To apply any source of nitrogen at the proper rate involves knowing the percentage of nitrogen (as it appears you are aware) and the amount of nitrogen recommended per feeding. Typically 1 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. is recommended per feeding on lawns. If a product is listed as 10-0-0 that means 10% of it's weight is nitrogen. So, one pound per 1,000 sq. ft would be 10 lbs of the material scattered over 1,000 sq. ft. With that in mind here are some common organic sources of nitrogen: blood meal Hideously expensive source of nitrogen. Around 12% nitrogen by weight making it very attractive, but way over priced per unit of nitrogen. Typical analysis 12-0-0 Poultry manure If you have access to a free source of this it is the organic nitrogen source to have, but it isn't only nitrogen making it easy to overload the soil with other nutrients when used exclusively for a lawn fert. Typical analysis 3-4-3. soybean meal almost impossible to score for free, but great stuff. Typical analysis 6-1.5-2. Ideal ratio for lawns. Try to find at feed stores and the like in bulk. fish products If you are a commercial fisherperson or know someone who is, this is great, otherwise terribly expensive. Typical analysis 9-7-0. Should be enough to make anyone stop tossing fish leftovers into the trash. alfalfa meal Can be found overpriced as rabbit food at pet stores or in bulk at farm/grain stores more reasonably. Typical analysis 3-.5-3. corn gluten This is not to be confused with cracked corn or ground corn. Gluten is an isolated portion of the kernel and is not available everywhere. Where it is available prices vary dramatically depending on how it is packaged. Typical analysis 9-0-0 Brewers grains Certainly not easy to come by for everyone, but if you are buddies with a person running a microbrew, then big score time. Typical analysis of 'spent' grains 1-.5-0 cottonseed meal Not available in my neck of the woods, but for those who can get it inexpensively the typical analysis is 6-1.5-2.5. The waste from cotton mills is typically 1.3-.4-.4 so much lower, but around the same levels. egg shells Typical analysis 1.4-.4-.2 Pretty much impossible to find commercially, but should be reason enough to not send them to a landfill. Very high in calcium, a minor plant nutrient as well. feathers Doesn't much matter what creature the feathers come from. Typical analysis 15-0-0 making them a super source of nitrogen. Good luck finding them in bulk, but yet another source that shouldn't be sent to the landfill if you have them. hair, human or otherwise 12-0-0. Breaks down very slowly, but a rich source of nitrogen. Again, good luck finding it commerically, but if you are friendly with a barbershop and don't mind running it through a blender to make it break down faster and not blow away, a terrific source of N. If you are a parent cutting your kid's hair at home, you know what to do ;-) Now let's discuss manures. Typically manures are available in two forms. Fresh and composted. Here it is really, really important to remember one all encompassing, unavoidable fact. Composted anything is very low in nutrients. They get used up/leeched out in the composting process. Compost is great, just not as fertilizer for the big 3 N-P-K. Composted manure regardless of whether it comes from horse, cow, pig, chicken, sheep or something else has a typical analysis of 1-1-1. Not coincidentally compost made from all plant ingredients has a typical analysis of 1-1-1 as well. Also not surprisingly the pH of compost is nearly always neutral regardless of what went into the compost. In other words, compost is compost is compost regardless of what ingredients went into it. Please keep this in mind or you will get ripped off. Now, lets take a look at some controversial sources of nitrogen you are almost certainly producing in quantity and throwing away. WARNING, the following is not for the faint of heart. Dog and human manure are rich in nutrients. They also carry the potential for disease causing organisms. Nevertheless if you have a dog you might want to consider smashing the poop with a shovel to spread it out and speed decomposition rather than sending it to a land fill. It is terrific fertilizer and the round worms, if present in the poop, are already in your soil so don't give it another thought. urine Golly gee wizz (pun intended) if there is a higher nitrogen source than urine I don't know what it is. According to some sources urine is 45% nitrogen. Think about that. 45-?-?. That is a super high nitrogen source. So high that dogs peeing in the same spot can fert/salt burn the turf. Imagine how great it could be if highly dilluted and used over the entire lawn as a nitrogen fert. Well, imagine no longer. For those willing to stomach it, you can quite literally fertilize your entire lawn at no cost. Buy one of those containers you attach to your hose to fertilize with and fill it with urine, your own or from whatever source. Water the lawn. All done. ;-) Gross? I guess. Highly efficient and cost effective? You bet. Quite literally humans flush away one of the best sources of clean nitrogen available to us several times per day. I understand it is kind of gross, but think about it.

