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New Bermuda Sod Down - Fertilize Now?

7 years ago

Just got some Bermuda Celebration sod down on Friday night - two days ago. Looks good so far, been watering three times per day but not too long - enough to keep everything pretty damp but not soggy.

Question is - do I put down fertilizer now? I'm in San Antonio where the temps are already pretty high (mid-80s). And if so, what should I put down? I use milorganite and alfalfa for my zoysia, but I know Bermuda is nitrogen-hungry.

Should I go with urea?

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Comments (10)

dchall_san_antonio
7 years ago
You can put down milorganite and/or alfalfa now for the new bermuda. There's no chance it will burn the tender new roots. That's the concern with fertilizing new grass with chemical fertilizer is the possibility of burning the roots.

Temperature is not as important as whether the grass is growing. I was in SA yesterday and the grass is definitely growing, so any time now for the fertilizer. Then if you want to use chemicals in a month, that would be fine. There's someone here who has been very satisfied using Milorganite and alfalfa instead of chemical ferts, so if you want to try that, it should be fine.

Did you get the grass at Milburgers? I'm just wondering where to send people looking for Celebration.
bobstrauss
Original Author
7 years ago
Above: pic just after laying on Friday

Below: pic on Sunday, about 48 hours later

Everything's looking okay, right?

Ill get the milorganite nite on it tomorrow. And yes - I did get it at Milbergers. They deliver the Celebration Bermuda two days out of the week - Friday and one other day, I can't remember.
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User
7 years ago
40% of the Nitrogen in Milorganite is water soluble(synthetic/chemical fertilizer), just FYI.
dchall_san_antonio
7 years ago
j4, you mention that a lot. Do you have a bag or something that shows the ingredients of Milorganite being chemical? Because here is a label I found.
Biosolids are not chemicals. They are the dried microbes from the intermediate stages of waste water reclamation. In other words, completely organic - although being a sewage byproduct it is not approved for official organic production. I do believe there is an iron supplement used in some versions which would take it away from being 100% biologically derived.
User
7 years ago
It's listed right on the product page:

http://www.milorganite.com/using-milorganite/products

Guaranteed Analysis (label):

5.0% Total Nitrogen (N) = *3% Water Insoluble (slow-release) N + 2% Water Soluble N

That's 40% water soluble N. My guess is urea, it's cheap, but it could be something else.

Here's the kicker:

- A 36# bag of Milorganite contains 1.8# of N, 0.72 of which is WSN and 1.08 of which is organic/WIN.

- Urea costs about $0.50/1# N , so the amount of WSN in a bag of Milorganite is worth about $0.36.

- The bag also contains 1.44 lbs of P, which is worth about $0.50 as TSP and 1# of Fe worth about $1 in the form of Ferrous Sulfate.

- A bag of Milorganite costs about $12 at big box stores, regular price. Sometimes it goes on sale for $6.

If we subtract the value of the WSN, P and Fe, that means that the ~ one pound of organic N in the bag costs $10 ($5 on sale), or 20x (10x on sale) more than a pound of WSN derived from urea.

If I wanted to go organic, I would go with alfalfa pellets - I haven't done the math but since it's all organic N, the cost per pound of organic N should be lower. And it's not sewer sludge, I think alfalfa would more closely mimic the natural cycle and bacterial/fungal population of a pasture.
User
7 years ago
And here I sit thinking CO(NH2)2 was just plain old CO(NH2)2.
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
And here I sit thinking CO(NH2)2 was just plain old CO(NH2)2.

However we must derive from CO(NH2)2 via nitrification a form of N which plants can use, a form which is water soluble.

Dug myself out of that one haha!
User
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
However we must derive from CO(NH2)2 via nitrification a form of N which plants can use, a form which is water soluble.

I can't fullheartedly agree.

How about:

However we derive from CO(NH2)2 forms of N which plants primarily use: ammonium-N and via nitrification, nitrate-N.

As these organic vs synthetic discussions tickle me, my point was does it make any difference to the plants or microbes whether the Urea CO(NH2)2 came from an animal or a factory? I can't imagine that either can identify a difference based on source and would turn up their nose at either. Furthermore, (excluding other characteristic differences like carbon content etc. and those related advantages) what does it mater to the plant or microbes whether the ammonium-N or nitrate-N is sourced from an organic or inorganic source as, in the end, ammonium is ammonium and nitrate is nitrate?

The shovel is in your court.

On reflection, I'll keep the shovel. I don't want you swinging it at me. :)
User
7 years ago
You can bury the shovel, I totally agree, I don't think the microbes care. Nor do the plants. The only thing that cares is your budget, because like I said the N coming from the organic portion of Milorganite can be up to 20 times more expensive than urea, per pound of N. I'll stop there, I've been down this path way too many times and it leads into the weeds :-)
Randy Man
7 years ago
Something you cant help notice is the great reviews that milorganite is getting.On home depot.com its 5 stars with over 380 reviews, On lowes.com its 5 stars with over 80 + reviews, wow.

I havent never used it .Sounds like I have been missing out

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