Hey @Joelack99! This is definitely a step in the right direction 
at this time, we don’t formally support or provide a fertilizer injection attachment. You’ll use the provided hose to apply with water from the spigot.
I go through and there is no way for me to order thrive. Please help me with this.
Website purchase is back online. There was a deployment issue. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience and business!
1 Like
Hi! I’m intrigued by Thrive and what it has to offer. My big concern is fighting the dreaded weeds. In my case, I fight dandelions and crab grass throughout the season. I did put down some Scott’s pre emergent this year to mitigate. Sadly, I also have neighbors that are not as picky so I have to control their invasion on both sides.
So my question is how does one integrate weed control with Thrive? Strategies other than the traditional “weed and feed”?
Thanks!
William
I’m interested in this, but a bit skeptical.
I can only water on Wednesday and Saturdays. Period, no exceptions.
I have my schedule setup this way, but Rachio often sends me emails to say, “we’ve updated your watering schedule due to the change in weather.” It suggests that it will run every 9 days instead of 7 for example. Since I have it fixed for Wed and Sat, it overrides this feature and runs as appropriate.
So if I purchase the Thrive package, is it going to recommend, “Apply this on Thursday night and Rachio will run the sprinklers on Friday!”
While giving Rachio full control to the schedule would be wonderful, it’s just not an option unless we can get a waiver from the City of Fort Worth.
So to summarize my question, how does it work with a fixed watering schedule?
Hey @wrz0170!
Great question! While Thrive doesn’t currently come with a weed control option ( 
), there is no harm in using Thrive now that you’ve already used a pre-emergent. We definitely encourage managing weeds in combination with using Rachio Thrive. However, we don’t recommend applying weed control and thrive on the same day.
Hey @ccbackus!
Great question as well! Thrive will work just fine with a fixed watering schedule, though it does thrive (pun intended) with a Flex schedule.
That makes sense.
I’d be interested in seeing a quick video walkthrough to show what the user experience is with the app when it’s enhanced with Thrive.
I may also reach out to the City of Fort Worth to see if they’ve considered any kind of waiver program for SMART Controller users. I actually got my Rachio for FREE from them. I attended a class with about 25 others, and did a couple follow up surveys, and that was it. They could also track my water use prior to and after installing the controller, so they know it’s saving water. However, it might make it complicated for code compliance to know who’s exempt…
1 Like
So, do I need to continue to use an additional, traditional, product as well? Or does Thrive provide all of the base nutrients, NPK, etc., that I will need? Better put; is this in addition to or in place of?
Thanks a lot.
So, I ordered my Thrive and received it yesterday. Activated it in the app today, and it doesn’t say when to apply the first bottle. It only says apply within 4 weeks and Lawn Championship recommended application is in 28 days… Does that mean I need to wait 28 days to apply bottle 1? If so, any reason why it’s 28 days?
Hi @BuckInNC,
Thrive doesn’t contain any NPK and isn’t a fertilizer. Instead, it enhances the uptake of the NPK already in your soil in two ways.
One, Thrive (Lawn Champion) is a microalge proven to greatly grow the number and increase the diversity of bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi in soil. This improved and diverse microbiome goes to work for your grass, bringing it nutrients that it may not have had access to before.
Two, when combined with our Flex schedules, your lawn grows deeper, more robust grass roots that work in concert with the enhanced microbiome to take in more of those locked up nutrients.
While we can’t promise that you’ll never need to add more NPK to your lawn in the future, our guess is you have a good amount to unlock right now. Nitrogen is usually the most volatile macronutrient and the one you may need to replenish at some point—although there are a number of regenerative ways to replenish N (like grasscycling and not overwatering) and limit the need for synthetics . We’re also currently looking at some plant-based options to offer our customers as an N supplement.
But to illustrate my point above, I thought I’d show you some data from both big ag and my backyard .
Here’s a soil test from my backyard in which I haven’t applied fertilizer in roughy 24 months.
Notice that my NPK is low, relative to what is assumed to be optimal for my lawn. I understand this is the correct optimization model if you don’t have a healthy microbiome and proper watering to take advantage of smaller amounts of NPK —the other side of the coin.
This is a picture from mid August last year of the lawn the above soil sample is taken from. I’m in Colorado and started the Thrive program in April.
And this is a picture of a 7” soil plug from this lawn (a little bit earlier in the season). You’ll notice roots at the bottom. Combing the microalge and our Flex schedule, I grew roots to more that 7.5” (KBG). And that root depth persisted through winter and remains at the level today as my lawn is coming out of dormancy.
Hopefully this is helpful to show how our ecosystem works together—enhancing the microbiome w/ our microalgae and your grass roots with our Flex schedules to make better use of the NPK you already have.
Also, from our microalgae grower, here’s similar data from the ag sector where N is less available and more needed by the plant.
6 Likes
Hey @MSG_Edmondson - can you let me know generally where you’re located (state is fine) so I can help give more insight? 
@laura.bauman I’m in Upper Marlboro Maryland
Thanks @MSG_Edmondson! The app notification is telling you that your first application window starts in 28 days. Another way of putting it, you have 28 days until you should apply Lawn Champion for the first time. You will have 10 days from that date to apply on time. 
Does this help?
1 Like
@laura.bauman Thanks. That helps. I was just eager to get started… didn’t expect to have to wait a month!
@MSG_Edmondson Haha glad to hear you’re excited
Just ordered, excited to give this a try. Curious, when it comes to application, how important is it to apply evenly?
I know with traditional spreaders for fertilizer, uniform application is really important.
1 Like
Woohoo!! Exciting to hear @FauxTony Uniformity is definitely important. We recommend applying by “painting” over your lawn with it.
Well, I just ordered 11,000sq ft worth of Thrive. 
Time to test this out!
2 Likes
Should I cut my grass before applying “Thrive”? And should there be any rain in the forecast up to 48 hours?
Thanks,
Mike