Google the Bermuda Bible and memorize it. It will be your best friend for a happy lawn. If you have mowed twice, you should be able to start putting down a high nitrogen fertilizer now. If you want to go organic, my preference is Alfalfa pellets (10-20lbs per sq ft.) or you can use milgranite (can get at big box stores). Since you are in Bastrop, you can probably get Alfalfa pretty cheap from your local feed store. Organics, you can put down at any time you want. Usually takes about 3 weeks for results to show.

Basics of the Bermuda Bible:

Water 1" per week during the growing season

Mow low 1-2 times per week (1.5" or below, I think for Tiff)

Fertilize monthly with high nitrogen fertilizer

Welcome to your new addiction! :)

Exactly. If you are new to this please allow me to add a nuance or two.

Water 1" per week (all at one time) during the growing season.

(Mulch) Mow low 1-2 times per week...

That's all. Oh also, anytime you read alfalfa in a lawn forum, we're talking about alfalfa pellets, not bales of alfalfa. Sometimes you have to 'splain that - especially at the feed store.

Per thousand square feet. There are also nuances by which organic you use--alfalfa would be better at 20 pounds per thousand square feet. Milo would be tolerable at 10 as that much Milo contains more nitrogen than twice as much alfalfa.

When I see these recommendations I always wonder how the use of organics fits into the bermuda bible (which calls for 3 apps of synthetic fert).

In other words, what would a hybrid plan look like if one wanted to use some organics with the bb schedule?

Can we supp milogranite and/or alfalfa between the chemical fertilizing?

Y yes you can Shane. Let me start off by saying it is a good idea to apply at least one app of organics per season to keep the soil happy. Basically you can apply organics at anytime you would like. What I did last year, as I was trying to get my seeded Bermuda to spread, I switched monthly between organics and synthetics. Sometimes I would apply the organic 2-3 weeks after the synthetic as it takes organics 3 weeks to start working. This year (2nd full season of grass) I only applied one app of synthetics during the spring green-up (3-1-2 ratio) and I am going the rest of the season with only Alfalfa pellets. For a deeper green color, I did an application of Bonide Liquid Iron on my front yard only. I want to compare it with my backyard to see what results I get.

My app of bonide and Alfalfa was on June 5th, so I am approaching the 3 week period for the organics to kick in. I mistakenly only did a half rate of bonide on the same date and came back 6 days ago and applied another half rate. I plan on putting up a post in the coming weeks to show results of my little experiment.

Hope that helps!

That does answer the question. A follow-up question- what is the functional difference between an application of milo and alfalfa?

Thank you.

Alfalfa: Weak feed at around 2-1-2. 100% slow release. Contains some root growth hormones, but you really shouldn't overdo those (it seems to have far less negative impact on Bermuda). To apply 1 pound of nitrogen equivalent requires 50 pounds per thousand square feet.

Milorganite: Moderate feed at 5-2-0. Contains up to 40% fast release nitrogen, at minimum 60% slow release. Also contains 4% iron for greening the lawn. To apply 1 pound of nitrogen equivalent requires 20 pounds per thousand square feet.

I know you didn't ask, but:

Soybean meal/Cottonseed meal: Stronger feed at 7-1-2 or so. 100% slow release. No other effects. Tends to be the cheapest choice in terms of cost per pound of protein/nitrogen. To apply 1 pound of nitrogen equivalent requires 15 pounds per thousand square feet.

Corn meal/Cracked corn: Very weak feed at 1.7-0.7-0.5. Provides weak to moderate fungal protection. Excellent soil conditioner due to the ability to pour it on without it smelling much as it decays. Not generally used as a primary feeding. To apply 1 pound of nitrogen equivalent requires 60 pounds per thousand square feet.

morph are soybean meal and cottonseed meal usually available at feed stores as well? I have never asked mine.

Shane: Never apologize for a thread hijack because if we did, we'd have to add it to almost every thread. :-)

t_d: Sometimes. I get my soybean meal (up north, soy is easy to get, cottonseed almost impossible--reverse that down south) at a grain mill. Call and ask, plus some will order it for you at a very good price since they can just throw it on the truck with the rest of the order.

I use mostly soybean meal on the lawn, half soybean meal in the gardens. The remainder in both is Milorganite for the iron and also to mix up what organics I'm using a little bit for soil biodiversity. Corn often goes once a year around April, but I skipped it this year.