4 Biggest Problems With Using Milorganite + When To Use It

[@labrat9831]

Milorganite’s iron is bound up in organics. They are not very specific about it but I would guess it is something like Fe-Humate which is found in sewer sludge. This is actually a preferable iron as it is directly absorbable by plants unlike most fertilizer iron which is iron oxide.

[@chrislindsay3104]

Just bought 2 bags of milo because it's hard to find in stores after March. Thanks for posting this. I'll be anticipating your upcoming videos--i'm in zone 8b. Weeds are waking up but not grass.

[@TurfMechanic]

8b puts you fairly south, probably running a warm season grass like Bermuda, Cent, or St Aug? Yeah, some cold weeds start waking up at 45 degree soil temps while grassy weeds like crab, etc wake up closer to 55 along with many warm season grasses. Good luck and enjoy your early Spring; I shoveled snow today. :D

[@TeslaBoy123]

Thanks a lot for sharing this i a dummie firt time owner i just start dealing with my home lawn care this year 2022 i found that isn't a easy task is a heavy labor involved and obviously a lot more mixing stuffs involve in all this process to care and keep a healthy lawn

[@x61-x61]

Nice tip regarding spraying effectiveness vs granular. Thanks!

[@5moonunit]

Don't believe it. My grass turns really green after using it. I don't use it alone but it works

[@GregAspenson]

Phosphorous is not allowed to be put down where I live unless shown by a soil test as needed or for new establishment of turf. For some reason though organic/natural fertilizers are exempt but can cause damage none the less if not used responsibly. Our soils in Wisconsin usually have plenty of phosphorous. I'll only put some down if my lawn is starting to look purple (usually below 7 ppm on a soil test) but I've never seen that happen before.

[@TurfMechanic]

Hey Greg, yeah, this is why soil tests can be so useful; you either learn you have a deficiency giving you the opportunity to correct it or you learn that P isn't needed in your lawn at all. There are plenty of ferts out there that don't include P. I'm planning on doing a soil test comparison in the coming month or so to compare the consistency of results between a few of the testing options out there. Hope you catch that when it goes live.

[@Dblood85]

I used nothing but Milorganite for 4 years on my lawn and it was the greenest and best lawn in the neighborhood. It’s about building your soil!

[@BackyardAquatics-o2m]

it's great just use another fert that has potassium in it from time to time.

[@papamowslow196]

Great info. I will use it several times at the beginning of the season along with another recommended fert because my phos level is basically zero.

[@TurfMechanic]

lol basically zero... milo sounds like a good organic fix to that then. I'm looking into milo alternatives this spring so I'm curious which other recommended fert you are considering?

[@papamowslow196]

@@TurfMechanic I sent my soil test to Ron Henry and he recommended Anderson’s 18-24-12 to help with my zero phos. I’m still so new at this I’m still learning my way through the weeds. No pun intended.

[@TurfMechanic]

@Papa Mows Low Ron knows his stuff and his opinion is always worth listening to. That product includes roughly 12% urea which is usually pretty quick acting nitrogen except it's a controlled release version since the granules are sulphur/polymer coated. As the coatings break down the urea will act pretty fast assuming soil temps are in the mid 50's or above. The product also includes roughly 12% ammoniacal nitrogen which should be faster (not encapsulated) and less dependent on soil microbes than urea so it may work fast even when soil temps are below 50. The P in that product is what you are after so if you put this down I'd wait to the fall, maybe Sept because you probably won't need the quick release N in the Spring. Put that milo down in the Spring to feed it into June and then maybe a second milo app to get you through the bulk of summer then the Anderson's product around labor day if you still want to get some more P into your lawn at that time.

