Go for it..just follow the label instructions and irrigate.

 

How are you calculating only 4 applications? When it gets hot I have reapplied in twice in a month and I very near to you in Athens. Have you looked at Growing Degree Days (GDD) or do you plan to apply once a month? Bayer also has a similar product as well.https://bioadvanced.com/slow-mow-lawn-conditioner.html

 

Be sure to document your findings, I'll be interested to hear how it works for you! Everything I've read seems to point to the need for a more uniform coverage/application rate than can be guaranteed with granular being the reason to avoid them. Also I think there is a difference in cost per amount of active ingredient breakdown to be considered. But I am interested to see how it works for those without access to calibrated equipment.

 

How are you calculating only 4 applications? When it gets hot I have reapplied in twice in a month and I very near to you in Athens. Have you looked at Growing Degree Days (GDD) or do you plan to apply once a month? Bayer also has a similar product as well.https://bioadvanced.com/slow-mow-lawn-conditioner.html

Roughly 4 applications from a 34lb bag at 2.6lbs/1000 with a 3,000 sq. ft lawn with a monthly application regimen. I figure the last application may be a little short, but that's okay by September - when I figure to shut-off PGR anyways.

Yes, I've seen the Bayer product, but the math works out a little more conveniently with one bag of the Andersons than 5-ish of the Bayer product. Cool to see them marketing it as a "slow mow" for the average homegamer, though!

 

How are you calculating only 4 applications? When it gets hot I have reapplied in twice in a month and I very near to you in Athens. Have you looked at Growing Degree Days (GDD) or do you plan to apply once a month? Bayer also has a similar product as well.https://bioadvanced.com/slow-mow-lawn-conditioner.html

Roughly 4 applications from a 34lb bag at 2.6lbs/1000 with a 3,000 sq. ft lawn with a monthly application regimen. I figure the last application may be a little short, but that's okay by September - when I figure to shut-off PGR anyways...

I think what @Theycallmemrr is getting at is only applying it monthly in the heat of the summer is going to repeatedly throw you into rebound - where clipping yield is actually higher than it would have been had you not applied any PGR at all.

 

I don't know what kind of "PGR Experience" you are going to get by using granular and I think it will be less than satisfactory over the liquid version.

I'm also curious how well it works but spraying PGR and spreading PGR seem like it will be very different.

 

Document your finding interested to see how this turns out. Agree with @Ware and @Theycallmemrr as you will need way more than four application for continuous suppression.

What discussion where looking to get into??

Good luck

 

I get about 10 days of coverage from T-Nex in the heat of summer and that's pushing it out to 250GDD. I see the AI in both the Anderson's and the Bayer products is T-Nex. How are they pushing it out so far without rebound? I'd be very curious at how well this works if it is only applied monthly.

 

There is a local lawn care company (near Atlanta) advertising PGR service this summer so I requested a quote just to see what they were offering.
$48 PER APPLICATION (!!!) and one application per month (May-Sept). I snorted on the phone when the salesman told me that. Then I politely declined.

 

How are you calculating only 4 applications? When it gets hot I have reapplied in twice in a month and I very near to you in Athens. Have you looked at Growing Degree Days (GDD) or do you plan to apply once a month? Bayer also has a similar product as well.https://bioadvanced.com/slow-mow-lawn-conditioner.html

Roughly 4 applications from a 34lb bag at 2.6lbs/1000 with a 3,000 sq. ft lawn with a monthly application regimen. I figure the last application may be a little short, but that's okay by September - when I figure to shut-off PGR anyways...

I think what @Theycallmemrr is getting at is only applying it monthly in the heat of the summer is going to repeatedly throw you into rebound - where clipping yield is actually higher than it would have been had you not applied any PGR at all.

@Ware

Man am I glad I read this thread, as I think you @CenlaLowell, and @Theycallmemrr are making me rethink my own PGR plan. This will also be my first year using PGR (T-Nex), and with that I have a few questions.

I had planned on using the label recommended rate for the 4 weeks of 50% growth inhibition. With that in mind, I was thinking along the same lines as @RentalLawn, in that I would reapply every 4 weeks. Are your thoughts that his rate is too low based on his particular PGR (granular), or would that application frequency also be too low for the T-Nex as well?

The T-nex label varies it's rates based on residential lawn (.25) vs golf course fairway (.20)(mowed @ .50 inch or less). Well, obviously I don't have a fairway in my front yard, but I do mow at half an inch. Which rate should I use?

