I normally apply a traditional bag fertilizer to my lawn several times a year with good results. However, I was really excited to try Thrive early in the growing season. I ordered it and have applied it exactly per instructions, but the results have been very disappointing. My lawn (St. Augustine) was not nearly as green and lush as it normally is and I’ve spent quite a bit more in the process. I actually couldn’t tell that any fertilizer product had been applied at all, so I won’t be purchasing it again. Stick to the stuff that you do well; i.e a smart irrigation controller.
My Thrive experience is much the same. 4 applications for my lawn, and I can’t really tell the difference regular fertilizer and Thrive. Although Thrive was more of a pain to apply and more expensive. The bottles really only emptied about 3/4 of the way no matter what did, and the product application was definitely uneven; the first half of the bottle applies much faster than the second half. I never did use that little plug in the end of the applicator because it was obvious to me that it would not work well with the thickness of the Thrive solution. So I ended up rotating the start of the applications around so that all parts of the lawn would eventually get the same amount. With the wasted amount in the bottle x 4 applications, that comes out to about $60 in the bottle that could not be applied.
I did the experiment, my lawn looks OK but next year back to normal fertilizer.
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Yep, I agree that the application is uneven as well. Last time I applied it, I had gone over almost the whole lawn before I realized that the applicator was clogged and I was basically spraying water.
I’m holding out judgment at this point. When I asked some questions about the product, it seemed as though the Thrive is more of a soil conditioner that made for healthier soil conditions, which would allow for better utilization of water and nutrients. They mentioned that this wasn’t necessarily a replacement for traditional NPK fertilizers. I didn’t apply any additional fertilizers this year, and my lawn looked as good as years past.
The one thing that I think I can confirm is that my soil is draining better. We have flood irrigation here that covers much of my grass areas and prior to thrive it would take a couple days for the water to soak in. This last irrigation schedule, I got water at 2am, and by the time I got home from work at 5pm, all but one small area had completely soaked in. Here is when I left for work that morning…by the time I got home, all that had soaked in.
You know, I’ve had different results. My yard has been looking really good. I don’t have St Augustine, I’ve got Kentucky bluegrass and a clay or clay loam type of soil.
I wonder if it’s based on the type of grass and the type of soil?