Are you thinking CGM for fertilizer or for preemergent? For fertilizer you can use anything your local feed store has that is ground up. I like whole ground corn because all the feed stores here have it cheap. Alfalfa pellets are great. Soybean meal is good if you can get it. Scott's organic stuff has one chemical in it that is approved for organic growing, but I just don't feel the need to use it. I'll stick with the plain grains from the feed store.

Holy expletive. The Center for Media and Democracy has this to say about the U.S. Composting Council (USCC): [Here's the link]: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=US_Composting_Council [Quote]: "The US Composting Council (USCC) is a front group for dumping sewage sludge onto gardens and farms. It sponsors the ironically titled International Compost Awareness Week; the irony is that the buyer of compost is not "aware" that USCC puts their seal on sewage sludge-derived "compost." It describes itself as a national trade and professional organization with over 600 members including Synagro, compost manufacturers, local government, equipment suppliers and others. It promotes "compost" manufactured with sewage sludge.[1] As a promoter of "biosolids," the sludge industry PR term for sewage sludge dumped on farms and gardens, it works closely with BioCycle magazine, Water Environment Federation, Kellogg Garden Products, and other promoters of growing food in sewage sludge." [End of quote] Further down the page in the link above, the Center says this: [Quote]: "USCC Behind 'Compost Awareness Week' International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is a yearly PR campaign by the US Composting Council to promote dumping sewage sludge on gardens and farms. Jeff [Z.] of the giant Los Angeles, CA, Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA) coordinates the program for the USCC. IEUA supplies the sewage sludge "compost" that is resold by the Kellogg Garden Products company." "In April 2010, the U.S. Composting Council sent a letter of support to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in favor of its sewage sludge compost giveaway program.[3] In the letter, the U.S. Composting Council says sewage sludge composts "provide many benefits while being safe for use." ======== "Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) One of USCC's main programs is its Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) for compost products.[4] The STA program, developed in 2000, requires regular testing of compost products by "certified" labs. The testing is relatively minimal and the standards are designed to allow for certification of products containing sewage sludge." [End of quote] Now the last sentence above unnerved me, because a local St. Louis company from which I intend to buy 3 cubic yards of compost later this Spring promotes on their web site that they are STA-certified. On the phone, the local St. Louis company (which I will NOT name here) says they do NOT use treated sewage sludge (aka "biosolids") in their compost. I sure hope that's true, or I'll have to find another source of compost this spring.

I applied cracked corn in April. It has made a difference in promoting a healthy grass growth (general fertilization). So in the sense of having a healthier plant, it probably helps. I have been reading about rhizontonia solani. It overwinters in sclerotia, which are hardshelled and not vulnerable to chemicals or other fungi. When conditions are good for development (warm, humid), bulbils attached to roots start sending out hyphae. They can attack the plant through natural openings, like stomata. The mycelium can spread plant to plant (easy in turfgrass which is so close to each other) and spread the disease. Generally for turfgrass it's the leaves that are attacked and as long as the crown and roots are unaffected, the plant can regrow. However the grass is very stressed and does not have as much photosynthesis from the leaves (since many have been decimated) and so can be done in, especially if it has other stresses, like drought stress. Having a healthy plant ahead of attack may make a big difference in survival. I have some clumps where probably the corn was probably applied more heavily than others and they are noticably thicker and greener with wider blades. Try to keep the leaves as dry as possible as long as possible: water in the morning, when watering, so the leaves dry quickly. Mowing at 3 inches or 3.5 is probably better than 4 so that there is less humidity down there. I am reading that brown patch is worse when the highs are in the 80s than in the 90s (maybe because things dry more quickly at higher temperatures) so I am mowing at 3.5 for now and will move to 4 (highest I have) when temperatures are higher. I am also using Serenade as a preventative. I think I have had an attack in one area but in general the grass is hanging in there. Excessive nitrogen exacerbates brown patch. However, light applications (1/4 lb/k) or a slow release, like any organic, would help the grass grow. Be judicious in amounts applied, even for organics, as cool season grass should not be forced to grow in the hot part of summer. I did 25 lb/k of the corn in April and calculated that it supplied about 0.4 lb/k of nitrogen. That's not much. The grass is acting like it had more. Maybe it was so grateful for any nitrogen (I had not done the late fall feeding as the grass was still growing all through December), it started celebrating.