[austin33]

I'm really annoyed that my grass is different shades of green with random deadspots. My regimen has been the following; aerate, add top soil, IFA step 1, humate, another application of step 1, step 2 (memorial day). I typically mow around 3 inches. I took it to 2 inches a few weeks back and I'm wondering if that had something to do with it.

 

[LIgrass]

Idk but that woman (wife?) looks pissed about it. I'm kidding, but to help answer this as long as you didn't take off too much (like 5" to 2") on the last cut that shouldn't be the cause. To me it looks like it could be grassy weeds, poa annua and poa Trivialis starting to die out in the heat. A before pic would help, do you have one? Were there lime green patches, maybe some with lots of seed heads in the spring?

 

[austin33]

Here is one from right after mothers day.

 

[g-man]

Do you have close up pictures of the trouble areas? How much fertilizer have you apply this year? What's been your weather like?

 

[ABC123]

Poke those areas with a screwdriver, it should slide all the way up to the handle. If you find any rocks or debris, remove them. If that's not the issue it could be poa under stress.

 

[austin33]

g-man... I applied the IFA step 1 twice this year and step 2 memorial day. I had some leftover step 4 from last year and applied that at the same time.

 

[g-man]

I'm not sure what IFA is. The image looks like fertilizer burn. I'm trying to figure out how much nitrogen have you applyed. You only have 2k of lawn, so using an entire bag might be too much. Do you know the weight of the bag and the NPK (ie. 21-1-10)of the bags?

 

[austin33]

https://ifacountrystores.com/products/home-garden/ifa-weed-feed-step-2/

G-man there is a link to the fert that I used (24-3-6). It was a 20 pound bag and I also put extra fert that I had in the garage that was 22-2-12. My first thought was burn as well

 

[g-man]

Ok, that's too much nitrogen.

20lb * 0.24 = 4.8 lb of nitrogen.

4.8lb / 2ksqft = 2.4lb of N/ksqft

The standard recommendation is not to apply more than 1lb of N/ksqft per rolling month.

The saving item for you is that some of the nitrogen is slow release, otherwise your lawn would be gone.

For now keep it watered and mowed. Don't apply anymore nitrogen for a while.

 

[austin33]

Haha... I watched too many youtube videos about "throw er down". Thanks G-man. I really want to get into the tier-2 or tier-3 lawn owner. I just read 4 or 5 of your posts and I have a head ache now. Hopefully I can get there!

 

[austin33]

Also g-man. I was planning on putting Milo down the 4th of July. Think that would be wise? I was then going to apply this https://ifacountrystores.com/products/home-garden/ifa-spring-and-summer-fertilizer-step-3/ around august. Thoughts?

 

[Sinclair]

FWIW, "throw'er down" is usually in reference to single digit organic fert and grass seed.

 

[g-man]

Also g-man. I was planning on putting Milo down the 4th of July. Think that would be wise? I was then going to apply this https://ifacountrystores.com/products/home-garden/ifa-spring-and-summer-fertilizer-step-3/ around august. Thoughts?

I would wait and see. I think waiting at least a month might be worth it. Maybe milo late july and then start the fall nitrogen blitz.

I would start a log, so you know how much you applied when. It also helps calculate lb of N/ksqft
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=921&hilit=log+g+man+log

 

[GrassDaddy]

Water it deeply and don't put any more fert down till it recovers. Most of them have some fast and some slow release so that slow release is still there feeding it for a while. You might even want to hose the burned spots daily to try to flush out any excess.

 

[austin33]

everyone thank you so much for the input and tips! I appreciate it!