[@PrincessCutLawnCare]

Been throwin down 1 pound of N of milo per year and my phos levels have consistently been right on the upper edge of being optimal

[@TurfMechanic]

Upper edge works for me! Exactly the reason why using it multiple times a year every year makes no sense; it throws the whole soil profile out of whack. Thanks for stopping by George :)

[@brandonr43]

For some reason, for a while, Milo was seen as some type of magic grass powder. Some KZbinrs even made it there only fertilizer for a while. I can’t stress this enough, Milo is a tool in the toolbox. It’s not a fix all, it’s an additive in an overall fertilizer plan. It has its place but it’s like using a wrench for every need. It doesn’t work for everything

[@laurapalmerTDGE]

And that's the way I think about it and that's the way it actually is. Everything starts of course with a good basis and Milo as an aid. We must not forget that many of us do not have the knowledge of the products, their effect. That is why the explanation on a bag, for example, is very general. We can start about grass types, temperatures, soil acidity, etc. I swear by DCM Vital Green. Regards.

[@JeLifeCoach]

@@laurapalmerTDGE what else would one need? Generally speaking?

[@everydaydiyguy7316]

I appreciate the analysis of what you're saying. However, I have to go by results; I switched to using Milorganite exclusively as a fertilizer 4 years ago. I do apply a muriate of potash to boost potassium in the fall. My lawn went from average to the best in the neighborhood in about a year.

[@BackyardAquatics-o2m]

yeah it's good to mix milo with a fert that has potassium in it or do like you are doing.

[@MoparSmith1]

I just scalped my lawn with a Honda push mower and power dethatched it. I feel like I'm at an AA meeting.

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, good to hear that your out in the yard though! 😃

[@Ergo8152]

One lawn at a time brother

[@kasiecastleberry]

@@Ergo8152 HAHAHAHA. Yes.

[@mikebarry3491]

What other fertilizer do you recommend to go along with Milo

[@alessuarez8280]

Alot of info, great stuff. Thanks alot for the vid, love the name.

[@TurfMechanic]

I appreciate all of that Ales! Glad you found it worth your time and I'm glad the name was available too! :D

[@deeprajvernekar5389]

can you add it while overseeding?

[@JorgeRodriguez-hm1ym]

Question: First of all great video… I’m going to stick to your channel and hopefully it will help my yard condition. I live in Miami Florida which is all year round like 95 degree summer. I have a lot of weeds that I can’t control unless I take it out myself by hand… The Scott products somehow are not working for me and I want to use this product but you mentioned that this product lacks of iron.. what is your recommendation for a yard with 95 degrees temperature and would this product help the weed to grow as well as the grass? I need your advice on this… thank you in advance.

[@raymondmcdonald7085]

Well, as usual learned something again! Thanks

[@TurfMechanic]

Glad to hear that Raymond! Thanks for watching the channel; wouldn't be the same without viewers like yourself. :)

[@jesseparbhu6125]

Great video , makes sense

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks Jesse; hope you were able to catch some of my other vids on alternatives to milo in the organic/natural lawn care segment. Milo is at it's best when mixed with other natural fertilizers.

[@edgargiles3246]

Hello! I live in Texas I have st.agustine grass which fertilizer you recommend ?

[@6325358]

I have St Augustine also and I’ve always started the season off with Scott’s weed and feed..Good luck my friend

[@emerickscott]

lol. my kids would do the same thing :) Agree with the Milo info, and I plan to use it heavy and infrequently this year in order to get some microbial action going. I have heavy clay, high Ph soil and I need to lower it. So, sulfur will help too (your other vid)

[@TurfMechanic]

With the weather warming I fully expect a circus of kids behind me in a bunch of videos for the next 6 months or so, lol. As for ph, yeah Sulphur is the biggest driver for lowering it but it's also the slowest. BTW, for that heavy clay, if you choose to aerate try top dressing with greensand afterwards. It can add a bunch of trace minerals to the soil and break up clay as it gets worked in. As always it's incremental improvement so not a magic pill.

[@emerickscott]

Thanks. Haven’t heard or greensand

[@TurfMechanic]

It's not commonly applied to lawns but it's usually available in specialty gardening stores. Hard to apply unless you have no wind but it's some good stuff!

