Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

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greenrebellion
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Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by greenrebellion » June 19th, 2017, 12:35 pm

Got a new soil test this year ahead of my potential renovation after my failed renovation last year.
Image

Here are last year's results - LINK Surprised to see PH and Calcium shift as much as it did.

Background:
- New construction lot
- 12K square feet of lawn
- Heavy Sun Backyard, moderate to heavy sun front yard
- Irrigation system installed

The seeding plan:
- Seeding August 12th after failed hydroseed last year (Poa Annua infestation, KBG failed to grow despite root establishment)
- Fallow starting July 4th.

Soil:
- Very heavy soil that cracks quickly and easily at the surface
- Percolation test showed about 1" per hour of drainage
- Soil Test showed predominantly clay

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andy10917
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » June 22nd, 2017, 9:29 pm

Greenreb:

I'm really reticent to even give advice about this soil -- changes like the changes you're showing just don't happen unless you were deliberately trying to do crazy things. I doubt that's your goal.

I have to go with a modest plan and wait for a tiebreaker next year -- I don't know what else is reasonable.

Get a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 19-19-19 and post the NPK for an app rate and frequency, to treat shortages in Potassium and Phosphorus.

The Iron number is excellent but you're showing a pH of 7.8 -- is that right? If it is, the Iron isn't available. If last year's pH was right, it's available.

In the micro’s, it’s only Boron. Get Twenty Mule Team Laundry Soap from the grocery and apply it at three tablespoons/K every 60 days. Read the Micronutrient Application Guide for application specifics.

PS: where is the soil test that showed "predominantly clay"?

greenrebellion
Posts: 580
Joined: July 25th, 2016, 4:51 pm
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by greenrebellion » June 22nd, 2017, 9:48 pm

andy10917 wrote:
June 22nd, 2017, 9:29 pm
Greenreb:

I'm really reticent to even give advice about this soil -- changes like the changes you're showing just don't happen unless you were deliberately trying to do crazy things. I doubt that's your goal.

I have to go with a modest plan and wait for a tiebreaker next year -- I don't know what else is reasonable.

Get a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 19-19-19 and post the NPK for an app rate and frequency, to treat shortages in Potassium and Phosphorus.

The Iron number is excellent but you're showing a pH of 7.8 -- is that right? If it is, the Iron isn't available. If last year's pH was right, it's available.

In the micro’s, it’s only Boron. Get Twenty Mule Team Laundry Soap from the grocery and apply it at three tablespoons/K every 60 days. Read the Micronutrient Application Guide for application specifics.

PS: where is the soil test that showed "predominantly clay"?
Thanks Andy.

I totally hear you on the year to year soil changes. I was careful both years to sample from 10-15 locations and all were from 3-4" depth. I have no idea why PH swung in the test from 6.8 last year to 7.8 this year. I haven't done anything crazy with the soil. Waiting for a tiebreaker next year seems reasonable.

I'll go with the same 10/10/10 fertilizer that I threw down in early May as it is currently available at a local store.

By "predominantly clay" soil test I just meant the jar test where you measure how things settle. I did it last year but didn't repeat it this year as I can't imagine it changes much year to year.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » June 22nd, 2017, 9:53 pm

OK. The 10-10-10 goes down at 10 lbs/K monthly.

The soil test TEC seems to indicate a medium Loam this year. Last year indicated a heavy soil. Just more noise between the tests!

greenrebellion
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Joined: July 25th, 2016, 4:51 pm
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by greenrebellion » July 10th, 2017, 12:03 pm

Andy...you had requested in my renovation thread to get a soil structure test at some point. Here are the results...not sure if these add any additional color to my standard soil test. I guess we'll still need to use next year's test as a tiebreaker given the discrepancy between my first and second year test results but let me know if this provides any additional context to my test results.

Image

Anecdotally, my soil seems very heavy, easily waterlogged, difficult to dig into, cracks quickly when dry and definitely doesn't strike me as loamy at all which these results seem to imply. According to a pyramid I found online, my soil would be classified as a "Clay Loam".

Image


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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » July 10th, 2017, 9:45 pm

Yup, that's a lot of Clay. I would actually expect an even higher TEC with those numbers.

I suspect that the "new construction lot" plays a big part in this - heavy equipment mixes topsoil (if any wasn't sold off) and subsoil and the result is a clumpy mess. It took centuries to settle properly to a layered soil and minutes or hours to destroy it.

greenrebellion
Posts: 580
Joined: July 25th, 2016, 4:51 pm
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Lawn Size: 10000-20000
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by greenrebellion » October 10th, 2017, 11:35 am

Quick question...since I will try to get down fertilizer in May next year at green up likely before my next soil test is evaluated, is it okay for me to swap my balanced 10/10/10 fertilizer application for 2lb/K each of TSP & SOP? I am hoping to use Urea and mainly Milorganite as my N sources next year.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Greenrebellion's 2017 Soil Test

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » October 10th, 2017, 1:24 pm

Yep. you're basically rolling your own balanced fert.

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