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I got a bag of it to try this year, only put it out a month ago so it may be a little early for me to say if it works or not.
Smells like chicken manure, it needs to be applied at a heavy rate so a bag doesn't go far.
Yes it's expensive...
Pitchcare is probably your best best, DJ turfcare import it and it's expensive getting it from them.
Jury is still out on the results.
Used it a few times - but overall not impressed - customers found the slow progress irratating and basically chased me to keep coming out and looking at it, no matter how much I explained it could take weeks to work. In 1 case i just scarified and fed a High N feed to get results quicker - this was 3 weeks after the treatment.
For the same cost you can get a good all round feed, grass seed and scarify out all the moss thatch etc, overseed and feed the lawn - and have visible results within 3-4 days... customers prefer this.
Hi David,
Interesting comments.
I'm not sure about the cost being comparable? One example is a 400sq mtr lawn that I would charge, perhaps, £60 per treatment for a couple of weed-and-feeds, which would need their kids to be kept off it. Scarifying would be a couple of hundred to do it properly, so they are in to at least £300 for a lawn programme that's using nasty chemicals and disrupts their use of the garden.
That's not even considering pets: my personal issue with lawn treatments as I have dogs. Kids can be taught to wash their hands, dogs lick their paws every time they have been on the lawn.
The idea of a product that could be used, say, three times a year, at a material cost of £180 for the 400 sq mtr lawn, plus simple spreading (an hour of my time) with no risk of staining, and there's no interruption for the home owner using the lawn?
Seems to me that it'd work out cheaper for the client, be safe, and easy to fit in without worrying abound their school holidays etc., when they want to use the garden.
If I can sell a treatment that saves the disruption and cost of scarifying and chemical treatments, that's a good thing. If the product works!
I'm thinking selling it in as no visible result in the first season, but with regular use there will be good results in year two and onwards? If it works faster, that's a bonus.
Paul McNulty said:
2 problems I have with mo bacter, for example you're buying it at trade from pitchcare at £25 (inc VAT) it's costing £0.14 per m2 if you're throwing it out at the recommended rate 115g per m2, it's expensive compared to the synthetics that are easily half the price per m2.
And you're still going to need those 'nasty chemicals' - herbicides on the lawn.
That's a nice way to sell it and something I may look at doing as a test next year before marketing it.
Where I had hoped to use it is on smaller lawns that can be tricky to get the scarfier round.
for a 400sqm lawn with Mo-Bacter I would charge Close to £100-120 as it it 2x the cost of a "conventional" treatment. As robbie points out, its the high treatment rate per M2 that combined with the higher price, kills it there.
I am not sure how you made any money on a 400sqm lawn with mobacter if you charged £60? It would have cost you close to £55-56 to do properly with Mobacter - and skimping on the application rate, with something so slow acting is not something I would do - its slow enough as it is!
The cost of conventional treatment would be under £8 giving scope for further treatment and quicker results.
Hi David,
My point is that I'd probably charge £60 for a conventional treatment on a 400 sq mtr lawn, whereas the Mobacter would cost that in materials alone. But, there wouldn't be the need for scarifying, so that cost is saved.
Overall it would seem to work out about the same cost to the client, perhaps a bit less, but the big benefit is they can use the lawn immediately, and it never looks blacked by a moss treatment, or scruffy after it's scarified. I can charge extra for the benefits, but of course that only works if the product is effective.
Seems not many people have tried it, so I guess I'll give it a go on a couple of lawns next year to get a better idea of the time it takes to work, and the results.
From what I've heard in the past it works best where there is frequent aeration.
When the lawn is not aerated enough the bacteria cant do its stuff properly.
I visited one of the lawns where I applied the Mo bacter today...
I could clearly see where it is eating the moss (blackening it) however there is a thatch layer that it probably will not erode, so I will have to keep an eye on it.
I plan on aerating the lawn next month with solid tines & will do a high FE winter feed on it in December and then in the Spring start back on the mo bacter.
A bit like you Paul, I plan on trying it out in a few different settings before starting to market it properly, as I believe there is a market for it although it may be a bit harder to sell as it's going to be more expensive from the get go... Even if it's cheaper long term ;)
Paul;
I suppose your on the nail their, it seems to perform wildly differently in different circumstances so it is something you need hands on exp of to make a call -
Personally I find customers are happy with the post-scarification mess as the results and recovery are within 2-3 weeks usually so its a very quick answer, and with long term good lawn care should not need to be done again.
Mobacter may work out cheaper longer term, but Im not convinced of it, as I dont think people would pay such a premium to premeptively treat lawn problems, in addition to their regular feeding programme.
Hi
I used MoBacter this year for the first time, I explained to customers that this was a new product and that I was encouraged by positive reviews on several sites. The requirement to not scarify - which itself can be quite expensive - was a major selling point but after application the lawns health improved significantly. OK, not as quickly as the chemically based high nitrogen feeds but over several weeks the lawns greened, thickened up and appeared much healthier generally. The lack of almost instant blackened moss patches was also a real bonus. I think it is important to manage customer expectations and explain pros and cons against traditional methods. Environmentally the product is much safer for pets and kids too. But a conversation with your customer is probably the best way to start - what is important to them, cost, environmental factors and safety, speed of greening? I intend to use it again next year as feedback has been 100% positive where used.