Fescue blades turning yellow?? (lawn, fertilizer, yard, how to)

[wheelsup]

I've got a tall fescue lawn. It was fairly healthy until the last few days when the blades started to turn yellow. The only thing I applied was soybean meal and that was about a week ago. Wondering if that would turn the blades yellow?
What could case the yellowing? It appears as though large sections are now dying slowly.
















I can't figure out how to imped pictures, anyone know? For now just copy and paste I guess.

[underPSI]

Why would you put soybean meal on your yard? Aren't you supposed to till it into the soil for it to be effective?
I just did a quick search on it and saw the required amounts. That's insane! In order for it to be beneficial you'd have to spend several hundred dollars on the stuff if you have a yard any larger than .10 of an acre. Not trying to be offensive but the reason synthetic products were developed is because the natural stuff doesn't work. Try watering the lawn really well to wash that crap away and put out some fertilizer that works.
Also, the excessive thatch visible in the pictures are not a sign of a healthy fescue lawn. If the lawn was healthy it would be thick enough so you couldn't see the thatch.

[wheelsup]

Soybean meal applied at the rate of 10-15 lbs/1000 ft(akin to 1 lb/1000 for Nitrogen) actually is quite "cheap". $50/lb bags cost me $15. My lawn is around 2500 sq ft so a single application costs around $8-$10 which is much less expensive than the Scotts program.

The appeal of the organics is you are feeding the soil a "full course" meal vs. sugar that the synthetic fertilizer supplies. When Disney went to organics they watered 70% less.

Here is what the rest of my lawn looks like. Any other thoughts to the yellow blades? This is my first year on the organic program so it's not due to that.

[sarahkate_m]

i thought too much water made plants' leaves turn yellow. how about google?

Let me google that for you

good luck!

kate

[wheelsup]

I tried google but typed in "fescue blades turning yellow" which didn't bring up the same as your results did. Apparently its due to a lack of nitrogen, which is good news! The organic fertilizer takes 2-3 weeks to start working so if I don't see results by then I'll be back at sqaure one.

[harry chickpea]

Pee in a jug. Buy a hose end sprayer. Put the pee in the sprayer. Spray the lawn. Voila! Nitrogen that is organic as you are.

FWIW, fescue also dies back in the fall, and some bulk products can be contaminated with 2-4-D or glycophosphate.