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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:50 pm 
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I am new to posting on this forum, though I have lurked for a while.

That said, I am trying to get on organic lawn program going at my new house. My new home has a 3/4 acre lot, and around 20K feet or so worth of lawn. That means I need to try and keep the cost of the fertilizers down, as I need a pretty good amount. I have been searching local feed stores for the various options mentioned here - soybean meal, cottonseed meal, etc. I happened upon one place where they gave me the option of "non-extruded" cottonseed meal for half the price of what I can only assume must be "extruded" cottonseed meal. Does anyone know the difference between these two options when it comes to fertilizing the lawn with them? I want to make sure if I go with this option because it is cheaper ($13 for 50lb as opposed to $23/50lb) I am not wasting my time.

Thanks!

Mike


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:52 am 
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First, read the label on the bags. The label will tell you the protein content. The more protein the better. Either one should be at least 6% protein.

Second, look at the products. You do not want intact seeds because they will grow cotton plants. Imagine how many cotton plant weeds you could be mowing if you applied at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The seeds should be ground into a meal.

Was that the least expensive material you could find? Did you price alfalfa pellets? Ordinary corn meal? Can you get used coffee grounds from a local coffee shop? These all go on at the same rate.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:16 pm 
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The issue is that I don't get to see the bags in question. The local feed store is able to get the product, but they don't normally keep it in stock. I don't want to waste their time procuring something I can't use, so I was hoping someone had run across this one before. It is supposed to be a meal, not the whole seed, just non-extruded, whatever that is. From what little I can tell, extrusion is some sort of heating process used to change the properties of the meal - I'm just not sure how the properties change!

As to it being the cheapest, it was on par with the others. I have pricing on alfalfa pellets, soybean meal and cottonseed meal. The extruded form of cottonseed meal was about double the cost of the alfalfa or soybean meal so far. I'm assuming the soybean meal would have the highest protein content of the three (and thus the most desired), all other things being equal?

As to the coffee grounds, I would be all for it, but I don't know how they store them, and I need about 200 pounds. :)

Thanks,

Mike


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:46 pm 
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RE coffee: some have arranged a deal with the coffee shop to bring in clean, Rubbermaid, plastic bins every day. The employees drop all the coffee and filters into the bin and the gardener hauls it away and replaces it.

At the feed store, just get the cheap stuff.

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