PowderBeard

Surprised to some small patches of fungus starting this week and even a mushroom. Time to cut to 3" and let it dry out some.

Really amazed with tall fescue's ability to withstand a lack of water (it also got hit with two rounds of Triclopyr to take out clover and chick-weed with no stress). Between rain and the sprinkler it has about 1.5" in the past 5 weeks. I have also been mowing 3.5-4" to help it keep what moisture is in the soil there.

Fish are all messed up at the Quabbin. Even with last year's cold spring the spawn was in full effect. Past 2 weeks all males on beds, almost all females are still off shore. Yet to see a pair on a bed even though the water is in the mid-60s. Went deep in 25-45' and got all bigger females. Given the bellies, they are either full of eggs or still early pre-spawn. Never seen anything like it.

Yea that is a lot to maintain. When did you throw it down? First time using milo on my own lawn so I'm curious how long the iron brings out the chlorophyll and keeps the dark green, most iron sprays only work for a week or so.

lol, only because June typically brings some heat. Hell you could spoon feed urea the next few weeks if you wanted to.

When do you all throw down grub controls? I know June is the time but I have not seen any beetles yet but it is June so they should be coming. Been monitoring the rose bushes for damage. Had a serious issue with them and just put down Bayer to kill them last fall and earlier this spring.

Right? That side of the drain side gets about 4 hours max, left gets about 3. I also do all organics on that side vs synthetics on the left. Neither get any additional water than what falls from the sky. Left side is just as dark but shorter and less dense. Both sides have only been mowed twice this year.

The baseline is 1" per week. I don't think there is much science behind it though because it depends on temps, soil type, time in the sun, etc. Most sprinkler systems and straight garden hoses (if the lawn is not massive) put that down in 1-2 hours (unless it was modified when the sod was put down), thus why I would check how much one watering cycle of yours puts down.

Quabbin is stupid right now. Maybe 5-10% of smallies are spawning, rest are eating jerkbaits on the edges of windy spawning flats like I've never seen before. Fished 1-4pm Wednesday and had over 40 smallmouth, only a couple under 2 pounds. Biggest went 4-13.

Threw this down last week instead of milo. It's a 5-5-0, has the slow release nitrogen and iron like milorganite plus phosphorus for the younger roots. The iron really evened out the color and it won't stop growing. Only watered three times in the last two weeks for about 30 minutes. The couple lighter spots are the chickweed/clover spots dying from the tricylopyr and all the damn things falling from the trees. Really need to mow and make a striping kit next, figure some pvc filled with sand or a heavy metal bar. Only 9 months from seed so still not quite where I want it. https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/1217185-estate-2500-sq-ft-36-lb-all-natural-5-5-0-fertilizer.html# My goal is to get it all as dark as this "test" patch of tall fescue I planted about 2 years ago. Hoping it is more to do with the age of the grass and not the difference in shade. Cut...damn rookie foot marks lol

Makes sense. Max height (I'm assuming 3.5 - 4") + a lot of water (30 minutes of night water that's likely just sitting on it) + warm wet temps = fungus. It's never drying out. Do you know what type of grass it is and how much sun it gets a day? I'd also put out some plastic containers before running then see how much water you're putting down. My guess is way too much, like exponentially too much. Once you figure out how much water you're putting down you can adjust. I was watering ~4 times a week for 15-25 minutes around noon time since I overseeded and noticed some yellowing a couple weeks ago in my older sections. Started cutting at 2.5", watering twice a week for 30 minutes, and no more yellowing.

How long ago did you put the sod down and what height are you mowing it at? I ask because that night time watering with the warmer temps and high dews this week can lead to fungus issues.

What have you done for lime apps in the past? I started throwing lime in June because my soil was acidic as well (think it was around 5.4) and it takes a while for lime to help (did 50lbs of pellets over my 2000 sq feet) in early June then again mid July. This formula and website was helpful although I did not follow it 100% in retrospect. https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/soil-acidity-and-liming-basic-information-for-farmers-and-gardeners#section_heading_7192 Then I aerated the soil (not lawn because there wasn't one and the soil was so compacted) and put a 4:1 mixture of the most screened loam I could find to sand in the areas that needed to come up. Was a lot of hauling 5 gallon buckets but worth it. I wish I had done the entire lawn this way because in the areas I did not I can notice a difference in color and density, I'll be digging out and doing those small spots this fall and re-doing them. This thing is a life saver for leveling.

