OK, now the rest of it. >>They really hide all the blemishes, even the big obvious ones where the trees were removed. Shh. That happens in every lawn photo. :-) >>-The 32 lbs of Mag-I-Cal is the total amount I put over the whole lawn. I know it's much stronger than standard calcitic lime. I think (hope) I did my calculations correctly. Good. I once accidentally overapplied 12 pounds per thousand to the gardens and watched the plants turn yellow. Calcitic shouldn't be applied at more than 9 pounds per thousand square feet at a time, with a minimum of 3 months between applications--and repeat only if pH is extraordinarily low. -I'll revise my Milorganite schedule to cut out the June and July feedings. I'm not sure about feed stores nearby, I'll have You certainly can if you wish, or not if you wish. While I tend to recommend against summer applications on healthy lawns, it's not exactly going to be a problem. Quite the opposite, and if you notice color fading badly in the summer sun, feed it. It might need the free iron. >>application. So basically for the same price I'd get more bang for my buck out of the soybean meal? I know dchall That does depend. The bag rate for Milorganite is 14.4 pounds per thousand. I generally recommend 20 to target 1 pound of available nitrogen per application (organic N does take a while to work in, so far less than that is initially available). For soybean meal, 1 pound of N per K is 15 pounds of soybean per thousand. So you're using three quarters the amount to do the same feeding job. If raising OM is your goal, neither soy nor Milorganite is technically your best choice. Cracked corn requires 60 pounds per thousand to supply the same 1 pound of N per K. Which means it's less likely to smell terrible at very high levels of application (decay scent is nitrogen compounds--less nitrogen, less smell, as a general rule and all else being equal). >>uses Alfalfa pellets, is there a reason you prefer soybean meal over alfalfa? Is Alfalfa more expensive in our region? For me, it's pricey. To get that 1 pound of N equivalent, alfalfa needs to go down at 50 pounds per thousand, more than three times the rate of soybean meal. Since it's about the same price, the nitrogen is three times as expensive. Northern lawns don't benefit--and actually can suffer delays--from too much alfalfa put down at once. 20 pounds per thousand per month is the maximum rate the guru I learned from recommended. >>-I definitely understand what you're saying about just spot spraying weeds. Seeing the amount of crabgrass that is popping up this year, though, By all means area spray if the problem is widespread in the area. Spot spraying is great, but sometimes clearing the deck initially is required. >>I think I still want to use a preemergent in the spring. I've spent several hours the past couple weeks pulling crabgrass and it's continuing to pop up faster than I can pull it. Pre-emergents are wonderful. I spray Prodiamine once a year for a 9 month shield. It's not perfect, but I'm also not complaining about 90% effective. I haven't pulled a weed from the stone patio in years. I don't have to. >>I expect improvement as my yard thickens, but one of my neighbors yard is 100% weeds, so I may always have a bit of a battle on my hands. You've seen my lawn? The lawns to the southwest, south, east, northeast, and north are weed pits. No worries, your lawn can outcompete any weed. With the possible exception of some of the Poa genus. >>-I've considered edging my driveway with some landscaping, but like the idea of the grass going right up to the edge of it, mainly to keep the mowing as simple as possible as ridiculous as that is. No problem! We all have our aesthetic preferences. >>Like dchall said I'll stick some tuna cans there the next time I water and see what's happening. I'll give it one more season and if I can't keep control of it maybe I'll throw in some landscaping. At the very least maybe an 8" border of light colored pavers will be enough of a buffer. Good plan. Keep in mind that areas bordering pavement may require watering more often. When I designed my irrigation system, I did it so that the south face of the driveway was zoned with other things that need more. Now if I'd remembered to do that on the north side...but no matter. I'll eventually turn that into another 20 square feet of garden attached to the gardens on either side of it. >>-I'll have to sneak out and chop off some of that pine tree. If the branches are over onto your property you have every legal right to cut them off at the property line. It might be impolitic to do so, however, so I fully support your decision to wear black and do this at 2 AM. Storm damage sometimes comes up so suddenly and takes off just a few branches, huh. >>The grass isn't totally barren, it looks fine from a distance, so I'm not at the point of giving up and mulching it yet. Also try feeding and watering it a bit more than the other areas of the lawn. Sometimes hard-pressed grass just needs a hand up. -I was afraid of that answer about the chipmunks. I do enjoy seeing them out there but they need to leave my plants alone! I'll try the Tabasco sauce, maybe line the base of the plants with chicken wire, stick a hose down their holes and the spread the cat litter. If they still persist, I think I may resort to the rat zapper. Looking it up, at least one site states that there are no repellents registered for chipmunks. However, it also says that any squirrel repellent will work on them. Sonic repellent device(s) might be another idea. -When I said "possibly with a slit seeder" that was my weak way of asking if that's a recommended method. I've never used one and I'm a little worried it's going to do some damage. Will I see much better results with that vs just using a broadcast spreader after aerating? You'll get great results with a slit seeder. I got great results broadcast spreading seed on the soil (no aeration, no raking, no preparation at all). Assuming this is in blank areas, topdressing with 1/8" of peat moss to hold some moisture might be a good idea. For general lawn transmission, that's unnecessary, expensive, and time consuming.

