[1lawnboy]

Im tired of spending so much money on Scott's products. Does anyone know of another brand that does a good job? Scott's prices just go up and up every year. It does work well, but Im ready to try a cheaper alternative for this year. Any suggestions?

 

[Cat385B]

I can't suggest another alternative for fertilizer, unless you want to purchase by the ton.

But I can say Scotts is just following the market. Fertilizer, in general, has gone up in price every year for the last 12 years. Some years, the price increase has been double digit % increases.

Contacting a local Ag Co-op might be an alternative. Never know, they might let you walk in with a five gallon pail. But that would be a straight fertilizer, not something that has a herbicide coated on the grains.

 

[kentucky wildcat]

Definitely try the ag store route. Southern States is usually big throughout our states and will have 50# bags available. They will probably even have a product to compare with the "one coverage" brand names that should be a bit cheaper.

Keep in mind that a large part of the cost is petroleum related. The fertilize cost has followed the crude oil prices. Ask your county extension agent about any organic waste alternatives. When I was younger we used some waste that was sewer district solid waste that was burned to remove pathogens and such. There was no adverse odor, the product was a dry powder, and really did a good job for our application.

Let us know what you find.:fing32:

 

[LilysDad]

Scott's has always been high priced. My Dad ran a Monsanto fertilizer plant. The fertilizer components were brought in by the train car and mixed at the plant to different proportions. I think much of the fertilizers offered come from the same source, other than specialty items like Osmocote.
Yes, he offered fertilizer in 50 lbs. bags for yard and garden.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Scott's has always been high priced. My Dad ran a Monsanto fertilizer plant. The fertilizer components were brought in by the train car and mixed at the plant to different proportions. I think much of the fertilizers offered come from the same source, other than specialty items like Osmocote.
Yes, he offered fertilizer in 50 lbs. bags for yard and garden.

We have a fert plant right down the road from me. I havent checked yet, but I realy should on there prices. Its less then a mile away... I could walk there.

IMHO a lot of the price of Scotts brand comes from the marketing.

 

[Mighty Dodge]

I'll second Southern States.

 

[Cat385B]

IMHO a lot of the price of Scotts brand comes from the marketing.

They certainly have the market cornered around here at retail outlets. Menards, Home Depot, and Lowes all carry Scotts.

 

[D-Dogg]

They certainly have the market cornered around here at retail outlets. Menards, Home Depot, and Lowes all carry Scotts.

But for the homeowner growing a lawn, they do provide a value. As mentioned, the herbicide, and the proportions in the mix are easy for us to deal with.

Seriously, would the average homeowner know the difference between 8-8-8, 20-20-20, 16-4-8 and 27-10-12?

 

[gravely-power]

If I spent Billions a year in advertising for my natural animal sh_ _ fertilizer I would put Scotts in bankruptcy . You need to learn what the three digit nomenclature means.

 

[APinNY]

I have seen cheaper brands renently in smaller garden centers, Tractor Supply and some franchised Ace Hardware stores.

Many years ago I tried cheaper alternatives but they just didn't produce the same result as Scott's. I also like their no-quibble guarantee, and they have excellent customer service.

 

[Artpb]

Try some Milorganite, made from biosolids. I used it at my last house, never used anything else and had good results. Once every 3 years I put it down, lime every 5 years or so. Admittingly had dandelions and clover but had the greenest lawn in July and August without ever watering.

I don't want rant but Scotts and other fertilizer companies harm the local environment at least when it comes to lawn care. All those chemicals end up in the lakes and around here Long Island Sound. Algae loves this stuff.

A little research and you can go organic very easy and very cheap. May take a few years to build up the soil but doable.

I know in some neighborhoods your neighbors would look down on you if you had a blade of grass out of place.

How much do people spend on a acre of lawn to fertilize, couple of hundred I bet with the four step system.