[@TheGrassFactor]

*Great* presentation!!

[@TurfMechanic]

Thats a bunch Matt! That means a lot coming from you 😃 btw, I watched your 36 min opus on lime yesterday, well done yourself!

[@rodgersandrodgers8191]

You say not to buy a whole lot of Milo in the winter. I'm just wondering if there is a time or season in which Milo is the cheapest? I would much rather buy it when the prices are low, possibly in the winter, and than waiting until the spring when everybody else is buying it. Please let us know about the pricing and whether or not we can get a better deal during any particular season. Thank you and thank you for your excellent videos.

[@victorvek5227]

If you have a Walmart, check those out at season’s end. I’ve seen them as low as $5 in September (down from $19-21 in April)

[@Chrisbennett-k5h]

Which would be better for lawn, milorganite or a quality compost?

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, that's a question that's worth a 10 min video! Both a great for the lawn, which should be used should be determined on your goals and equipment...also your other fertization program. It's hard to spread compost across a full lawn but milo only delivers a few nutrients. Both will develop an increase in microbiology in the lawn but you never know what you are getting with compost, sometimes it's not fully composted and sometimes it is. I'm a huge fan of putting organics on the lawn and top dressing but I've never actually spread compost over the lawn so if I had to choose I'd probably go with milo even though I think its incomplete on its own.

[@Chrisbennett-k5h]

​@@TurfMechanic A video on compost would be great. I killed off the old fescue lawn and reseeded with a better variety. I used compost to cover the seed...at $20/yard from our city I couldn't pass it up. I will be doing a soil sample before spring, but so far the yard is looking great.

[@farquadshmoogle9120]

I used a full 33 lb bag of milorganite to put down 8 lbs of pregerminated seed in my backyard. Does this mean I won't have to fertilize again all summer???

[@TurfMechanic]

well, not exactly but you probably won't have to if you don't want to. Considering you used 8 lbs of seed I'm guessing backyard was around 1k sqft so 33lbs would be 2 lbs N which is heavy but not crazy for Milo. Milo is roughly 15% soluble N so roughly 0.3 lbs will be used in the short term while the remaining 1.7 lbs will be used probably between weeks 3 and 12. 12 weeks out from now will be somewhere around july 10 in peak summer. I like adding a good dose of potassium before Spring is over especially since you don't get any in Milorganite so I'd probably find something that was high in K and moderate in N with little to no P and drop that in June...but that's just me.

[@williamlumpkin8137]

Thanks for explaining the application of milorganite...I will revisit this before the spring. Should milorganite be applied before or after aeration?

[@TurfMechanic]

Not a problem William, as for your question, I've recommended aerating at the end of winter before the grass starts growing so if you follow that advice then youd be applying Milo after the grass starts growing at a later date. Aeration is one of the steps I take to wake the lawn up, ill have that video released later this month. Were still getting overnight temps below 20 so I can't make that video yet, not until my nighttime temps come up a bit more.

[@MegaDaprice]

We applied milo mid Sept right after our aeration and overseeding was done. The tall fescue are up and really tall now...went between the grass to the roots to view it, noticed a bit of yellowing. Will be cutting soon now that the grass has grown. Would you recommend some Disease ex and ironite?? First time using Milo by the way to the property. For Dec any recommendations?? Thank you for the video .looking forward to your expertise. Thank you again.

[@alceja3522]

Just came across your channel great info!! What state are you from? I’m in northern CA

[@TurfMechanic]

What's up Al, thanks for the feedback. I'm in Klamath Falls, just north of the California border. We're neighbors! 😁

[@stangetz534]

All the videos I have watched say 'you're never puttting down potassium" but none of them give an example of a product that adds potassium to suplement you milo.

