Liquid lawn fertilizer

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Tell me about liquid lawn fertilizer. Anyone using it successfully? Which product to use? I'd like to use it if possible. I dread pushing the spreader up and down steep hills because of my bad ankle
 
I like just about any Scott's or Spectracide WEED & FEED or just fertilizer in the spray bottles. Just hook it up to the garden hose and make like you're watering the lawn.
 
Its kind of a rip off. You are not getting what you think. And its no magic. As always read the label.

Grass can require between 1 to 6 lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft per yr. Type of grass is a factor as is soil. Knock off 1 lb if you mulch grass clippings.

Say lawn is 10,000 sq ft. We will go in the middle and say 3 lb per 1000 sq ft. So 30 lbs of nitrogen for your lawn for the year.

You buy a 50 lb bag of fertilizer and its 20-0-0. That means 20% of the bag weight is nitrogen or 10 lbs. So your 50 lb bag would do about 1/3 of your lawn. Or the full lawn but supply 1/3 of the needed nitrogen.

Best bet is to apply 1 bag in spring, one in summer and one in fall. Each bag supplies 1/3 per application.

You just cannot fit enough weight of nitrogen fertilizer in any kind of container you want to spray on the end of a hose.

The hose end fertilizer sprayer label might say something like (big letters) "20-10-10" thats the N-P-K and (little letters) "at the rate of 1/10 lb per 1000 sq ft".

Also you soil will need less fertilizer if you get the pH correct per grass type. In most cases 6.5 is a good number to shoot for.

Its work spending $10-$15 and send a soil sample to the coop extension in your county to get soil analyzed every 2 years. My lawns need lime and nitrogen. But no phosphorus or potash,

My Dad use to spray fertilizer on his tree farm. But he did it via irrigation system and mixed 50 lb bags of 30-30-30 into the irrigation system and would buy a ton of fertilizer a year.
 
Here is the label of some Weed & Feed I bought. Then I read the label.

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As Donald mentions, it's physically impossible to package liquid fertilizer in small packages.

You might simply want to consider hiring someone to spread the fertilizer for you. I'm in that place in life where I need to pay others to do the heavy lifting.


However, it's good to know that there are dry-mix (mixes with water like Miracle Gro) professional lawn fertilizers. They can be effectively used with tank sprayers or hose end sprayers or distribution systems. The distribution systems, "if" properly configured can be used with hoses instead of the common sprinkler systems. NOTE: Some distribution systems are intolerant of a conventional hand held hose nozzle that shuts off. So the hose end must have a sprinkler or "always on" hand held nozzle on it.

You will probably find that the dry-mix fertilizers are about as expensive as Miracle Gro (per pound) . It's not uncommon to see a 15 pound bag of dry-mix for $80!

I suggested hiring someone to distribute conventional granules as a cheaper way to accomplish the goal.
 
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Originally Posted by LeakySeals
I dread pushing the spreader up and down steep hills because of my bad ankle


Then get one of those shoulder-strap bags with the feeder on the bottom (AKA hand held spreader) to apply the dry granules. It'll be just as easy as using liquid due to not dragging the hose around and fewer refills, and far less dangerous.

I once had excessive exposure to liquid fertilizer and wound up in the hospital, and it didn't take all that much of it to cause me to barely be able to breath, could not lift my own body weight, etc. It was not fertilizer with weed killer or insecticide, just 30-0-0 mixed with 10-10-10.
 
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Liquid fertilizer is very good for flower beds and small shrubs, but Donald's math rules when it comes to large lawn areas. Even the Scotts guy uses a dry spreader in our neighborhood.
 
Donald knows his lawn care stuff!
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If you decide to go with a chest mount rotary spreader, the Solo 421S is a very high quality unit with excellent spread pattern. It takes a bit of a learning curve to get uniform application with a rotary spreader. There are adjustments to be made and you need a bit of overlap on the spread width.

https://www.zoro.com/solo-portable-chest-mount-spreader-20-lb-421-s/i/G3958145/

This Root Lowell model is much cheaper and appears to be the exact same unit: https://shoppinsimple.com/products/rl-pro-reg-portable-spreader
 
I buy it on clearance in the off season and then use it to water in what my spreader puts down.
Some in the south avoid weed and feed due to Live Oak trees … and spot treat only ...
 
Those chest mount spreaders are inaccurate and can leave tons of granules in your socks and shoes, unless the wind is still. I use a two wheel drop spreader with Milorganite inside and liquid garden hose spray fertilizer (no weed and feed) by Scotts
 
A quality spreader will have rubber tires vs plastic tires on the cheap Scott's spreader.

A spreader with a full bag of fertilizer is heavy. Maybe 1/2 bag.

It also seems the spreaders force one to push the spreader with your body/back at an odd position. Tires my back. The better spreaders may be taller and put less strain on your back.

A high quality spreader is hundreds vs $40 for a Scott's all plastic one.
 
Originally Posted by CT Rob
Rain fertilizes mine
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Summer heat and lack of rain for a week or two every year produces brown lawns that produce bare spots. If you like looking at brown grass and bare spots in the late summer, then depend on only rain.

My lawn stays green and never a bare spot. Takes very little money to keep it that way. Less six-packs - less cigarettes - less fast foods is a good remedy for fertilizer purchases.
 
If you like a green lawn there are way to get it that way without doing the Scott's four step program. More natural and better for the environment. There are organic and natural fertilizers that work well during the warm/hot months. You can spot spray for weeds or pull them. Milky spore for grubs. If you have a underground sprinkler system, get a smart timer like a Rachio. Get the soil tested and bring it up to recommended levels. Pre-emergent herbicide is not bad for the environment compared to several doses of 2,4-D per year to kill broadleaf weeds.

Pick all yellow dandelion flowers and toss in trash before they turn to seed.

Electric or push reel mower.
 
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