One advantage of home hydro is better control of food safety. Hydroponics allows you to eliminate or control vectors of food related illnesses (insects, animals, manure). As far as healthy produce, it is probably reasonably healthy. I think more work needs to be done in the area, however. Personally, I would have concerns with low grade chemicals with impurities, because if chronically ingested some would take a long time for symptoms to be exhibited. If there was a problem the average physician would not figure it out. Arsenic contaminants in low grade chemicals such as battery acids is one that concerns me. Another area not addressed is iodine & hydroponics. For example, there are certain "goiter belts" of the country in which individuals have low grade thyroid disease due to iodine deficient soil. Iodine is not added to nutrients  although there are some kelp formulations available.

"and I don't bother with tissue analysis." Then why did you quote this data to support your post? "It bothers me how much people are persuaded by pure verbosity without being given verifiable scientific references. You can find leaf analysis results for bell pepper plants, with references, here:" Because this "scientific data" rebuts someone else's observation/experience/post that you disagree with but don't use the data in your own? Why? "Generally, people should do more controlled experiments. Even I have a reluctance to do controlled experiments, but, at least, I feel guilty about it. But, I you want to do controlled experiments, I can make specific suggestions." So you don't do it but others should and you have suggestions how to? If you don't do it will you quote some scientific way from a site that has multiple authors who are given appropriate accolades other than yourself? "I am content with my hot pepper results," CONTENT? With all your unbelievable knowledge and scientific information you expound at your fingertips your results should blow the rest of us into the weeds! (Haven't seen you be humble to this point, don't start now!) "photographs posted in this forum." Lets see those pix you've posted at The Hot Pepper forum! I don't remember them? Links? NECM

I'll let you research our opinion of core aeration. Hint: I'm not a fan. And skip the compost, it's expensive, difficult to apply, a lousy feeding, and unnecessary to add bacteria, which float around on the wind for free. You can technically apply pre-emergent at any point as weeds will sprout continuously on well-irrigated lawns. However, it's best to get the shield up early to catch that first huge flush of spring-sprouting weeds. Overall, quality of even this well-cared-for lawn is fair at best. Fortunately, the soil test tells us exactly why this is and how to fix it, so let's explore further... EC 4.1: A very sandy soil. Your soil's going to shift quickly due to the low carrying capacity for resources, so plan on testing it yearly. OM 3.7%: Actually, this is well into the Fair range, but I'd like to get this up a lot higher due to your low EC as organic matter raises EC. Organic feedings, mulch mowing, mowing in all fall leaves, and so on will help here. It's not an emergency, just something to work on. Sulfur 77: Rather high, with little margin to play with. Fortunately, I don't need to do much playing and your sulfur levels are certainly not a problem. Phosphorus 9: So low it practically doesn't exist in your soil, which is seriously killing your lawn quality (and explains your neighbors' problems quite nicely). I've made recommendations below, but we're not going to finish this year. Target will be 200. Purchase the cheapest starter fertilizer as they'll all target about 1 pound per thousand square feet of phosphorus. Nitrogen levels are high enough to maintain your lawn beautifully. Calcium 46.0%: Very low, and a serious limiter of your lawn quality (again, this explains the neighbors'). Recommendations below. Purchase Encap or Mag-I-Cal lime as other limes aren't as strong, won't work as fast, and contain other elements that I don't want to be adding to your soil. Magnesium 9.1%: A little low, but nothing severe. Buy a nice large bag of Epsom salt at your local drugstore, in the bath or first aid section. Recommendations below. Potassium 6.5%: Exactly where it should be by the numbers, the percentage is a little over-inflated due to the lack of sufficient calcium in your soil. This will settle down after the calcium application. Minor Elements: Although I'd like to shift boron, copper, and zinc, there's so much going on this year that I'm going to skip it as I risk not having it stick very well. I mentioned iron below. Iron 49: Not deficient in the slightest, but not high enough to produce great color on the lawn. Any time you like, you can apply Milorganite to raise your iron levels (slowly) and add a little organic material to the soil. Recommendations: June 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. June 15: Apply 4 pounds per thousand square feet Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime. July 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. July 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet Epsom salt. August 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. September 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. September 15: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime. October 1: Feed at bag rate with starter fertilizer. October 15: Apply 1 pound per thousand square feet Epsom salt.