SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

There is a little lack of participation on these boards. I have owned both a Dosmatic and an EZ Flo Fertilizer injector. Both are good but ...

Dosmatic - Water driven pump. It is load, but accurate. Did I mention it is noisy? Since it has moving parts, it will require periodic maintenance. It is also recommended that it be cleaned out after every use by running 1 gallon of water through the pump. The size of the fertilizer container is whatever size you want it.

EZ Flo - No moving parts. Less control over the injection ratios (no bid deal though). Minimal maintenence, if any. Captured fertilizer container, but the unit is quiet. For such a large size lawn, I would recommend the high capacity units.

Fertilizer - Find a lesco store near you. Hopefully you have one. I use thier MaronN sprayable fertlizer (20-20-20). It is about 37 dollars for 25 pounds. My 9.5 gallon EZ-Flo takes 50 pounds of fertilizer.

Instect Control - I use a Pymethrum (spelling?) product from Lesco. It is toxic to insects and fish.

Soil development - I also add kelp (i.e. seeweed) plant food in liquid form. About 1 gallon per cycle.

You can add other things also, but you have to be careful of the chemicals interacting with each other. Post more questions as you get them.

Unfortunately there is not a product available to control weeds through fertigation. Weed and Feed products are too toxic to place in the system and will kill any broad leaf plant material including your shrubs and bushes. Using Round up and pre-m are the best options.

To control weeds in your planter beds utilize low volume irrigation (drip emitters). This will allow you to place fertilizer and water only where it is needed and not encourage additional weed growth.

Fertigation will increase the root mass of your turf dramatically. This will help prevent weeds in the future. However, I always apply pre-m every spring.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fertigation Guru</i>
<br />Unfortunately there is not a product available to control weeds through fertigation. Weed and Feed products are too toxic to place in the system and will kill any broad leaf plant material including your shrubs and bushes. Using Round up and pre-m are the best options.

To control weeds in your planter beds utilize low volume irrigation (drip emitters). This will allow you to place fertilizer and water only where it is needed and not encourage additional weed growth.

Fertigation will increase the root mass of your turf dramatically. This will help prevent weeds in the future. However, I always apply pre-m every spring.
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Thanks. Didn't think there was much I could do through fertigation for weeds. I'll just hit it again with Roundup a week or so before I plant the seed. I'm not using the stuff that stays in the soil so I should be ok. What are your thoughts on improving soil? I'm thinking of mixing in some mushroom soil. I can get it pretty cheap since I live in Pa. I had to bring in about 100 cubic yards of soil to correct the grading of my yard and most of it was sub-soil. It's got pretty good loam and I couldn't beat the price, free. It's slightly acidic, about 6-6.5, so I figure on adding some lime as well. I do notice that part of the yard the weeds are hardly growing so something needs to be done. That soil also has almost 0 nitrogen so that is probably part of why the weeds aren't growing there.

Lime will help, but the PH of your soil is actually not that bad for blue grass. Blue grass does grow best at a ph of 7 but 6.5 is acceptable. Mushroom soil is good for poor soil and you can't beat free. Once your system is installed use a bio stimulant with each refill. EZ LNS , Bio Natra , and Turf Pro are all top quality supplements.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fertigation Guru</i>
<br />Lime will help, but the PH of your soil is actually not that bad for blue grass. Blue grass does grow best at a ph of 7 but 6.5 is acceptable. Mushroom soil is good for poor soil and you can't beat free. Once your system is installed use a bio stimulant with each refill. EZ LNS , Bio Natra , and Turf Pro are all top quality supplements.
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The mushroom soil won't be free but it's close. I can get 60 yards for $260 delivered. The soil is what I got free. I figure I saved almost $2000 on the amount of soil I had to bring in. Prices are insane around my area for most still. I looked at bringing in compost to improve the soil but they want $25/cu. yd. I looked at the Turf Pro and will be getting some of that to put into the system as well. Thanks.

$260 delivered is not bad at all...check with your local municipalities they may provide you compost for free. Generally they do this in the spring but they might still have some left over. I know in some California cities they will but you do have to pick it up.