Ah, vindication! So nice! There are a few of us here, who are old farts, who believe that whatever ails you, you can cure it with a light shot of Milorganite. We're probably not totally right, but we sincerely believe that we're mostly right.

Keep applying the Milorganite. But KEEP THIS IN MIND....apply it lightly. In three weeks (yes, I know it's summer, but Milorganite won't burn the lawn) give it a half-dose, with your hand held whirley spreader.....keep up that walking pace, move right along, thank you. But a half dose, to be sure.

darn. before you know it, your lawn will be behaving just like a sod farm: that grass can't help itself...it will grow, it will crowd out weeds, it will be dark green, it will overcome everything except a concrete sidewalk.

Every two or three weeks, a light shot of Milorganite. Can it get any easier than that?

where can i purchse milorganite? did you apply it with a spreader? at what rate? does it need to be applied when it is going to rain or do i need to put the sprinklers on or just let nature takes its course?? it is a 3-day weekend, i need to add more to my schedule (haha)

Home depot and similar stores carry it. Just FYI it is a byproduct of sewage. That is the primary reason there a lot of us that don't use it because we're squeamish.

where can i purchse milorganite? did you apply it with a spreader? at what rate? does it need to be applied when it is going to rain or do i need to put the sprinklers on or just let nature takes its course?? it is a 3-day weekend, i need to add more to my schedule (haha)

Any big-box store like Home Despot or Lowes should have it in stock, and the stuff is phenomenal. I alternate grain feeding with Milorganite (I consider it organic, some do not because it was processed. Yeah, well, so was the ground grain I use).

You can apply it any time, even in the summer of our discontent with 100° temperatures; it will not burn the lawn. The only way to add too much is to smother the lawn and kill it that way.

It doesn't start to work until watered in and the scent is...kind of ripe. I don't mind it, but some do (I live a scant 200' downwind from cornfield which is typically fed with what comes out of the back end of the cow, so this stuff is nothing). Watering it in will stop that.

You don't need to water it in, though. Nature's taking her course is just fine if that's what you want to do.

Some will tell you that it contains Heavy Metals and You Are Poisoning Your Children And Our Delicate Environment. Well, it does and you are...just a lot less than a Scott's product where the filler is a complete unknown. Even natural grains contain the heavy metals they leached from the soil.

It meets the EPA's highest quality standard, so I don't worry about it. Even if it contained 100 PPM lead (it doesn't--47 is the listed value), you're adding around 20 lbs per thousand square feet (high feeding rate), or 47 PPM of 20 lbs or 0.001 lbs (slightly less) of lead (0.015 ounces) per thousand square feet. You'd have to eat a lot of dirt to get enough to hurt you.

There's information on the Heavy Metals link at this location if you want to see the amounts measured. Milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) is parts per million.

Now a warning. Don't expect instant results because the bacteria in the soil have to digest this down enough to make it available to the grass. A week is the standard delay that I see (with a healthy microherd). Ten days to two weeks is more likely if you haven't fed organically before.

You can use it on your flower gardens, too. They'll love you for it.

did you apply it with a spreader?

Sorry, missed this one. Yes, with my Scott's Standard Rotary set at 5 1/4 and I make two passes (for a major feeding) or set at 4 and single-pass (light feeding).

The instructions are right on the back of the bag.

Just FYI it is a byproduct of sewage. That is the primary reason there a lot of us that don't use it because we're squeamish.

True. The dogs have a bit of a poo out there quite often, so it doesn't bother me at all. Besides, grain rots in and that's kind of gross if you think about it, too. :-)

Besides, it's processed at high temperature to kill off all the nasty little critters that hang out in human feces. I've never had/never heard of anybody having a problem with it.

Morpheus - I'll run this question past you since you seem to have a good handle on the benefits of Milorganite. Last month I put down Greenviews Spring Fertilizer, 26-4-12. Would adding a steady, light diet of Milorganite be an added benefit to my lawn? Or would I be throwing good money after bad?
I also live in the Lehigh Valley so I figure our conditions are similar.

Would adding a steady, light diet of Milorganite be an added benefit to my lawn?

Yes.

:-)

With our heavier clay soil here in the LV, the organics help keep it from becoming a big, cracked mess in July. Also (but you should have a soil test to be certain) our soil doesn't require much phosphorous or potassium as it has ample amounts of both and holds onto it very well.

Since you sound like you gave it a good, heavy breakfast last month (I'm presuming about a pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet or so) you shouldn't have to feed it until week 8 after the last one. Even then, we're in June and I'd go very light.

If you irrigate regularly (I do not...I mostly don't have to any more), you can go with a regular feeding. This isn't a salt-based fertilizer, it won't burn, and if conditions aren't right the microherd isn't going to digest it until temperatures/rainfall improve.

You can use it for every feeding except the winterization feed--it's too cold by that time to be available for the lawn. There I break down and use Scott's Winterizer (ducking blows from the organic contingent).

Those are the rules for heavy clay from reclaimed cornfield. If you have a heavily prepared, lighter soil your mileage might differ a bit.

"Milorganite" has its own web site. It's quite interesting. They even have a video showing the process by which the stuff is produced. By the way, it's made up of you know what from the Milwakee sewage treatment plant. Nevertheless, you would not know where it came from when you open the bag. I've never detected any oder. I've used it around my hosta garden to keep the deer away. They can detect the human element in milorganite and it scares them off. My hosta garden is no longer bambi's salad bar.
So Milorganite has, in my opinion, some very effective uses. No more Scott's during the hot season for me