Soap on lawn

15 years ago

I've read the posts that say one way to 'soften up' your soil and make it more receptive to deep watering (for example) is to spray soap on it using the typical feeding attachment on a hose. But how much should be sprayed per 1000 sq ft? Is there a common setting on these sprayers that works for soap.

Also would like to confirm that two applications a couple of weeks apart is a good starting point for trying this. Thanks.

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Comments (7)

dchall_san_antonio
15 years ago
Confirming what you have said.

I set the hose end sprayer dial so that it comes out foamy. Then I apply about 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Follow that with a regular (deep) irrigation to wash it in.
mondo
15 years ago
What type of soap?
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bpgreen
15 years ago
I've never done this, but from what I've read, something like generic baby shampoo is about the best.
texas_weed
15 years ago
Stop and learn something. You have to be extremely careful what kind of soap, in fact not soap at all as most dish soap has anti-bacterial agents and de-greasers in it which is a recipe for dead grass.

Several years ago when my youngest Son was going to college at OSU, he did a gas Chromatigraph on a product called Nitron A-35. What he found is it is flat stale dark beer, baby shampoo, and an enzyme found in human saliva. So we came up with a recipe that closely matched it.

1 bottle of stale dark beer. Open it up and let it sit out a few days.
1 cup of spit.
1 3-0unce travel bottle of Sauve or Johnson's tearless baby shampoo.

Place in a hose end sprayer and set dial to 1 TBLSP per gallon.
nearandwest
15 years ago
Lol. No thanks, I believe I will stick with the program that continues to work for me.

That gas Chromatigraph thingy......does that have anything to do with flatulation???

And finally..."1 cup of spit". That's a lot of spitting!!! I'll be there all night!! Can I just pee in a cup instead?
texas_weed
15 years ago
And finally..."1 cup of spit". That's a lot of spitting!!! I'll be there all night!! Can I just pee in a cup instead?

Well I suggest you buy a 6-pack of dark beer and drink 5 bottles of it and in the process spit in a cup after each slurp. Save the last bottle for the concoction. The other alternative is go to a health food store and buy a bottle of Yucca plant extract liquid. as it is the same enzyme but very expensive.

Or just buy a gallon bottle of Nitron A-35 for $40. I do not know if they even still make it or not.
nearandwest
15 years ago
Well, I tried to follow your advice, but had mixed results. After drinking 5 dark beers, I had a beer buzz and forgot about saving the sixth beer and drank it also. Meanwhile, spitting into the 16 oz. cup while drinking beer wasn't filling the cup fast enough, so I got Rupert to try and help me (big mistake). He decided to pee in the cup. When I told him he had killed all my enzymes, he poured out the cup onto Mrs. Filberts azaleas. Boy, is she gonna be mad!

So instead of going to the health food store for some cactus, we decided to go hang out with Louise at the Waffle House. Weed, you got any other bright ideas?