The label also mentions increasing the rate by 50% under "high fertilization." Any idea what is considered "high"? I'm applying 1#N/month based on soil test.

I'd be interested to know what application rate and frequency you folks are utilizing, and what rate and frequency you recommend I start my PGR journey with?

Lastly, don't know if this historical info matters much, but just in case. I have Tiftuff that was laid last June. This will be first full growing season.

I appreciate it!

 

@TifTufTrent

Start off with a lower rate then label just to see how your lawn handles it.. applying PGR is not really a 30 day thing as you need to use GDD to measure the effectiveness of the product. There's an application you can use⬇⬇⬇
https://www.littlleaf.com/
This will help you in when you need to apply. For instance where I am PGR is lasting about 28 days when the dog days of summer come I may get 11 days out of an application.

Good luck

 

Wow! Great points, everyone!

@Ware Indeed! I'm aware of the suppression/rebound curve aspects of PGR - which is a very interesting double edged sword. But overall, I was merely calculating this by the product directions. With that being said, that was the root of my OP - to see if anyone had experience with the Andersons product, as instructed.

I will definitely document my findings @atticus and all other interested folks.

Overall, the Andersons product just seems like a convenience product for what it's worth - rather than than investing in the equipment and a bottle of PGR upfront. I'm just trying to keep the cost of admission low for a thick, growth-regulated lawn.

I appreciate learning about this aspect of turf care - the black magic! :twisted:

 

Using the Andersons product is way more expensive than buying the sprayer and the gallon of T-Nex.

One very important thing to remember about most PGRs is that the rate only controls the level of regulation and not the duration of the regulation. In other words, .38oz/1000sf will give you more regulation than .25oz/1000sf but they will both expire and need to be reapplied at the same time.

 

I had planned on using the label recommended rate for the 4 weeks of 50% growth inhibition. With that in mind, I was thinking along the same lines as @RentalLawn, in that I would reapply every 4 weeks. Are your thoughts that his rate frequency is too low based on his particular PGR (granular), or would that application frequency also be too low for the T-Nex as well?

I corrected something in red above based on my interpretation of your question. It is important not to confuse application rate and application frequency in this discussion.

Yes, I believe there is plenty of research that shows the growing degree day (GDD) approach to PGR application intervals is superior to counting days on a calendar, especially once you get outside of the shoulder months. The suppression/rebound curve I posted above illustrating rebound at day 15 came straight from Syngenta.

The T-nex label varies it's rates based on residential lawn (.25) vs golf course fairway (.20)(mowed @ .50 inch or less). Well, obviously I don't have a fairway in my front yard, but I do mow at half an inch. Which rate should I use?

If you are mowing your lawn at 1/2", I would use the "golf course fairway" rate.

The label also mentions increasing the rate by 50% under "high fertilization." Any idea what is considered "high"? I'm applying 1#N/month based on soil test.

For an established bermuda lawn, I would consider one pound of N a month "high fertilization". That recommendation on your soil test is just a generic recommendation. Soil tests aren't really meant to tell you how much Nitrogen you need. If growth suppression is important to you, I would not apply a full pound of N per month. I would probably cut that in half, then adjust up or down as necessary. Pushing growth with a lot of N, only to try to slow it down with Trinexapac-ethyl is somewhat counterproductive.

I'd be interested to know what application rate and frequency you folks are utilizing, and what rate and frequency you recommend I start my PGR journey with?

I would recommend reading up on the GDD approach to timing your T-Nex applications. It is not difficult to track if you are using any one of the several software applications designed to do that, and it will help keep you out of the rebound phase. Similar to my Nitrogen comments above, I think it would be somewhat counterproductive to apply PGR once and month in the middle of summer and ride the roller coaster of reduced clippings for ~2 weeks and then excess clippings the following ~2 weeks. Again, during the rebound phase we're talking about >100% relative yield, which is more clippings than you would get not using any PGR at all.

 

Is there a chance the granular provides a delayed release and that is why Anderson recommends every 4 weeks?

Also, this seemed strange to me in "How to Use" section of the Anderson page:

BEFORE APPLYING GOVERNOR G
- Governor G should not be applied unless irrigation is installed and water is plentiful.

APPLYING GOVERNOR G
- Do not water in

 

Is there a chance the granular provides a delayed release and that is why Anderson recommends every 4 weeks?

Also, this seemed strange to me in "How to Use" section of the Anderson page:

BEFORE APPLYING GOVERNOR G
- Governor G should not be applied unless irrigation is installed and water is plentiful.

