable garden as well. Good stuff.

I have to say, I might be able to be convinced to put sewer sludge on my lawn, but on my vegetables, not going to happen.

True, dead fish guts are much better than sludge for your veggies!

Just to be clear, milorganite is not sewer sludge. It is the dead microbes that have consumed the sewage, and then been kiln dried at 900 to 1200 degrees. Farmers have been putting manure on food crops for centuries. Having said that, I am all for caution, so I don't know whether using these kinds of fertilizers for food crops are considered a good idea when there are other alternatives.

http://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/what-is-milorganite

This site also has a simple, common sense discussion of why organic fertilizers are good to use.