Apply Jump Start to sod, grass, lawn or vegetable soil every 60–90 days to improve the soil's cation exchange capacity and overall soil structure. Choose the type of sprayer that is most helpful to you: the bottle or hose end sprayer.
Lawns & Sod
Apply 8 ounces of Jump Start per 1,000 square feet at a 1:20 product to water ratio. Apply with our sprayer quart or a sprayer of your own.
For troubled areas, apply 10–12 ounces per 1,000 square feet for short periods of time to yield rapid improvements. If you're using our sprayer quart, connect the quart to your garden hose and set the dial to a 1:20 product to water ratio.
Water after application for best results.
Flowering Plants
Apply 2 ounces of Jump Start per gallon of water. Apply with our sprayer quart or a sprayer of your own.
Wet the plants down completely, letting the soil get damp to at least 6 inches.
Shrubs & Trees
To use Jump Start as a root drench for established shrubs and trees, apply 5 ounces of Jump Start per gallon of water. For best results, apply at the leaf drip line with the most active root systems.
For smaller shrubs and young trees, apply 3 ounces (4 tablespoons) of Jump Start per gallon of water.
As a foliar spray, we recommend 2 ounces of Jump Start per gallon of water. Wet both sides of the foliage.
Fertilizer Programs
Looking to switch to an organic fertilizing program for the health of your plants and the environment?
After you start using Jump Start, fertilize with your regular program for the first 60 days. Slowly reduce the use of fertilizer to 50% of the original dosage.
*Jump Start is not a fertilizer. It is a natural soil amendment that maximizes your other inputs. For an organic fertilizer, check out our FertALive Liquid Humic Acid Organic Fertilizer.
Jump Past Traditional Soil Conditioners
Unlike traditional soil conditioners, Jump Start uses organic matter and beneficial microorganisms to improve soil health and accelerate plant growth—without the use of harmful chemicals.
Through humic acid, beneficial microbes and organic matter, this liquid soil amendment improves soil nutrient retention, assists in root growth and helps core aeration—even for compacted soil. Jump Start is a solution for compacted soil that needs aeration and gardens, lawns and plants that need more nutrients and growth.
Benefits of Organic Soil Conditioners
One of the biggest benefits of using organic soil conditioners is that no harmful chemicals are included. This means that lawns, grass and gardens are safe and healthy throughout the roots, soil and plants.
Organic soil conditioners are powered by organic materials as opposed to synthetic chemicals. Many homemade soil amendments include peat moss, animal manure, plant life and worm castings. Jump Start delivers beneficial microorganisms like these ingredients do, but without the usual mess of a DIY project.
Inorganic soil conditioners can have chemicals that produce harmful runoff, which negatively impacts water and other ecosystems. Inorganic soil conditioners sometimes produce fast results, but at the expense of long-term results and overall environmental health. Organic soil amendments, on the other hand, are based on carbon material that was previously alive.
Jump Start works on a variety of soils. Here in Georgia, many of us have clay soil that is subject to compaction and needs a powerful aerator. While this compacted soil can be tough for many soil conditioners, Jump Start provides a solution. It provides aeration to clay soils, so you can free up your root zone to deeper nutrient absorption and retention as well as better plant growth. And if you're in a zone like ours, it will improve clay soils!
The living organisms in Jump Start help make plant nutrients more available while also increasing nutrient uptake. It increases water retention and adds micro nutrients to all soil types.
Improve Soil Structure
In addition to core aeration, Jump Start is simply great for your soil. With organic acids and beneficial microbes, Jump Start is ideal for lawn and garden use. If you want to switch to an organic fertilizer program, you can even use Jump Start alongside your traditional fertilizer during the transition. This way, your green lawn and healthy plants won't skip a beat. Expect better nutrient retention and higher quality soil.
Improved soil means that the soil is more loose and "crumbly," but holds together when damp and can sustain plant roots. Jump Start improves poor soils by addressing their structure.
Jump Start also addresses cation exchange capacity. Cation exchange capacity is a measure of the soil's ability to hold positively charged ions. Common soil cations include potassium, ammonium, calcium and magnesium.
What are soil amendments?
Soil amendments have three categories: fertilizers, soil inoculants and soil conditioners. In general, soil amendments are substances that enhance qualities of soil, like water retention or ability to absorb nutrients. All soil amendments have a goal of healthy soil and productive yield, but each subcategory has a specific means of achieving this.
Fertilizers add plant nutrients to soil, typically in the form of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. You'll see these on fertilizer labels as NPK.
Soil inoculants focus on adding biology to improve soil's food web. This type of soil amendment usually has added biology like beneficial bacteria or fungi.
As a soil amendment, Jump Start is considered a soil conditioner because soil conditioners improve soil texture through organic material while also improving cation exchange capacity, soil pH, water holding capacity and compacted soil. Some soil conditioners can also provide liquid lawn aeration.
Soil texture is important because it determines the success of plant growth. Poor soils typically have a bad soil texture and are often compact, but soil conditioners can aerate and break up soils like this. Even sandy soils can benefit from soil conditioners by receiving added nutrients that may otherwise leach through easily.
Good organic gardening practices include choosing the right soil amendments, including soil conditioners, for your crops. In our "fast green" world, we've built up an illusion that lawn products should make our grass look green instantly. This is due to many high nitrogen fertilizers pumping grass with too much nitrogen. While this result may give you instant gratification, it does little for soil improvement and actually harms the environment through excess nutrient runoff.
Jump Start focuses on true soil health so you have healthy, fertile soil and healthy plant growth for the long run.
Liquid Aeration
Jump Start can also be used for liquid lawn aeration. If you have clay soil, a liquid soil loosener may be what you need to get your plants the nutrients they need. Using Jump Start as a liquid lawn aerator is possible, however we recommend our product Revival for liquid aeration and clay soil treatment for compacted soils. Revival is manufactured with added beneficial microbial growth, so it reduces soil compaction without harmful chemicals. However, if you're using Jump Start as a liquid aerator, you can apply is just as you would a concentrated soil conditioner.
Jump Start Soil Conditioner SDS (Safety Data Sheet)
What is Soil Conditioner?
Jump Start in Your Garden
Southland Organics turf and lawn care products leverage our three core features to supercharge soil with the building blocks turf grass needs to thrive.
The added beneficial microbes help decompose residual pesticides and herbicides and unlock bound nutrients in the soil. This makes nutrients available to plants in simpler, more easily absorbed forms. Microbes amplify conventional programs by making your inputs work harder for longer.
Organic acids and top-quality, organic carbon work to break surface tension of compacted soils and deliver oxygen to the root zone. Grass grows deeper roots in oxygenated soil, helping it resist disease and overtake weeds.
Carbon is the main building block of all organic life. In fact, 50% of plant life is made up of carbon. Carbon feeds microbes and is critical to microbial health. The microbes, in turn, assimilate nutrients and deliver them to the roots for growth and development. Carbon is the ultimate macro element that lawns need to thrive.
With these three secret ingredients, plants develop deeper roots, retain water, resist disease and pests and become lush and healthy. Our soil amendments are a vital portion of a well-crafted turf program. Business owners will increase their results and experience less stress with more profits. Homeowners will grow beautiful lawns and gardens with no harmful chemicals.
