Let me preface my remarks by saying that I have kept my St. Augustine lawn, trees, flowers and roses organically for over 35 years. I use corn gluten meal twice a year, late Sept. and early March, as a preemergent and fertilizer. CGM, being 60% protien, contains 9% nitrogen. I apply CGM at a rate of 20lbs per 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn. Around Father's Day, I make an application of Milorganite.
That'it! I never heard of using soy bean meal before I started reading Gardenweb. It seems to me there is a tendency of many posters to need to be puting something on their yards all the time. In my opinion, the pratice is overkill and expensive. I often refer to my methods as benign neglect.

"I mow once every 2 weeks"

I live near you and I mow about every 4 to 5 days during the spring. Even the people that don't fertilize in the spring mow weekly here. Perhaps new sod doesn't grow as quickly as an established lawn.

-Deerslayer

deerslayer, the growth rate only went fast from early July to late August. The only thing I did prior July was application of SBM. I won't apply SBM anymore.

texasredhead, I also use the same lbs/area amount you posted.

It's September now. Which should I apply, CGM or Milorgranite? To get CGM, it takes me 25miles to get to ElBurn while Milorgranite, only takes me few miles to get to Lowes.

Thanks guys!

"the growth rate only went fast from early July to late August."

My point was that your earlier growth rate was abnormally low. The growth rate that you experienced in July and August was normal for this year. We had near record rainfall and warm weather. Add some fertilizer and you have rapid plant growth.

I don't agree with your conclusions about CGM and SBM growth rates. If you would have substituted the same amount of CGM for the SBM, I bet your growth rate would have been higher.

-Deerslayer

Yeah I have the tendancy to want to put stuff on my lawn all the time as well but I hold off and stay within the 80-100lbs organics per year. Maybe I could get away with doing less but some of us fresh starters need to build up the amounts of organic material in the soil and not just applicate to feed the grass. In 5 years I would have only half the amount of organic material built up in the soil if I only applied twice a year.

I tend to overdo it myself, pushing the lawn to the 100 lb/K ft range in mixed organics (not including mulched grass blades).

I was mowing in spring every 2 to 3 days without fail. However, that was the old lawn, which was not a dwarf. That dropped to 1 1/2 to twice a week in June and July, but never went lower than that.

I think if you just -have- to put something on and don't mind spending the cash you can't go wrong with a nice dose of alfalfa.

I like to put down compost. Fine sifted finished compost sprinkled on the weeker areas of my lawn. In time, the weekest areas become the strongest. It really works. Bill Hill

Contacted my local nursery and they sell mushroom compost. Read that if it's a mushroom compost, don't buy it. What do you think folks?

Some people like it and some don't.

I think some of the potential problems with it are that it can have a high pH and a fair amount of salt. If you get enough rain, these may not be problems for you.

I think another potential problem with it is that the mushrooms that were grown in it used up much of the nutrients already.

If your goal is to add OM and the pH and salts are not a problem, it might be something to consider using.

"I think if you just -have- to put something on and don't mind spending the cash you can't go wrong with a nice dose of alfalfa."

I agree for the following reasons:

1. Alfalfa contains relatively low N...it doesn't make your grass grow too fast.
2. Alfalfa adds organic material to your soil.
3. Alfalfa contains desirable micronutrients.

-Deerslayer

Is alfalfa also 20lbs/1000 sqft?

Also folks, I had a feed store written on one of my business cards. The feed store is in Lemont, IL. However, I couldn't find that card anymore. They are the only store that sells alfalfa.

Does anyone recall anything about a store in Lemont, IL?

Disregard folks, I found it in switchboard.com

Ludwigs Farm Store Corp
(630) 257-3097 : 13205 131st Lemont, IL 60439

"Is alfalfa also 20lbs/1000 sqft?"

I like to first determine how much N I want to apply, then I calculate the amount of material I'll need. I calculate the N% by dividing the percentage of protein by 6.5. For CGM the calculation is 60 / 6.5 = 9.2% N. You can also look up N% in tables.

A cool season grass such as KBG, needs about 4 lbs of nitrogen per 1,000 sqft per growing season for vigorous growth. Since SBM contains 7% N, applying 15lbs/1000 sqft is equivalent to applying 1.05 lb of N/1000 sqft. (.07 x 15 = 1.05)

Alfalfa contains about 3% N, so applying 15lbs/1000 sqft of alfalfa is equivalent to applying about .45lbs of N/1000 sqft.

I realize the above is more complicated than simply putting down 10-20 lbs/1000 sqft. However, I think it is more economical since I don't over-apply materials when I do the math.

-Deerslayer

In addition to cost, another problem with applying too much N is that your grass will grow more quickly than normal.

-Deerslayer