[@wayneessar7489]

Sulphate of potash, otherwise called potassium sulphate would be a good choice. It is available as a granule and a powder that dissolves in water so you could spray it on. Without a soil test try 2 pounds a thousand square feet. It might be labeled 0-0-50.

[@USAFTACP]

Safer Lawn Restore

[@leiferickson713]

I’m joining the club.

[@TurfMechanic]

Your lawn will enjoy it...work your milo a bit then start mixing in other stuff as you get more into it :)

[@jmarti2]

Can I put malo and spray weed killer on same day ?

[@TurfMechanic]

Should be fine, weed killer will go to work on your target problems right away while the MIlo will slowly work itself into the soil and feed the grass slowly over a good chunk of time.

[@josephdominic919]

I'm laying st Augustine sod down. I assume it's best to lay malorganite heavy for the initial lay? Or should I use a starter fertilizer for the new grass?

[@juzoli]

Why is it better to apply a heavy dose of it, instead of multiple light doses? For example I can put down 2 bags of Milorganite once, or 1-1 bags 2 times during the spring.

[@TurfMechanic]

Hey Zoltan!! Good question; Its not that its better for the lawn, its better for lawnowners, instead of having to apply twice you can just do the work of applying once and the product breaks down slow enough to last. Many lawn care fanatics want to do tons of apps but in the real world most people want to have the least amount of chores possible. For those into split apps and spoon feeding then this isn't going to resonate. Hope that makes sense.

[@JohnConrad]

Climate 8a in AZ and my turf type tall fescue only goes semi-dormant during the winter (I water 3 times a month). When should I throw down Milo heavy?

[@TurfMechanic]

I gotta get my spring guide out soon, you southerners are coming into Spring fast! It's all about soil temps. 45 is my threshold for fescue on the low end for growth but its unlikely you need milo yet, id go for liquid iron, humic acid, and micros first and then add slow release fert like milo in a few weeks as March approaches. Make sure to get down your pre-emergent soon though as your temps will get into the 50s soon. Watch for my "waking the lawn up from winter" video which is coming out in the next two weeks for more.

[@NewsNowLIVE1]

3 times a month??!!! 😂😂 siiiiiick that’s not enough

[@amandadavis9726]

@@NewsNowLIVE1 it’s different for us out here. Sounds like John uses flood irrigation. I mainly use it on my place, and you’re literally “watering” your lawn two to three times a month. I’m a Bermuda guy,…and my lawn looks nice from using that watering technique. I apply fertilizer a couple of times a year, and spray to keep the weeds down, and keep it mowed weekly. It looks pretty nice when I stay on top of it.

[@Mike-mw7bg]

Just curious but why does the bag of Milorganite indicate using 11-1/2 for a setting on the Scott’s spreader yet in your video you use 6? Just want to make sure I’m not putting down too much product. Thanks.

[@nsid72411]

Thanks for the info. Quick question. If I milo now, when can I resume normal Scott’s weed and feed? I think you referenced early to mid June. Also, will this Milo application be my only one for the summer. My grass is growing now. I’m in Maryland and I have tall fescue. I applied a Scott’s pre emergent with fertilizer three to four weeks ago. Is it too early to apply? I was also thinking of thatching before I did the Milo but I aerated and thatched and overseeded in the fall. I’ve thrown a lot at you. Thank you.

[@TurfMechanic]

lol, yeah that's a big string of Qs. You may have gotten pre-em down a bit too early (especially if it had fert in it) but the pre-em is not going to hurt anything; you'll probably just get a few extra weeds popping through by summer; not a big deal and still less than had you done nothing. In Maryland, your summer will probably be earlier than mine. fescue shouldn't be growing fast in summer; you want it cut super tall and growing super slow to avoid summer dormancy or heat/drought stress. Weed and feed is usually a nigh nitrogen product that pushes growth. I'd put a different oragnic fert down in June for slow sustained growth along with something heavy in Potassium to help with summer stress. Milo now is probably good and will deliver a lot of of the P you need in the lawn for the whole year. I'd say only about 1lb of P is needed on most lawns in any given year. Spot treat weeds in summer if you need to with a dedicated product and then go heavy on N fert at summer's end if you want. I like to aerate in the early Spring (you missed that already where you live I think) and I may do it again in the early fall. Power thatching should be done when grass is growing vigorously, now for you and in the early fall. With tall fescue overseeding at summer's end is also probably a great habit to get into too since fescue doesn't usually spread and can thin out over stressful times like summer and winter. Hope that helps, it took me a while to write! :P

