Showing posts with label alfalfa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alfalfa. Show all posts

Friday, October 18, 2013

Overseeding your Lawn .....A MUST and Why Organic Lawn care is needed

We can all contribute to a better ecosystem, and incorporating organic lawn care in our lawn maintenance plan, is a great place to start. Each year, billions of dollars are spent on chemicals and pesticides for lawn care to keep the more than 30 million acres of turf in the United States healthy. Because pesticides can be harmful on an already fragile ecosystem it's important to avail ourselves of other eco-friendly methods of lawn care.
 

Organic lawn care is easier and less expensive than you might think. Furthermore, a lawn maintained with organic methods is much healthier in the long run, for instance:
  • They withstand drought more easily
  • They are less susceptible to pest and disease problems
  • They can be enjoyed, by people and pets without worry about getting sick 

LAWN OVERSEEDING can help you take your lawn (Golf Course, client's lawns) from so so to sensational.  Most people think just by throwing some seed on your old turf will get you the great lawn you are going for.  Not true!  Follow these tips to make sure you do overseeding right.

Tip #1 - Time it Right

Time of year is VERY important for seeding of grasses (Bermuda, Fescue, Alfalfa (for farmers), St. Augustine, Kentucky Blue grass, etc).  If you're overseeding with a cool season grass, do it in the Fall, the peak growing time for cool season grasses. For warm season grasses, think Spring.

Tip #2 - Prep your Soil

Give the soil the nourishment it needs to last and help grass to grow.  Remove thatch, and consider aerating your lawn. Loosen the soil with a strong raking as well. This is also a great time to test your soil and amend your soil, whether it's upping its phosphorous levels or adjusting its pH.  SumaGreen products (SumaGreen Turf) will benefit these needs and give your soil and grass everything it will need to properly grow better.  Some starter fertilizer may help but at very low dose if using the SumaGreen Turf.

Tip #3 - Mow Your Lawn Short

Scalp your lawn!  Yes, the same conditions that give weeds an easy entrance also makes it easy for you newly overseeded lawn to take hold. You want your new lawn seeds to have as much contact with the soil as possible, so scalp away. 

Tip #4 - Sow Seed Heavily

For lawn overseeding to succeed, you need a lot of seeds. You should plan to double the seeding you would do if you were putting the seeds down on straight soil with no existing turf.   Since you are trying to grow the grass you want to give yourself the best chances to succeed the FIRST time.

Tip #5 - Baby Your Lawn

Even though you have existing turf, your new sprouts are just as delicate as a completely new lawn, so treat your yard accordingly. Put a protective light top soil, spray SumaGreen Turf  with SumaGrow inside at 4 oz per 1000 sq/ft for quicker germination of seed, water, water, water, and stay off the grass for a few weeks.  To properly measure the water you can put a small cup in your yard to measure (Approximately) how much water you are putting down.  Only put an inch of water on grass.  Of course water in early morning and late evening so moisture stays in grass during hot days.  Also OVER  watering is bad so try to use best judgement and avoid puddling on grass.

Tip#6 - Sit back and Enjoy your NEW Plush grass.
     
     

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Simple steps to accurate sprayer calibration

Calibrating sprayers involves selecting the proper nozzles, spraying pressure, and speed of travel. There are several different ways to accurately calibrate a sprayer, but the simplest is the 1/128th acre (340 sq.ft.) method, also called the “baby bottle” method. The spray collected from a single nozzle measured in ounces directly converts to gallons per acre regardless of the number of nozzles on the boom. Because there are 128 ounces in a gallon, the ounces collected from 1/128th of an acre will equal gallons of solution per acre. Remember in most crops One Gallon of SumaGreen Ag with SumaGrow inside will treat one acre of crops mixed with 30 gallons of water.
Follow the 10 easy steps below to avoid needless chemical waste, improper application, and potential turf injury.


1. Fill sprayer with water. Use only clean water to calibrate sprayer.
2. Measure the distance (in inches) between nozzles on the spray boom. Then refer to chart below to obtain test course distance (in feet).
3. To check the uniformity of all nozzles on the boom, collect the spray from each nozzle for the same amount of time (ex. 1 minute). If the flow rate of any spray tip is 10% greater or less than that of the others, replace it. Whatever the type of sprayer tips you use, be sure they are all the same type.
4. Measure the course distance (in feet) according to the chart and flag it for easy visibility.
5. Drive the test course at an acceptable spraying speed with the sprayer on. Make note of the engine RPM’s, and most importantly, record the seconds it takes to travel the measured distance between the two flags. Be sure to take a “running start” to the beginning flag, and drive beyond the ending flag to maintain a uniform speed within the flagged distance.
6. Park the tractor/sprayer, set the brakes, but keep the engine RPM’s at the same setting used to drive the test course and make any final sprayer pressure adjustments (this will vary with the type of spray tips you use and the gallons per minute you wish to spray through them).
7. Using a plastic measuring container that is marked in ounces, collect the water sprayed from one nozzle for the same amount of time it took to drive the test course.
8. The amount of water collected in ounces will equal the gallons applied per acre.
9. Be sure to read all product labels for proper application information, use rates, etc.
10. While making applications maintain continuous engine RPM’s and ground speed used in test run.
Nozzle spacing and distance chart for 1/128th acre.
Nozzle Spacing (in) Distance (ft)
         6                           681
         8                           510
       10                           408
       12                           340
      14                            292
      16                            255
      18                            227
      20                            204
      22                            186
      24                            170
      26                            157
      28                            146
      30                            136

For a backpack or other single nozzle sprayers this same method will still work. Simply determine the width of the spray pattern to get the distance. Or, fill the sprayer completely with water then spray an area equal to 340 sq. ft. (20’ x 17’). The ounces of water required to refill the sprayer will equal gallons per acre.

Credit to Dr. Wayne Wells is an Extension Professor and Turfgrass Specialist at Mississippi State University.