Tuesday, June 8, 2010
THE SMART WAY TO REMOVE YOUR LAWN MOWER BLADES
Yes, you can call the wife or the neighbor; and using pipes for leverage and two by four pieces of wood to prevent the blades from rotating, you will eventually get the blades off. But along the way, I guarantee that you will get filthy, tired and scraped.
I know, and that is why I invented the Mower BRAT (Blade Removal Assisting Tool). I now can remove blades in just a few minutes, with little effort, and by myself. The BRAT is built right here in the USA, imagine that? It is easy to use and the four feet long handles provide ample leverage for the biggest mowing decks.
In fact last weekend one of the wheel assemblies of my mower needed repair and I used one of the handles (which holds the ratchet) to unfasten impossibly tight nuts holding the assembly to the deck. The BRAT can be used for all sorts of applications requiring leverage.
So, simplify your life and put the BRAT to work for a change.
Labels: how to remove mower blades, lawn mower blade, mower blad removal tool, removing mower blade
HYDRETAIN PROVIDES RAPID UPTAKE OF NITROGEN IN PLANTS
If you already use Hydretain to reduce watering your lawn, you may have also noticed that your turf looks greener and healthier a few days after applying Hydretain. So what is happening?
In a recent trial with various vegetable plants, Hydretain was applied to 10’ long beds, directly on the soil (with 4 gallons of water to ensure penetration to the root zone). The soil was sandy and moisture was maintained with drip irrigation.
Plots were divided in 4 groups:
1. Control.
2. 2 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil- no other treatment.
3. 2 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil; and 3 tablespoon of calcium nitrate and a surfactant mixed with 250 ml of water applied to leaves the following day.
4. 4 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil and 3 tablespoon of calcium nitrate and a surfactant mixed with 250 ml of water applied to leaves the following day.
Plants were juiced the following day after foliar application of calcium nitrate; and nitrate levels were measured using a cardy meter. Since plants rapidly absorb nutrients through the leaves, it was no surprise to see a near doubling of nitrate in the plant with foliar applied nitrate fertilizer. But we had two surprises:
1. Nitrate levels of the plots with no foliar calcium nitrate, just the Hydretain in the soil showed an increase of nitrogen of 18% above the control.
2. There were no significant nitrate differences in groups 3 and 4. In other words, doubling the Hydretain concentration did increase the nitrate levels of group 4.
More samples were juiced the following day (two days after foliar fertilizer application). Here again we had another surprise:
· Nitrate levels in groups 3 and 4 remained at the same levels as the previous day, where as group 2 (with just Hydretain in the soil) dropped back down to control levels.
Usually when foliar fertilizer is applied, the nutrient content of the petioles and leaves usually drop by 50% - 100% within 24 hours of application. On the other hand, when nitrate fertilizer is applied to the soil, it takes several days for the nitrate content to peak in the plant, (depending on soil type, environmental conditions and soil moisture). In this case, by just applying Hydretain, we saw an immediate bump in nitrate levels. And a continued high nitrate level when foliar fertilizer was also applied.
We therefore highly recommend to apply Hydretain two days prior or with any foliar fertilizer applications. You will get the benefit of reducing water usage and more effective plant uptake of fertilizer.
In a recent trial with various vegetable plants, Hydretain was applied to 10’ long beds, directly on the soil (with 4 gallons of water to ensure penetration to the root zone). The soil was sandy and moisture was maintained with drip irrigation.
Plots were divided in 4 groups:
1. Control.
2. 2 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil- no other treatment.
3. 2 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil; and 3 tablespoon of calcium nitrate and a surfactant mixed with 250 ml of water applied to leaves the following day.
4. 4 fluid ounces of Hydretain applied to soil and 3 tablespoon of calcium nitrate and a surfactant mixed with 250 ml of water applied to leaves the following day.
Plants were juiced the following day after foliar application of calcium nitrate; and nitrate levels were measured using a cardy meter. Since plants rapidly absorb nutrients through the leaves, it was no surprise to see a near doubling of nitrate in the plant with foliar applied nitrate fertilizer. But we had two surprises:
1. Nitrate levels of the plots with no foliar calcium nitrate, just the Hydretain in the soil showed an increase of nitrogen of 18% above the control.
2. There were no significant nitrate differences in groups 3 and 4. In other words, doubling the Hydretain concentration did increase the nitrate levels of group 4.
More samples were juiced the following day (two days after foliar fertilizer application). Here again we had another surprise:
· Nitrate levels in groups 3 and 4 remained at the same levels as the previous day, where as group 2 (with just Hydretain in the soil) dropped back down to control levels.
Usually when foliar fertilizer is applied, the nutrient content of the petioles and leaves usually drop by 50% - 100% within 24 hours of application. On the other hand, when nitrate fertilizer is applied to the soil, it takes several days for the nitrate content to peak in the plant, (depending on soil type, environmental conditions and soil moisture). In this case, by just applying Hydretain, we saw an immediate bump in nitrate levels. And a continued high nitrate level when foliar fertilizer was also applied.
We therefore highly recommend to apply Hydretain two days prior or with any foliar fertilizer applications. You will get the benefit of reducing water usage and more effective plant uptake of fertilizer.
Labels: fertilizer, Hydretain, increase nitrogen uptake, nitrate, petiole nitrate levels, turf
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