[@nsid72411]

@@TurfMechanic Ha! Yes it was, and I have more! We should just exchange numbers. Anyhow, I'll make these short. 1) How do you feel about "Tenacity"? The weeds that have made it through my pre emergent are driving me crazy. 2) You spoke about using different organic fert down in june to help with growth and also heavy in potassium. Can you recommend one, and are you referring to something other than milo? 3)what i need is a schedule of what to put down exactly and when. There is so much stuff out here and one could get easily lost and or confused. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions !

[@familybarton]

6:15 Everyday I'm Shuffling"

[@mrBDeye]

Milorganite is processed Milwaukee sewage. (Thus the name) I've used this on my lawn for 2 yrs. This year I bagged grass and dumped into my garden compost bin. After a week and some rainfall the bin smelled like poop. The smell is so strong it is disgusting. Lesson learned don't bag the grass and make a pile. Pew pew !

[@Ergo8152]

Yep it got that pungent odor lmao

[@TheCreamRisesToTheTop]

Smells like success!

[@jfigleaf228]

There's been a lot of reporting regarding biosolid based fertilizers containing forever chemicals (PFAs) that can build up in your soil and contaminate it. Can you comment on that topic?

[@buildingjmpr67]

In short,, this stuff works period.. Put as much as you want, won't burn, bla bla bla...buy it people... Is not this complicated

[@tanyacaruana7917]

Can you use Milorganite in October for cool season grasses like Kentucky Blue? Would you recommend it be used at this time or more effective to use in Spring?

[@CWTGD]

Do I have to water it in?

[@TurfMechanic]

You don't really have to but it won't get to work very fast until it gets watered in...some of the iron may oxidize while waiting for water but iron isn't usually the reason you apply milo either.

[@charlenemackason6395]

👌🏽

[@angelaprater2679]

I don.t I use Jonthan love you soil ever other 2 yrs I use Scotts turf builder fertilizer first spring for weeds and fertilizer then after 30 days I use Milorgnite then. Grass stays dark green for a 45 days.

[@robbiegolding1831]

Gotta break that weed trimmer out if your gonna have a lawn channel bro

[@TurfMechanic]

Ohh man; can't believe I forget to do my edging and trimming in the middle of winter. Thanks Bro

[@brianthiel1488]

Milo is best in summer not spring

[@Piccolo_Re]

I’m not a fan of milorganite. I used it in my backyard and it didn’t make any difference. I used a competitor of milorganite on my front yard that is almost quadruple the price. It made a slight difference, but none of these organic products affect the lawn that much. Synthetic chemicals make the biggest difference and really green up and grown the grass even though they damage the soil.

[@mixtecop]

*any fertilizer is good if you follow the instructions and recommend rate I will say*

[@TurfMechanic]

True but with a caveat, most products are not good if they are the only product you use. An analogy - most people would consider broccoli to be good and healthy for you. But what if you only ate broccoli, three meals a day every day forever without eating anything else? I don't know what would happen but I would guess it wouldn't be the best outcome. Lots of people only throw down Milo, which is a problem in my opinion.

[@TurfMechanic]

Hey guys, for summer lawn fertilization tips see this video of mine (worth it): kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKC5enqDfcyBrqM

[@mariebee3146]

Too technical. Most of us are regular people not chemistry majors. Have no idea what you're talking about.

[@ICUTGRASSLLC]

Milorganite is not organic.