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Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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Posted by uber_bwnage 7 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 6, 09 at 8:46
| When is the best time to winterize tall fescue in the Charlotte area?
I will be using a 18-2-18, 75% slow release.
Now or around Thanksgiving? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| Not yet. You want to wait until the topgrowth slows to a halt. That will vary from year to year depending on the weather. |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| Definitely not now. Weather has been beautiful. My grass has been flourishing. And isn't there a debate "raging" whether slow or fast release nitrogen is best? Personally, I was just going to throw down the cheapest high nitrogen fert I could find. Horse-shoes and hand grenades...;-) |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| I really don't think there is much of a debate about fast vs slow. Use a slow release fertilize when you want a steady supply of nutrients to be available over a long period of time. Use a quick release fertilizer when you want the nutrients to be available immediately. For a winterize, if you are going to just use it as a second fall fertilizer, then a slow release would be fine. If you are trying to time it so that you apply when the topgrowth stops but the roots are still growing, then you really want a product that delivers nutrients in that small window. |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| "For a winterize, if you are going to just use it as a second fall fertilizer, then a slow release would be fine. If you are trying to time it so that you apply when the topgrowth stops but the roots are still growing, then you really want a product that delivers nutrients in that small window." Aren't these 2 events the same? The 2nd fall fert is the one applied when the topgrowth is slowing for the winter... thus are you recommending slow or fast for this feeding? |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| No - they aren't the same. If you are just tossing out some fertilizer in fall, go ahead and use anything you want. We can debate the merits of that, but that is not how you are supposed to use a winterizing application. You are supposed to wait until the topgrowth has stopped. After that, there is a couple week window where the grass is putting 100% of its energy into root formation and storage. Targeting that small window is the idea behind winterizing. If you are doing that, you want a fertilizer that is going to put the nutrients out there quickly. You only have a couple of weeks, so you don't want something that slowly dissolves over a couple of months. |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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Billl,
I already put winterizer before the last week rain in Charlotte! Now I'm reading your post and looks like I did something wrong.
Can I put more winterizer later just before Christmas or not?
Thanks |
RE: Charlotte area: When to apply Winterizer
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| You didn't do anything wrong. As long as the temps are in the 60's and 70's, your grass is going to keep growing and the fertilizer will help that along. If you want to do a winterizing treatment, then you can follow the timing above. However, grass has grown just fine for thousands of years without special timing of fertilizer application. The timing is just a "trick" to keep the lawn green longer into winter and have it green up faster in spring. If we have a mild winter, the grass may stay green most of that time on its own. Otherwise, it will go dormant until it warms back up in spring. There is nothing wrong with that though. |
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