Sprayed triclopyr with a surfactant yesterday, now have to wait ~3 to mow. Didn't realize when clover and chickweed germinate They are taking over right now.

Smallies are getting ready to do the deed. All the cold mornings have beds deeper than I've ever seen. Lots on 10-15'. Any tapering points with a hard bottom had fish stacked on them in 15-30' yesterday.

If it is well above 7 then spreading ammonium sulfate or sulfur-urea are decent and also help out nitrogen levels prior to seeding. A lot less work too. I wouldn't seed right after putting down given the fast release N might be too much for seedlings. https://www.seedworldusa.com/products/ammonium-sulfate-21-0-0-granular-fertilizer-50-lbs?variant=35959584977&currency=USD&utm_campaign=gs-2018-11-14&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6CX0ZrF6QIVA9vACh0dbADBEAQYBCABEgJ8YPD_BwE

Trying to level areas or just topdress? What and how much did you put down when? What do you want to do for weed control/what issues do you have?

Yup, and only tow vehicles, trailers, and boats with Mass registration. A lot of guys in NH and CT are not happy. When I can steal a neighbor's for the day I'll let you know.

Tough day out there today. Thought we would smoke them as the water is in the upper 50s, clouds, no wind. I went through a whole bag of jig trailers since every hookset would send a 1/4oz or 3/8oz back at my face and a single claw missing. Just wouldn't eat it. Ended up with 8-10 largemouth (nothing over 2 lbs,) on the finesse worm or 3.5" swimbait and about 30 slime darts.

Wow. Quabbin temps are still in the upper 40s, most smaller areas are in the low-mid 50s. Similar to last year around here, first wave of smallies did not start bedding up until the first week of June but beds were present for weeks prior. Cooler mornings just kept pushing them back down.

Pretty awesome tool... https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/pestoutlooks.aspx

28.1* this morning. Soaked the lawn from 9:30-10pm and 12-12:30am to try to stave off the frost and avoid damaging all the new seedlings. They don't look to be effected. Happy a weedy area I planned to take out and overseed got crushed.

I only covered with peat moss in the bare/thin spots. For that I would break it down as fine as I could with a shovel/trowel, took about an hour and used 4-5 cubic feet of it. If I was doing the yard over again I'd get one of these which can be rented at most places (just a compost spreader). I used straw in the fall when I started from scratch and never again after using peat moss. No raking out, no worries about bringing weeds into the lawn, and can always tell when I need to water.

The grass loved the temps of the past week. I overseeded with about 6 pounds of Jonathan Green Sun and Shade, covered with peat moss, did a second app of Tenacity last Tuesday/Weds. Have also been have been "spoon feeding" (.25lbs of N and .5 lbs P per 1000 sq. feet) the past few weeks. The lighter colored spots are thinner areas/some Tenacity bleaching. Already have some serious germination happening. Going to wait until most of the lawn is 6" or the seedlings hit 2" (I took it down to 1-1.5" to overseed last week and is still at about 2.5") and hope it overtakes the chickweed and clover. The lawn is ~90% tall fescue so I need to start growing it tall anyway. Plus I'd rather spot seed again than spray Tricyc in a few weeks, especially the edge around the driveway as you can see how thin it is. Also need to edge the Daffodil area to stop that stuff from creeping in. I know milo has iron in it but anyone ever use something like liquid iron? I really want the dark green to come out in the future.

Mom thought it was pretty funny as did the rest of the family. I could not get a picture of me with it for size so had to improvise. She is almost 9 months old for reference and about 18 pounds. Conservative guess was the bass is 8.5-9 lbs. I compared my measurements of it to a friend who just got a certified 9-2 largemouth (his was 22" long and had a girth of 19") and he insists its >10 but I don't think so.