 

[1lawnboy]

Try some Milorganite, made from biosolids. I used it at my last house, never used anything else and had good results. Once every 3 years I put it down, lime every 5 years or so. Admittingly had dandelions and clover but had the greenest lawn in July and August without ever watering.

I don't want rant but Scotts and other fertilizer companies harm the local environment at least when it comes to lawn care. All those chemicals end up in the lakes and around here Long Island Sound. Algae loves this stuff.

A little research and you can go organic very easy and very cheap. May take a few years to build up the soil but doable.

I know in some neighborhoods your neighbors would look down on you if you had a blade of grass out of place.

How much do people spend on a acre of lawn to fertilize, couple of hundred I bet with the four step system.

Interesting. There is a local store that does carry the Milorganite. Ill look into it. I have tooled around different stores, have tried different things in the past. I know scott's stuff is good, Im not knocking it. The difference in scotts that is most noticable to me is the small, and tacky granules. Not many others I have tried had that texture. I dont know if they have a patent on the stuff or what, but I cant find anything that resembles it. The price is just getting out of hand for me.

After looking at the Milorganite, it looks like you have to use a lot of it according to the application guide. One 36lb bag does 2500sqft. I have about 10,000 sqft. I dont know the price of this, but Id need 4 bags for one application. Not sure that is going to be cost effective when doing this 4 times a year (according to the application chart). Ill have to see if the local store carrys the 50lb bag, that would help. From the internet search, looks like the 50lb bag runs about $14 x 3 = $42. Not too bad.

 

[LilysDad]

When I was younger we used some waste that was sewer district solid waste that was burned to remove pathogens and such.

Sewer waste usually has a high heavy metal content. It's fine for the yard but, not good for the garden.

Seriously, would the average homeowner know the difference between 8-8-8, 20-20-20, 16-4-8 and 27-10-12?

If they don't they are likely to burn their yard.

 

[nkaust]

i buy the cheapy 10-10-10 from lowes and my wood ash for a lime substitute. i separate the carbon and ash. i use the carbon (black stuff) as a fire starter and the ash (grey stuff) as the lime substitute. the ash goes in one of those 30 gallon trash cans. and then in spring and halfway through summer i give a dash of fertilizer and a dashof ash and i get the pretty lime green yard lol

 

[rockford]

What exactly makes Scotts better than the others? One Home Depot employee that also does yard care told me Scoots isn't better than the others, but Scotts seems to be used by people that take better than average care of their lawn anyways, ie: watering, aerating, etc.

 

[APinNY]

Scott's claims they use no fillers (inert ingredients) in their fertilizer, and that other brands contain up to 40% fillers. I don't know if that's completely true but as I stated before, it just works better. :dunno:

 

[LilysDad]

Others may use fillers as a means of making it easier to spread. I've been using the weed and feed in a hose end sprayer. mostly because I got a deal on some.

On the subject of yard fertilizing, I've read and it makes sense, that fertilizing in the spring with a high nitrogen fertilizer is a waste of money. All it does is make the grass grow fast and create more mowing. Fertilizing in the late summer with 18-18-18 grows the grass roots.

 

[Chagrin]

Scott's claims they use no fillers (inert ingredients) in their fertilizer, and that other brands contain up to 40% fillers. I don't know if that's completely true but as I stated before, it just works better. :dunno:

The NPK numbers are by weight so fillers or not it really doesn't matter. Scotts' 10-10-10 is still going to have the same "potency" as any other 10-10-10.

 

[Chagrin]

On the subject of yard fertilizing, I've read and it makes sense, that fertilizing in the spring with a high nitrogen fertilizer is a waste of money. All it does is make the grass grow fast and create more mowing.

The reason for a spring feeding is to thicken up the turf before the weeds start sprouting. I'm sure you've noticed that weeds always fill up any bare spots in your yard, but more generally the best defense against weeds is a healthy turf.

 

[LilysDad]

The best defence against weeds is to not cut your grass so short.