APPLYING GOVERNOR G
- Do not water in

The active ingredient in their bag doesn't work that way. Yeah those two recommendations are weird I wonder which one they want you to do.

 

@Ware, @CenlaLowell

I appreciate the help guys! Thank you so much.

I remember reading the PGR thread a while back concerning the GDD approach. I guess I never got far enough down the rabbit to realize there was an app I could use. Definitely will jump on that.

After rethinking my fert plan, I believe I was wrong regarding my "1#/month" comment. I'm actually dropping 10# 10-10-10 in April and Sept. June and August is 3# 34-0-0. So, if I'm doing this fert math thing right, that's actually a total of 4#N from April-Sept?

 

…After rethinking my fert plan, I believe I was wrong regarding my "1#/month" comment. I'm actually dropping 10# 10-10-10 in April and Sept. June and August is 3# 34-0-0. So, if I'm doing this fert math thing right, that's actually a total of 4#N from April-Sept?

10 pounds of 10-10-10 per thousand square feet is applying 1 pound of Nitrogen. Same for 3 pounds of 34-0-0 per thousand. The math there is 3 pounds of product @ 34% N = 1.02 pounds of N.

So yes, that plan would have you applying 4lbs of N for the season.

 

…After rethinking my fert plan, I believe I was wrong regarding my "1#/month" comment. I'm actually dropping 10# 10-10-10 in April and Sept. June and August is 3# 34-0-0. So, if I'm doing this fert math thing right, that's actually a total of 4#N from April-Sept?

10 pounds of 10-10-10 per thousand square feet is applying 1 pound of Nitrogen. Same for 3 pounds of 34-0-0 per thousand. The math there is 3 pounds of product @ 34% N = 1.02 pounds of N.

So yes, that plan would have you applying 4lbs of N for the season.

@Ware,

Well, if I don't end up grasping the GDD concept or how to navigate the apps, at least now I know how to do basic fertilizer math.

I appreciate you Sir!

 

@TifTufTrent I use GreenCast for my GDD tracking. I use LittlLEAF to track my apps that are based on number of days and not GDD (Prodiamine, Simazine, Bifenthrin, Imidacloprid). LittlLEAF is a great program but I find GreenCast still easier to set up and navigate. It will send you an email alert when you're getting close to reapplication as well. PM me if you need help setting up the tracker. I think you just need to enter your zip code, how many GDD you want to go to, and base temperature setting. Use 10°C as your base and start at 225 GDD. GreenCast will let you set up different areas. I have Tifway 419 in my backyard and Empire Zoysia in my front.

https://www.greencastonline.com/growing-degree-days/home

 

@TifTufTrent I use GreenCast for my GDD tracking. I use LittlLEAF to track my apps that are based on number of days and not GDD (Prodiamine, Simazine, Bifenthrin, Imidacloprid). LittlLEAF is a great program but I find GreenCast still easier to set up and navigate. It will send you an email alert when you're getting close to reapplication as well. PM me if you need help setting up the tracker. I think you just need to enter your zip code, how many GDD you want to go to, and base temperature setting. Use 10°C as your base and start at 225 GDD. GreenCast will let you set up different areas. I have Tifway 419 in my backyard and Empire Zoysia in my front.

https://www.greencastonline.com/growing-degree-days/home

@Redtwin,

I appreciate that and I'll give it a look. I started messing with Little Leaf today and did find it a bit confusing. I'm sure I'll have some questions. Thanks for making yourself available!

 

I think the granular needs to be applied to a wet lawn, so it sticks to the blade.
For GDD I use it as a guide but not as a law. Every 2 weeks in the heat of summer is "close enough" in my climate and I avoid any rebound, If I am a few days later or earlier it is not a big deal. If I have a big change in the weather or I apply when it is cooler, I always check greencastonline and see when I should re-apply.

 

So, when are most folks starting to apply PGR in the Atlanta area?

 

So, when are most folks starting to apply PGR in the Atlanta area?

Some people start sooner than others, others start once they have to mow every couple of days. I plan to start PGR in June, because I did a level and my lawn is torn up from sprinkler installation, I want it to recover naturally before I start regulating it.

 

So, when are most folks starting to apply PGR in the Atlanta area?

Depends on your HOC and fert plan. The lower you mow, the faster your turnaround time before you break 1/3 rule. When you're out there more than 2-3x a week or more than you can keep it up, it's probably time to put some down. I like to start early since I like the dwarf physical change in the grass blades.