Organikz
- 3,562
- 263
It's that time of year
As stoners will still lead normal every day lives like everyone else. Jeff sessions would have you believe we live in the sewers and rob people to feed our crazy pot addiction.
I have spent years and hundreds of dollars trying to establish a lawn using methods and products recommended by grass seed companies like scotts. These grass seed companies have taught everyone incorrectly how to seed and care for sprouting grass for the purpose of making more money. They have even gone to great lengths to sell you spreaders which are bad and I'll get into that. They coat the seeds with *aquabond which kills enzymes released by a sprouting seed to ensure it's survival. The starter fertilizer is loaded with nitrogen which inhibits root growth. They formulate all this stuff to impress and then fizzle out. Then they blame you and tell you that you need an additional product.
I have done a little experiment with untreated rye grass seed from the feed store.
If you are like me you have spilled a pile of grass seed and noticed it germinated at a ridiculous rate and that little pile turned into a carpet. Well from learning in depth everything a seed does when it sprouts, the hormones and enzymes released etc. I realized why this happens and it changed the way I spread grass seed.
You don't need the aerators and the backbreaking work to go with it, the straw, and the crabgrass preventer and pesticide. All you need is untreated annual rye grass. You will need more than normal and I'll explain why. I also grab some coop poop...granulated chicken manure.
It's this simple, spread your rye grass seed so thick you can barely see the ground. This will take twice to three times the grass seed but that more than makes up for the fact you won't be needing to till the ground or aerate. I spread my chicken manure now. This will get your grass through the winter.
Let's get started on why this works better. In nature grass germinates in clusters. I'm sure you're familiar with SST. When a seed germinates it releases phytohormones along with a slew of growth accelerating and germination inducing enzymes. This is all released into the soil so it's only purpose doesn't serve the seed it came from but will help start a chain reaction of bean popping madness. It also includes enough food to support the grass until it can establish itself. So the starter fertilizer is out the door.
Straw will not be necessary so long as you spray it first thing in the morning and then right before dark. The seeds will germinate so rapidly the birds wont get a shot at them and the clusters of seeds will help to hold them in place.
Now I'll explain why you won't need any lawn pesticide. The manure will rapidly convert the chitin in the shells of the seeds into chitinase.
The following spring seed again asap and this will prevent weeds and should choke them out. But don't water the grass because you want the ryegrass to die back before it's time to sling your fescue.
That fall simply start seeding the fescue in and the rye grass that is now dead will serve as aeration and feed for your rescue. It's always good to do a light overseed each fall to keep the carpet thick lawn. The enzymes can also activate dormant grass and will boost the established grass.
A couple of tips
The seed in the picture below was thrown down a week ago.
As stoners will still lead normal every day lives like everyone else. Jeff sessions would have you believe we live in the sewers and rob people to feed our crazy pot addiction.
I have spent years and hundreds of dollars trying to establish a lawn using methods and products recommended by grass seed companies like scotts. These grass seed companies have taught everyone incorrectly how to seed and care for sprouting grass for the purpose of making more money. They have even gone to great lengths to sell you spreaders which are bad and I'll get into that. They coat the seeds with *aquabond which kills enzymes released by a sprouting seed to ensure it's survival. The starter fertilizer is loaded with nitrogen which inhibits root growth. They formulate all this stuff to impress and then fizzle out. Then they blame you and tell you that you need an additional product.
I have done a little experiment with untreated rye grass seed from the feed store.
If you are like me you have spilled a pile of grass seed and noticed it germinated at a ridiculous rate and that little pile turned into a carpet. Well from learning in depth everything a seed does when it sprouts, the hormones and enzymes released etc. I realized why this happens and it changed the way I spread grass seed.
You don't need the aerators and the backbreaking work to go with it, the straw, and the crabgrass preventer and pesticide. All you need is untreated annual rye grass. You will need more than normal and I'll explain why. I also grab some coop poop...granulated chicken manure.
It's this simple, spread your rye grass seed so thick you can barely see the ground. This will take twice to three times the grass seed but that more than makes up for the fact you won't be needing to till the ground or aerate. I spread my chicken manure now. This will get your grass through the winter.
Let's get started on why this works better. In nature grass germinates in clusters. I'm sure you're familiar with SST. When a seed germinates it releases phytohormones along with a slew of growth accelerating and germination inducing enzymes. This is all released into the soil so it's only purpose doesn't serve the seed it came from but will help start a chain reaction of bean popping madness. It also includes enough food to support the grass until it can establish itself. So the starter fertilizer is out the door.
Straw will not be necessary so long as you spray it first thing in the morning and then right before dark. The seeds will germinate so rapidly the birds wont get a shot at them and the clusters of seeds will help to hold them in place.
Now I'll explain why you won't need any lawn pesticide. The manure will rapidly convert the chitin in the shells of the seeds into chitinase.
The following spring seed again asap and this will prevent weeds and should choke them out. But don't water the grass because you want the ryegrass to die back before it's time to sling your fescue.
That fall simply start seeding the fescue in and the rye grass that is now dead will serve as aeration and feed for your rescue. It's always good to do a light overseed each fall to keep the carpet thick lawn. The enzymes can also activate dormant grass and will boost the established grass.
A couple of tips
- Don't use dolomite lime unless you know you're low on magnesium. Magnesium builds up in soil and can cause it to become compacted. This is why I like chicken manure. It contains a balance of magnesium along with other carbonates such as calcium that will prevent compaction and will help to keep pH balanced. Granite dust will work also. Don't overdo it. Maybe a dusting ever few years. I also saw calcite lime. Pure calcium carbonate.
- Spreading a little kelp meal or MBP will speed up germination and during extremely hot summer months spreading kelp meal will also protect your plants. (You can harvest algae from a pond and dry it out instead of kelp meal)
- If your soil is just terrible it's good to start with clover to get some nitrogen in the soil. If it's just downright crap I would recommend a compost layer the year before that to feed the clover enough to run.
- You can get a feel of how much nitrogen and minerals your soil has by sowing rye grass and clover together. If you end up with a dominance of clover you have carbon rich soil. If you end up rye grass dominant you have nitrogen rich soil. You can just let them be. They will work together to regulate the C:N ratio.
The seed in the picture below was thrown down a week ago.
Last edited:
