Different types of plants require different nutrition, hence should be fertilized accordingly. While centipede grass is known to require little fertilizer, you do need to provide the right type and amount of fertilizer so that it can grow healthy.
If you’re confused about what to feed centipede grass, this post will show you how to find the best fertilizer for centipede grass.
Here are the best fertilizers for centipede grass you can buy in 2024:
- Best Overall: Scotts Turf Builder Southern Triple Action Weed Killer
- Best For Summer: Advanced 16-4-8 Balanced NPK- Lawn Food Quality Liquid Fertilizer
- Best For Strong & Deep Roots: Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food
- Best For Newly Planted Grass: Espoma ELF20
- Best For Deep Greening: The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 Fertilizer
- Best For Longer Grass Carpets: Ferti-Lome Centipede Weed and Feed 15-0-15 20lbs
| 6 Best Fertilizers For Centipede Grass | ||
|---|---|---|
Best Overall | Scotts Turf Builder Southern Triple Action Weed Killer | |
Best For Summer | Advanced 16-4-8 Balanced NPK- Lawn Food Quality Liquid Fertilizer | |
Best For Strong & Deep Roots | Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food | |
Best For Newly Planted Grass | Espoma ELF20 | |
Best For Deep Greening | The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 Fertilizer | |
Best For Longer Grass Carpets | Ferti-Lome Centipede Weed and Feed 15-0-15 20lbs | |
Best Overall: Scotts Turf Builder Southern Triple Action Weed Killer
- High values – priced under $50 and a net weight of 27 pounds
- Long-lasting – tick for up to 6 months
- Multifunctional – the unique triple action formula
- Dollar weeds are a bit slow to disappear
The Scotts Fertilizer stands out from the competition due to its unique triple-action formula. In other words, it gives you three benefits at a time – built thick, green lawns; kill and prevent fire ants, and kill clover as well as dollarweed.
Each bag weighs 27 pounds, which is enough for big lawns up to 8000 square feet.
The best part is it ticks for over 6 months while the price tag is surprisingly competitive.
Our testers found that after a week’s use, their grass set deeper roots, which helped them greener and look healthier. On Amazon, lots of customers also leave compliments about its ease of application.
| Scotts Turf Builder Southern Triple Action Weed Killer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Size | 27 lbs. |
When to Apply | when the grass is dry |
Coverage | 8,000 sq. ft. |
Highlight Features | priced under $50 and net weight of 27 pounds tick for up to 6 months the unique triple action formula |
Whether you’re a beginner or pro gardeners, your lawn is big or small, Scotts Turf Builder Southern Triple Action Weed Killer is the best overall option for you.
Best For Summer: Advanced 16-4-8 Balanced NPK- Lawn Food Quality Liquid Fertilizer
- Reliable & offer pure, clean NPK liquid nutrients – made in the USA & use only premium ingredients
- Enhance soil - contains fish and seaweed
- Bang for bucks – 2.5 gallons of size for 32,000-square-foot coverage
- The bottle could be more quality
- It can stain concrete
This product is 100% made and manufactured in the USA while all the ingredients are high-grade to ensure the purest and cleanest NPK liquid nutrients.
Moreover, the formula is 4-1-2, which comes in handy for treating those lawns with Potassium, Phosphorus, and Nitrogen nutrient deficiencies as well as offering an established lawn with key nutrients.
Those gardeners who want to
It also contains seaweed and fish to enhance the soil.
This product gives you two size choices – 1 gallon and 2.5 gallons. For commercially industry-grade turfs, we suggest going for the 2.5 gals. as it saves you about $20. Besides, each bottle is enough for up to 32,000 square feet.
| Advanced 16-4-8 Balanced NPK- Lawn Food Quality Liquid Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Fertilizer Analysis | 16-4-8 Balanced NPK |
Size | 2.5 Gallons |
When to Apply | when the grass is dry |
Coverage | 32,000 square feet |
Highlight Features | made in the USA & use only premium ingredients contains fish and seaweed 2.5 gallons of size for 32,000-square-foot coverage |
For those who want to take advantage of nutritional supplements for their grassland during summer, the Advanced Liquid Fertilizer is worth investing in.
Best For Strong & Deep Roots: Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food
- Enhance water and nutrient absorption + reduce the stress caused by weather and activities - Scotts exclusive All-in-One Particle technology
- Not burn grass leaves - Safe and pure ingredients
- Easy to use – able to be applied any time, any season
- Slightly overpriced
Due to its 32-0-4 N-P-K rating, we confidently suggest the Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food for those gardeners who want their grass to build stronger and deeper roots.
The highlight point of this fertilizer is Scotts’ exclusive All-in-One Particle technology. This application gives turfs two solid benefits – enhance water and nutrient absorption of grass while relieving the stress caused by weather and activities.
Safe and pure ingredients make it not burn your grass leaves.
Another bonus is that it’s very easy to use. Gardeners can apply this fertilizer at any time in any season.
| Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food Specifications | |
|---|---|
Fertilizer Analysis | 32-0-4 N-P-K rating |
Size | 12.5 lb. |
When to Apply | any time, during any season |
Coverage | 5,000 sq. ft. |
Highlight Features | Scotts exclusive All-in-One Particle technology Safe and pure ingredients able to be applied any time, any season |
If your goal is building lawns with strong, deep roots without burning their leaves, the Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Food will never let you down.
Best For Newly Planted Grass: Espoma ELF20
- Eco-friendly – organic ingredients
- Long-lasting effects & up to 4x larger coverage than other natural lawn foods
- It smells
For those newly planted lawns, we highly recommend the Espoma ELF20.
Its formula is very light, 18-0-3 N-P-K rating, which won’t burn your grass which is still weak. Meanwhile, the amount of each nutrient is reasonable to help them green right up after only a few days of application. The efficiency also lasts really long.
Organic 100% so it’s safe for the environment, too.
The best part is it offers up to 4x larger coverage than other natural lawn foods at the same size, which bangs for bucks.
| Espoma ELF20 Specifications | |
|---|---|
Fertilizer Analysis | 18-0-3 formula |
Size | 20 lb. |
When to Apply | All-season |
Coverage | 5000 square feet |
Highlight Features | organic ingredients 18-0-3 formula |
Out of a bunch, the Espoma ELF20 did a great job greening and thickening newly planted grass without leaving any side effects on the environment.
Best For Deep Greening: The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 Fertilizer
- Lasts all spring
- Improves the green color
- Expensive
If your centipede grass turns to yellow, it is lacking nitrogen. You need to provide it with this nitrogen that is an essential component of chlorophyll. This pigment is responsible for the green color of your grass. This product has 16-4-8 NPK ratio with the highest amount of nitrogen, so it can improve the green color of your centipede grass.
| The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 Fertilizer Specifications | |
|---|---|
Fertilizer Analysis | 16-4-8 |
Size | 40 lbs |
Highlight Features | Super fine particle Slow release and feeds for up to 8 weeks |
The Andersons Professional PGF Complete 16-4-8 Fertilizer is formulated for plants which are lacking nitrogen.
Best For Longer Grass Carpets: Ferti-Lome Centipede Weed and Feed 15-0-15 20lbs
- Multifunctional: feed lawns & kill weeds - 15-0-15 rating formulated with Trimec
- Economical – 20 pounds’ size for 5000-square-foot coverage
- Long-lasting – contain slow-release Nitrogen ingredient
- Kill weeds slowly
This 2-in-1 fertilizer not only feeds your lawn but is also formulated with Trimec to kill 200+ types of weeds (such as Spurge, Henbit, Plantain, Knotweed, and so on).
Each 20-pound bag is spreadable up to 5000 square feet of lawn, which is perfect for ultra-long grass carpet. Due to the slow-release Nitrogen ingredient, this fertilizer only needs to apply twice a year, which is budget-friendly.
| Ferti-Lome Centipede Weed and Feed 15-0-15 20lbs Specifications | |
|---|---|
Fertilizer Analysis | 15-0-15 |
Size | 20lbs |
When to Apply | early in the morning |
Coverage | 5,000 sq. ft. |
Highlight Features | 15-0-15 rating formulated with Trimec 20 pounds’ size for 5000-square-foot coverage contain slow-release Nitrogen ingredient |
For longer grass carpets, the Ferti-Lome Centipede Weed and Feed 15-0-15 20lbs is hard to beat.
How To Choose The Best Fertilizer For Centipede Grass?
Types
Liquid fertilizer is one of the most common types of fertilizers, either sold ready to use or to be diluted with water.
You can spray it into leaves or mix with irrigation water. This type consists of a synthetic mix of essential nutrients including phosphorus, nitrogen, iron, and potassium. It’s commonly used for home gardens.
Another popular choice is granulated fertilizer.
Granulation refers to forming substances in granules, which can be 0.2-4.0 centimeters in diameter depending on your specific use. It lasts longer as it’s absorbed more slowly and you have to fertilize less regularly.
Elements Included and the Ratio
The best fertilizer to apply on centipede grass must contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, which is highly concentrated.
Besides, it dissolves quickly and is absorbed quickly from the soil as well.
These three elements benefit in different ways. Nitrogen helps leaves grow, potassium is beneficial for plant health, and phosphorus is good for production.
In terms of the ratio among these elements, the most common ratio is 5-5-5, which will provide plants with the necessary nutrients for healthy growth. However, you should conduct a soil test to determine the suitable ratio for your garden.
Once you’re done that, you can look at the packaging of the fertilizer to find the ratio you need.
For instance, a 100kg pack of fertilizer shows a 5-7-4 ratio, it has 5 kilograms of Nitrogen, 7 kilograms of phosphorus, and 4 kilograms of potassium.
The other weight consists of other elements like manganese, copper, magnesium, boron, zinc, sand, ash, water, etc.
Which Brands Make The Best Fertilizer For Centipede Grass?
Advanced Nutrients
Over the past decade, this brand has focused on revolutionizing plant nutrients. It offers fertilizer with unmatched quality for you.
Espoma
Founded in 1929, this brand has built a reputation in the fertilizer industry for delivering quality organic products.
Andersons
Combining technology and expertise, this brand offers high-quality products in the agriculture market. With 70 years of experience in the business, it will surely meet any requirement for your garden.
FAQs
Does centipede grass need fertilizer?
Yes, just a little but centipedegrass does require fertilizer.
How often should I fertilize centipede grass?
You should fertilize centipede grass once in mid-spring, then once in mid-summer with the slow-release type that dissolves in 6-8 weeks.
When to fertilize centipede grass?
You should fertilize centipede grass in mid-May, specifically a few weeks after the green-up period and before the temperature reaches 85 degrees F.
How to fertilize centipede grass?
You can fertilize centipede grass by either spraying directly on the leaves or mix into the soil.
How do I make my centipede grass thicker?
The easiest thing to do is watering your grass. You also need to fertilize it properly. In addition, make sure you get rid of weeds that compete with the grass carpet on the lawn using selective herbicides.
Conclusion
Through this comprehensive post on choosing the best fertilizer for centipede grass, we have high hope that you will be able to buy the perfect product easily and quickly.
After having the right fertilizer, also remember to take care of your grass properly to get the best result. Good luck!
Harry RamosI’m Harry Ramos, who's crazy about all things green. I’m here to share some experience in my gardening adventure and how to choose the best products for your garden. Let's dig in, get our hands dirty, and celebrate the simple, earthy pleasures of the garden together!
