Use Moss Control Product to Add Potash to My Lawn?
 

My lawn is significantly lack of potash according to soil test result
from local county extension office. But the soil also has too much
phosphate. I am looking for a way to add potash without raising
phosphate level in my soil, and do this cheaply. I cannot use regular
fertilizer that tends to always have not so small amount of phosphate.
I have a message thread about this called "How to Add Enough Potash to
Lawn in a Year?" not so long ago.

I find that there is a moss control product in Home Depot that has a
large amount of potash, and has no phosphate. This sounds great. But I
am wondering if it may hurt my lawn; afterall, I don't have moss
problem in my lawn.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

(Jay Chan) wrote:
My lawn is significantly lack of potash according to soil test result
from local county extension office. But the soil also has too much
phosphate. I am looking for a way to add potash without raising
phosphate level in my soil, and do this cheaply. I cannot use regular
fertilizer that tends to always have not so small amount of phosphate.
I have a message thread about this called "How to Add Enough Potash to
Lawn in a Year?" not so long ago.

I find that there is a moss control product in Home Depot that has a
large amount of potash, and has no phosphate. This sounds great. But I
am wondering if it may hurt my lawn; afterall, I don't have moss
problem in my lawn.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

You can use muriate of potash but the delivery rate is pretty
fast, so there's a burn potential. The moss control is a burn
off product soI'd beware of that too.

I'd go with the muriate, in small doses and only with cool
temps and irrigation.

--
Kerry toons http://tinyurl.com/5l6qu

You can use muriate of potash but the delivery rate is pretty
fast, so there's a burn potential. The moss control is a burn
off product soI'd beware of that too.

Thanks for the warning.

Seem like there is risk of burning the grass whichever way I choose.
Can I simply choose whichever product is available and apply either
one in cool temperature?

I'd go with the muriate, in small doses and only with cool
temps and irrigation.

Are you referring to "muriatic acid" (hydrochloric acid)? I haven't
heard this name before.

Jay Chan

Jay Chan wrote:
You can use muriate of potash but the delivery rate is pretty
fast, so there's a burn potential. The moss control is a burn
off product soI'd beware of that too.


Thanks for the warning.

Seem like there is risk of burning the grass whichever way I choose.
Can I simply choose whichever product is available and apply either
one in cool temperature?


I'd go with the muriate, in small doses and only with cool
temps and irrigation.


Are you referring to "muriatic acid" (hydrochloric acid)? I haven't
heard this name before.

Jay Chan

Muriate of potash (a dry fertilizer concentrate) is NOT muriatic acid (a
liquid ).

Eurocat wrote:



Jay Chan wrote:

You can use muriate of potash but the delivery rate is pretty
fast, so there's a burn potential. The moss control is a burn
off product soI'd beware of that too.



Thanks for the warning.

Seem like there is risk of burning the grass whichever way I choose.
Can I simply choose whichever product is available and apply either
one in cool temperature?


I'd go with the muriate, in small doses and only with cool
temps and irrigation.



Are you referring to "muriatic acid" (hydrochloric acid)? I haven't
heard this name before.

Jay Chan


Muriate of potash (a dry fertilizer concentrate) is NOT muriatic acid (a
liquid ).

It's been a half century since I had a chemistry class. But, as I
recall, "muriatic acid" is an old, obsolete name for hydrochloric acid
(HCl). And, I believe "muriatic acid" is not pure HCl, but is purposely
adulterated to prevent it from being used in a production line because
it is cheaper than pure HCl.

"Potash" is some sort of potassium (K), probably KNO3. So HCl and KNO3
will probably react to form KCl, potassium chloride ("muriate of
potash"?)you want for your soil, and HNO3 which will evaporate. I'm way
out on a limb here and hope I got it all right and didn't mislead anyone.

Frankly, I wouldn't mess with muriatic acid or muriate of potash. Just
buy standard garden fertilizers which have the N-P-K numbers that suit
your needs.

This whole thread is funny---------I am trying to figure out ways to kill
the grass in large areas of my lawn, and allow the moss to thrive. I am
going to increase the acidity and see if that doesn't kill the grass over
time. I LOVE moss and would be thrilled to have a lawn entirely of only
moss. Green, soft, and requires no mowing. It is somewhat delicate though
and I couldn't have is in the backyard where the dogs play.

Muriate of potash (a dry fertilizer concentrate) is NOT muriatic acid (a
liquid ).

Thanks for the explanation. I will search for it using that key word.

Jay Chan

Thanks for the explanation.

Frankly, I wouldn't mess with muriatic acid or muriate of potash. Just
buy standard garden fertilizers which have the N-P-K numbers that suit
your needs.

The problem is that my soil is already loaded with excessive amount of
phosphate, and most commonly available fertilizers always have some
amount of phosphate. I am afraid that if I use regular fertilizer to
increase the level of potash (like 10-10-10 or 21-5-11), I will end up
getting too much phosphate. This is the reason why I want to find a
way to add potash to the soil without also adding phosphate.

Jay Chan

Hey Jay, you're only taking an aspirin for the pain with that moss
away product. You'll need to address drainage, airflow, and lack
of sunshine, topsoil, and irrigation, if you really want to grow
turf-grass there.

I have a feeling that I might not have explained clearly in my
original post.

I don't have moss problem in my lawn and I am not against having moss
either. I am trying to use the moss control product not to control
moss, but to use its large quantity of potash (16%) to add potash into
the soil (if this is OK to do so). The good thing is that the moss
control product has large quantity of potash, but without any
phosphate (I have too much phosphate in my soil). It seems to be
perfect for me. However, I don't know if there is any downside of
using it in my lawn.

Jay Chan