I just laid my front lawn in empire zoysia. Sod farm recommended the 16-4-8. Says that's all he puts on it

 

The best way to figure out what fertilizer you should apply is by basing the fertilizer ratio off of a soil test. If I didn't have a soil test, I would probably use a 20-20-20 to make sure I was covering everything. It seems P and K get overlooked but they are also important.

 

Yes, I haven't done a soil test in a while... I'm thinking I should prob do either a 10-10-10 around Labor Day or a 16-4-8 like PGF Complete or Carbon Earth Bal-X. There is also a 13-5-8 from ProPeat I'm interested in.

 

20-20-20 in absence of a soil test. Foliar if possible. Spoon feed. Don't exceed 3#/yr.

Not sure the brand really matters.

 

While every sod farm will be different, most farms and state Ag Services I believe recommend 4-1-2 or 3-1-2 if you have no test. (For a total of 1-2#N/yr, depending on how much you want to mow... I'd go with slow-release if you don't want to fertilize often.)

But x4 on getting a soil test because you need a pH test anyway, (If your soil is too acidic, the plants will have difficulty using the nutrients.)

I had one done for my Zoysia (by my State govt's service), and all I needed was nitrogen; my P and K were literally off the chart, and my pH was fine, even though most soils in my aread need quite a bit of lime every few years.

 

I'm starting to see very good results from my application of Jobe's Organic Lawn Food 10-0-2 I got from Lowe's for $12. But I don't think they carry it anymore!!! I bought it last year.

That, with the combination of a liquid micro application about 4 days ago, and the zoysia looks the best it has all year. Still have a ways to go until I'm satisfied though. This heat with no rain is tough. I think we are finally getting some rain Thurs-Fri.

 

Tagging on for others searching for replies. SuperSod recommends 16-4-8 (or a variant of 4-1-2) for Zoysia. When I did my first soil test they came back and told me how many pounds of NPK to apply, then told me to start using the 16-4-8 going forward. Although I do recommend soil tests yearly. I did another test last year and I was able to totally avoid one application of fertilizer because I was already on the high side of the target zone. I will likely start alternating between 16-4-8 and 16-0-8 unless my soil test comes back as deficient (or reaching that point) for phosphorus because phosphorus isn't good for the environment, and excess is wasted. Wasted also equals wasted money and potential issues with your lawn. When you do a soil test, do the in-depth soil test that also covers micronutrients such as calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, boron, etc. These are important for many qualities of plant growth, even though the soil needs this in very small amounts. If I recall correctly calcium is the 3rd most important nutrient in soil, behind (I think) nitrogen and potassium. Calcium (off the top of my head) helps with cell structure and the ability of nutrients to go through the cells. Iron (fe) helps the plants produce chlorophyll which helps with Photosynthesis, and chlorophyll also helps produce that darker green color people love in a lawn. These micronutrients are important, and a soil test that only gives you the NPK and pH are OK, but you miss a lot of valuable information with those types of soil tests. pH is a very important factor because the macro and micro nutrients uptake into the plants vary based on the soil pH. If your pH is too high or too low, the amount of nutrients in your soil may be perfect, but the plants may not be able to properly absorb these nutrients if the pH is too far out of whack.

 

@Troy L, these are very old threads you keep resurrecting.

 

I figured if I was doing searches for answers before posting questions that may already be answered, others may too.