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 Post subject: Lawn Problems
PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:48 am 
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I have been trying to go organic this year to protect my dogs. I have a number of problems like rampant Grey Leaf Spot and now the seasonal Brown Patch. I have dumped 120lbs of Hort. Corn Meal on the lawn 5 times so far with little effect. I had to resort to expensive fungisides like Heritage, Compass, Banner Maxx, and Immunox in order to save the yard from the fungus as the corn meal is just too slow.
I had a study of my soil done at Texas A&M because I thought I might have at least a pH problem which was also inhibiting these fungisides. The report came back with a universal 7.7 on the pH and they wanted me to fertilize as I was slightly deficient in nitrate and phosphorous.
I won't use regular fertilizer again due to the GLS. What is the besy organic alternative I can use? I don't have a weed problem. I have seen this Medina advertised but is there something else to use for this time of year in SE Texas. I'm not too fond of this poultry manure thing, the dogs might eat it.
Organic is pretty expensive. The products aren't that high but the cost of shipping is just as much.


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 Post subject: Re: Lawn Problems
PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:05 pm 
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Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
120 pounds should cover 6,000 square feet. Is that what you have?

The best one to use is the one you can get nearby. I use corn meal because I can get it at any of 5 feed stores nearby. You can get free USED coffee grounds from Starbucks if you drive by one of those.

I've never had any luck with chemical fungicides in Texas. If you read the label carefully, the only time the environment is exactly right (temperature, rainfall, humidity, etc.) is on January 17 and I don't have any problems on that day. Every other day it is too hot or too wet. Corn meal is my salvation.

If you had bad luck with corn meal, I would suggest applying compost. If you have use commercial fungicides, your soil needs the compost anyway, but compost is sure to have the beneficial fungi you need for the corn meal to work. Coffee grounds also support those beneficial fungi so that might help you.

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 Post subject: Re: Lawn Problems
PostPosted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:33 pm 
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Well good point-I can't remember any problems in January either. My problem is nearest cornmeal I've found has to be shipped. I'll keep looking. What kind of compost? A commercial?

[[/color]quote="Dchall_San_Antonio"]120 pounds should cover 6,000 square feet. Is that what you have?

The best one to use is the one you can get nearby. I use corn meal because I can get it at any of 5 feed stores nearby. You can get free USED coffee grounds from Starbucks if you drive by one of those.

I've never had any luck with chemical fungicides in Texas. If you read the label carefully, the only time the environment is exactly right (temperature, rainfall, humidity, etc.) is on January 17 and I don't have any problems on that day. Every other day it is too hot or too wet. Corn meal is my salvation.

If you had bad luck with corn meal, I would suggest applying compost. If you have use commercial fungicides, your soil needs the compost anyway, but compost is sure to have the beneficial fungi you need for the corn meal to work. Coffee grounds also support those beneficial fungi so that might help you.[/quote]


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 Post subject: Re: Lawn Problems
PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:14 pm 
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Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
Where do you live? Unless you put your location in your profile, we can only guess. Since this is a Dallas based forum, that's my first guess. My corn meal is shipped from Dallas.

An alternative to horticultural corn meal is to look in Mexican grocery stores. They have it packed in 25 and sometimes 50 pound bags. Be sure you are getting only pure ground corn. The Mexican markets also sell a product like Bisquick with all the baking powder and soda and stuff needed to make tortillas - just add water. You don't want that for your garden.

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