How Organic Lawn Care Fertilizers Work: The Ingredients Exposed

[@TurfMechanic]

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[@AnneTemple6175]

i live in Milwaukee and would never use Milorganite, as I have no idea what is in it or if its been tested for heavy metals and/or pharmaceuticals.

[@kurt5490]

Could you do a follow-up video giving guidelines for an organic lawn care schedule throughout the growing season? Cool, transition and warm season. I think I've got a handle in it, but i think it would be of great value to your viewers. Once my soil test is good I'll transition to 15-25 lbs/100sq ft of dry worm castings 3x/year. I'd like to supplement with liquid fish, kelp and bio stimulants at appropriate times of the season. I think that is the ultimate goal.

[@TurfMechanic]

I absolutely need to do a video on this topic specifically, I've danced around it for a while. In the mean time you can see this fall explainer video on organic options kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqDbeJ5-Z5usjq8

[@eliotanders3488]

Where I live, synthetic fertilizers and herbicides are illegal to use, but NOT illegal to sell, which complicates things at the hardware store when trying to find a good products for my lawn. Any information on natural fertilizers or herbicides is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[@TurfMechanic]

That is a weird set of rules (laws) to deal with. I love my natural and organics - they are not flashy and my lawn isn't deep forest green but I have no doubt it is doing great, better than anyone else on my block for sure. This summer I've used a few Lawn Box products; I'm liking them a lot but there are lots of other options too. The more I dig into natural lawn ferts the more I'm finding is available which I am loving! Glad to have you here Eliot!

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

Awesome info. We have Minnegrow here which is an "exceptional quality" biosolid.

[@TheLawngineer]

Great video Brian!! Ever hear of DCM? Their products contain organic material of animal and vegetable (like the ones you mentioned). Expensive, but used a lot on golf courses. I’m using it this year on my yard combined with Simple Lawn Solutions liquid products.

[@TurfMechanic]

I've heard of them but not researched them a ton. I do know their products use a diverse mix of ingredients though not all of them are fully natural. For instance their Mix 1 includes two different forms of Urea which some people don't consider to be "organic enough" and ammonium sulfate which falls squarely under the synthetic category. Gotta love the concept though, combine super fast acting ammonium sulfate with moderately fast acting urea, and slow acting hoof and feather meal, etc. all in one product. :D

[@TheLawngineer]

@@TurfMechanic yes, that is true! Not 100% Organic.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@TheLawngineer thanks for bring them up though, ill spend some time this week taking a close look at some of their other products and hopefully I'll see some stuff from your channel on how you're using them. 😃

[@mrtrivia]

What are your thoughts on Old Farmers Almanac Lawn Food (10-0-2). Seems to be soybean meal based. Ever used it or heard anything about it (good or bad)? Best used in summer as a Milorganite alternative (slow release) or other time of year to apply? Thanks Brian!

[@TurfMechanic]

Hey Levi, I noticed my local Walmart had that in stock about a month ago while I was browsing, I didn't take much time to look hard at the label. Soybean meal doesn't have that much N in it so there has to be another source in the bag to get the rating up to 10-0-2, I'd have to research what else is in it. If I find the time I'll look it up in greater detail and maybe add it to my organic list on my milorganite alternatives page over on the website, especially since it's being sold so widespread right now. I use almost only organics these days so any time of year works for stuff like that, getting enough K is usually the hard part since milo has easy P.

[@will-smith-nh]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@raczyk]

Can you fertalize with the JADAM method? Korean farming, etc?

[@FrankC656]

Great video, and certainly helpful.

[@Jfresh55]

Can you turn this all into a liquid and spray on the lawn? Can you make a video of this?

[@TheLawnGuardian]

Great video, Brian!

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks a bunch; always trying to deliver good info; glad it resonates.

[@vikingstorm32]

Great info!

[@JBSwanstrom]

Thank you Brian!

[@Supanova70]

my store ha a 25 pound bad on clearance for 8 dollars a bag from 35. Purely Organic is the name. Should i buy the pallet lol?

[@TurfMechanic]

That sounds like a sweet deal to me! 😀

[@Supanova70]

NPK 10-0-2 (10% Nitrogen, 0% Phosphorus, 2% Potassium) Derived From Soybean Meal, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride and Distillers Dried Grains.@@TurfMechanic

[@BarWatch]

Great info. Though I think organic is good, not all organic practitioners get the job done. Plus the cost is typically twice what you pay for chemicals. Our lawn (most especially the front) was ruined with a local company applying their proprietary organic blend. Three years and it's terrible. We got nothing but BS answers and they continue with their applications thinking it's going to get better. It's not.

[@TheDylan6908]

How much water for those ingredients?

[@TurfMechanic]

I don't think there's a right answer here. None will "activate" until they get worked into the soil usually by water...but none will gas off or oxidize either while sitting on the ground dry...also none will leach away like synthetics. When I apply organics to the lawn these days I do it before I need the push and then wait for rain or wait until my previously planned irrigation session. I typically shoot for 1-inch of water on my lawn per week through the growing season in a single day through irrigation, rain, or a combination of the two. That much water will get them in but you could probably incorporate them in with less if you wanted to irrigate less deeply and more often.

[@lopesphoto]

What about earth castings?

[@TurfMechanic]

If I remade this video today I would add worm castings for sure. They have nearly zero NPK but they do add incredible diversity of microbial life to the lawn. That influx of microbiology and moisture holding capacity can help unlock lots of nutrients in the soil and make them plant available. I have used worm castings in the lawn for years now; I'm way overdo for a dedicated video on that stuff.

[@lopesphoto]

@@TurfMechanic so do you use the worm castings as a replacement for the fertilizer or an addition to it? How often do you do it? How is it spread on the lawn? Sorry so many questions