getting darker green color

17 years ago

I have a TTTF/Midnight KBG mix. Seeded from scratch last Fall and the grass is doing very well. I went organic this Spring; compost, soy bean meal etc. I'm going to put down some more SBM soon. I follow good cultural practices from watering to mowing high and frequent and my blade is sharpened regularly.

The turf quality is good but I'm not as pleased about the color. It's good but not great. Is there anything I can do to encourage a darker green color? Organic of course.

Thanks,

Rob

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Comments (8)

deerslayer
17 years ago
More SBM will probably improve the color of your lawn. If it doesn't, you may need a soil test to pinpoint the problem.

-Deerslayer
billhill
17 years ago
I think last falls planting has not yet reached its optimum thickness and color. It should continue to improve this season. Overseading this fall or dormant seeding with elite KBG may be helpful. Also, some consider Milorganite organic. It contains 2 percent iron, or maybe its 4 percent. That will help darken the color.
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While Iron is definitely the secret to getting a quick darkening of the grass, all Iron is NOT the same, and those recommending applying Iron to the soil don't understand the soil chemistry, or the regional quirks of the DFW area. Soils in the DFW area are very often at pH 7.5 - 7.8, and are calcareous (large excesses of Calcium and sometimes both Calcium and Magnesium). Iron solubility is heavily influenced by both Calcium and pH - the same amount of Iron may be 1000 PPM soluble at pH 6.3, but will drop to 352 PPM at pH 6.5, 35 PPM at pH 7.0 and 3.5 PPM at pH 7.5. Unchelated Iron will become unavailable almost immediately upon soil contact. Chelated (part of an organic molecule) Iron will last longer. Milorganite behaves as chelated because it came from the organic bacteria that digested the sewage. The way to get very dark grass quickly is to apply it in a foliar fashion to the grass instead of the soil. Backpack or pump-up sprayers are best because the droplets are much tinier than the hose-end sprayer applicators, and less runs off. The bad news is that it grows off in 2-3 weeks as the grass grows out, and must be reapplied to maintain the look. Be careful - while it can work literally overnight, it doesn't take much -- and too much will make the grass look a muddy slate-gray.
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Hey, Sam. Generally, it's smarter to start a new topic, but I can take care of this one here. You were a little early with the fertilizing, but still in range (ferts go on Memorial Day for most northern lawns, but close enough in this case). The next time to fertilize is Labor Day as lawns don't eat during the summer. After that, October 1, and when the lawn stops growing, but is still green (if it's after November 1, which it usually is for much of the US). Southern lawns will differ and need to be fed monthly through the season. If the sod is new, keep it damp for the first two weeks until it starts to root, then back off the watering slowly. If you had to water every other day to keep it damp, go to every third day for two weeks. And so on. If it browns, step it back up. For the first summer, you're going to have to keep an eye on it and play it by ear. For established lawns, once a week, about an inch of water at a time, is usually OK. It'll vary a bit by soil type, though. I last watered in 2018, but have a bluegrass lawn that's perfectly tolerant of going dormant if necessary, and it usually doesn't. I have a heavy silt soil with huge amounts of spongy organic material. Seeding...hold it until mid to late August for northern lawns (southern lawns should be seeded now or shortly).
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bestlawn
17 years ago
With Midnight in your mix, I wonder that you want a darker lawn. That makes me curious to know the fescue cultivars that were mixed with the Midnight.
tarheel23
Original Author
17 years ago
Bestlawn,

I used Confederate blend TTTF from turf-seed. I don't think that's the problem. As billhill said, maybe it hasn't had time to reach it's optimum color.

I think it's because I haven't given it a lot of Nitrogen. When compared to my next door neighbor's, his is a little greener. Of course he uses Chemlawn and that would explain the color difference. His turf quality isn't near as good as mine though. It's uneven and the blades are really thick from too much fertilizer and poor mowing. He'll probably run into problems when it gets really hot.

Should I try Milorganite or even Ironite? Or would the SBM be better? I understand that eventually I will acheive great color through organics. I'm just looking for advice on the best way to get there the quickest.

My lawn does look great only seven months after seeding from scratch though. I've learned a lot from the lawn forums.

Thanks.
deerslayer
17 years ago
Based on my experience, SBM delivers N more quickly than Milorganite.

When I started my organic lawn program, my lawn wasn't as dark as my neighbor's chemical lawn the first spring. I applied more SBM and soon they had the same color.

-Deerslayer
woodycrest
17 years ago
the required ingredient is time.
more soybean meal will certainly help.

why is it that we always compare our lawns with the Joneses?....just wondering :)
Billl
17 years ago
I think you are stuck in the transition time from synthetics to organics. With organic fertilizers, you are basically letting nature slowly break down proteins to release nitrogen for your lawn. That process takes several months to complete. In the longrun, that is fine. You put out some fertilizer now, again in a few months, again in a few months etc. Some of what you put out the first time is still breaking down by the next time you fertilize, so you are kinda overlapping and it builds over time. Right now, you don't have an earlier application to overlap, so you are running at half throttle. You can just sit back and accept that or toss out some extra fertilizer now to make up the difference.
dchall_san_antonio
17 years ago
If you have greensand (glauconite) available, you might try that at 40 pounds per 1,000 square feet. My organic lawn is the greenest around. It will work for you.

getting darker green color

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deerslayer

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getting darker green color

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deerslayer

billhill

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tarheel23Original Author

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tarheel23
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