09/1/2005
Turbo Turf announces new "Hybrid" units with both jet and mechanical agitation.  The new units combine the best of both.

1/1/2005
Turbo Turf releases new slide in salt spreaders with poly hoppers.

03/15/2004
Turbo Turf adds new pull type units in 300, 500, 750 and 1000 gallon sizes.

11/16/2003
Turbo Turf introduces new dual engine units in 750, 1000 and 1600 gallon sizes.  Now twice the mixing action and great spray power.

We put Plant Marvel Hydro seeding Fertilizer to the Test

Well even though actual university tests indicate that our new water soluble Nutriculture Seed Starter fertilizer 16-45-7 would improve germination by 15 to 40% We wanted to do a little testing ourselves.  

We tried two tests.  For our first test, we set up a small area beside our factory as two test plots.  For our second test, we  seeded a house with regular fertilizer in the load we used for the front lawn, and Nutriculture used in the load for the back yard.   Unfortunately the photo lab ruined roll of film we used on the day we seeded, so we have to settle for these photo's we took 4 days after seeding.

In a 300 Gallon HS-300-XPW

Load 1, Two bales National Fiber Mulch, 12 pounds of SCOTTS granular 16-28-10 starter fertilizer, 30 pounds of Penn State Mix seed.

Load 2, Two bales National Fiber Mulch, 4 pounds of Nutriculture Seed Starter water soluble fertilizer 16-45-7, 30 pounds of Penn State Mix seed.

How we really did our test was to mix a load using the regular Scott's granular starter fertilizer in a Turbo Turf HS-300-XPW and spray one of the test sites at the side of our building.  We then went to the job site and seeded the front lawn.   We then mixed up another load using the Nutriculture Seed Starter and sprayed the back yard.  We then came back and sprayed the other test plot.  The Scott's plot was sprayed about 10:30 in the morning and The Seed Starter plot was seeded about 3:00 in the afternoon,   The Scott's actually had a little head start.  Both plots were seeded May 5th, 2000.

We started to notice some germination on May 9th, a little more noticeable on the Seed Starter side.  We are posting our first photo's taken on May 10th.   We have germination on both test plots.  The growth is still very thin but this is about 4 days and 21 hours after seeding.  There are blades as tall as  one half inch on the Scott's side (right photo), and as tall as one full inch on the Seed Starter side, (left photo).   The thickness of the blades are more than double on the Seed Starter side, and the number of visible seedlings is about double on the Seed Starter side.   

Here are some photo's from  from the residential property that was the other part of our test.   These photo's of the property were taken May 9th, 4 days and two heavy rains after we seeded.   The color of the mulch has faded, but the mulch is still holding in place excellently.   We will be watching our test areas closely and invite you to stop back often to follow our progress. 

On May 12 we took a survey of everyone we could find, and asked for their opinion of the two test plots at the side of our building.  The vote was 9 to 0 in favor of the seed starter fertilizer.  The added bonus was that one of the independent people was a pesky salesman who now thinks we are crazy and may never come back.  The two photo's shown here were taken on May 15th.  This is 10 days after being seeded.  The Scott's  granular fertilizer is on the left, and the seed starter on the right.

We also took some photo's at our second test site, the lawn,  on May 15th.  I parked across the street from the house and walked over and looked at the front lawn.  I was pleased to see good germination on the front lawn where we used the Scott's granular fertilizer.   Now before I go any further, I want to say that I started this test being a little skeptical.   I just always thought that fertilizer was fertilizer, and as long as you had a good starter fertilizer in the mix, you would have good results.   Being very happy with what I saw on the front lawn, I went around the side to see how the back yard had turned out.  As I turned the corner, it is accurate to say that my mouth fell open.  The back yard basically a lawn.  There was no comparison between what I saw in the back and what I saw in the front.  The Third photo is the best angle I could get that showed a little of both the front and rear in the same photo.  

We have concluded our testing.  The first photo shows the two test plots.   The grass is about 1" taller and a deeper green in the Nutriculture test plot. 

The next photo on the right is the front lawn of the test house.  The lawn has come in well.  This was the Scott's granular fertilizer used in the front.   The photo on the lower right shows the back yard.  This was the Nutriculture seed starter special fertilizer.  The grass appears to be about 1/2" to 1" taller than in the front, and is a darker green in color.  These two photo's were taken bout one minute apart.

The tests we did were as accurate and fair as we could do.  There are factors that could affect the results.   Regardless, I came away impressed with Nutriculture Seed Starter Fertilizer.  I think there is something to the idea that soaking the seed in a nutrient rich solution speeds up germination and growth.  I plan to use Nutriculture Seed Starter whenever I seed.