| Updated: 8/15/2008 7:06 pm |
Published: 8/15/2008 4:19 pm |
A lot of you emailed , some of you even called, wanting to know what happened to this week's Deal or Dud. They air every Wednesday but this week we had breaking news and had to push it back a few days.
The product is called Patch Perfect. The makers say their turbo-charged grass seed will grow anytime, anywhere guaranteed.
So Kevin Kelly tracked down an expert and had him test it because you wanted to know if this is a Deal or a Dud. When it comes to a lush, thick healthy, lawn John Carr of Fairway Lawns is your man.
Kevin aked, "How green is your thumb?"
"Pretty Green, " John replied.
It doesn't look green, but John Carr has 26 years of experience. With that kind of resume he's a perfect match for the Patch Perfect.
Commercial says: "The turbo-charged grass seed that grows faster, thicker, and fuller than any other grass seed on earth. Guaranteed!"
Urine spots, high traffic areas, the shade, the makers claim their "grass seed on steroids" works no matter what the condition.
Carr finds a barren and dry spot in the shade and gets to work. As per the instructions he loosens the top three inches of soil. He then rakes away the rocks and other debris. The instructions say to apply the seed evenly, a quarter inch thick.
"Hopefully they don't have anything toxic in here," Carr said.
The grass seed is so powerful, the makers say, it will grow anywhere. "We placed patch perfect directly on top of concrete blocks without dirt or mulch and the grass still grows."
We wanted to see for ourselves.
Carr applied what was left of the seed on top of the cinder block. The instructions then say to gently saturate with water. According to Patch Perfect we should see significant results within 7 to 10 days.
Commercial says: "Lab tests prove it. These test patches were grown in identical growing conditions while some of the ordinary seed germinate.... Patch Perfect seeds have a growth explosion."
After nearly two weeks we rush back to see if the patch perfect lived up to all the hype.
"It doesn't look like we got 100 percent germination by any stretch of the imagination. Not even close! No, not even close," Carr says.
Our turbo-charged grass seed fizzled. Instead of thicker, fuller grass as promised, all we got was peach fuzz both on the ground and on the brick.
"You're a pro when it comes to growing grass. Is the Perfect Patch a Deal or a Dud?" Kevin asked John.
"It's a dud. No question."
Another problem we discovered was the amount of coverage. The bag says "enough to treat 100 square feet.” But after spreading the seed at a quarter inch thick, just like the instructions say, we were only able to cover 8 square feet and the brick.
