Ryan Free117 soil test-2017

[Ryan Free117]

Grass from what I can tell is a northern blend ( mostly fescue and some KGB), but I have been over seeding with more KBG. I have full sun in the back and in the front. Lot size is approximately 20,000 sq ft. I have irrigation system, but it seems like I struggle to keep up watering in the summer. Early this year I had bad habits by watering a little in the morning and early evening. I have since switched to watering a zone 3+ hours (1in water). In the past I have seen red thread in the lawn and I am trying to avoid it again this year.

I fertilized with the following earlier this year:

Spring:
Standard grabrass preventer/fertilizer
Grub control
And I put down the bag rate of gypsum in the spring (lawn was greener from this)

Early summer:
Put down weed n feed 6 weeks prior to soil test 24-0-16

Recently:
Recently just put down milo instead of lawn food 30-0-3

Goal is to get the lawn thicker.





Thanks,
Ryan

[andy10917]

Make sure to put a link in the Soil Test Interpretation Queue thread

[andy10917]

Ryan, that's a very sandy soil with very poor OM numbers. The single best thing you could do would be to feed organic matter (mulched leaves, peat moss, etc) at whatever rate it will take it and you can afford. Without it, the applied nutrients are just going to pass through the soil and be gone.

In the cations, Calcium is the primarily deficient nutrient. Apply good calcitic lime (Mag-I-Cal/SoluCal/Encap) at 10 lbs/K every 90 days. With a location like "Midwest" I don't know when the growing season ends for you.

With both Potassium and Phosphorus deficient, it's a recipe for a balanced fertilizer, but we don't like to use Potassium in the late season (increase in Snow Mold?). Are you going to do the Fall Nitrogen Regimens? If so, let me know and we'll work with you and save the balanced stuff for next Spring. That would certainly thicken up the lawn!

That will also drive the micronutrient decisions.

Let me know!

[Ryan Free117]

I will get some leaves and mulch them before winter. I just put down 30-0-3 fertilizer. I live in central Wisconsin so we have until early October for the growing season. I was thinking of throwing more gypsum down but will do calcitic lime.

I also have an aeration set up for the end of this month or next month and will be overseeding at this point. I also planned to put winterizer down the first part of November.

let me know what I should put on before winter and after winter. I will do another test in the spring. I think I went a little too deep with the last test. When I put the lawn in it got 4 inches of top soil that looked fairly clay like. The natural soil is very sandy however. But I do believe my organic levels of both soils are not very good. (It isn't very moist soil and not very black in color)

[andy10917]

Ryan, I don't know how much my approach will help you - some of the things I recommend and your plans don't overlap much. I only use Gypsum where I want Calcium without raising the pH. With your pH there is a fair way to go to lift the pH properly, with the right nutrients. I'm no fan of aeration for soil preparation.

The amount of organic matter that it will take to improve your soil's OM% is around 40,000 lbs - not "getting some leaves". We're talking about a prolonged effort with tons of leaves for many years - otherwise you spend money on fertilizers that leave the soil in no time.

What are you planning to use for the Winterizer, and how will you determine the right time to apply it?

After the Winter, we could go with a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10, or since you're in Wisconsin we could build around Milorganite.

For this Fall, I would put the calcitic lime down once and follow either the standard or aggressive regimens for Fall Nitrogen Regimen (heavily documented on the site).

[Ryan Free117]

From reading the site a little I do see that it takes years to increase OM even a little. I will get as many leaves as I can down on the lawn. I will also find some calcitic lime to put down before winter. From what I looked at it seems fairly spendy!

I have been doing some reading on the fall nitrogen regime and feel like I should be doing the aggressive approach, but I already put down a 30-0-3 slow release fertilizer so does that put me in the standard approach this year? If so it appears as if I would put urea down at 2lbs/k after there is no more top growth. If I am not pushed into the standard, can I just start putting urea down weekly at this point?

You also say you are not a fan of using aeration. So do you have a time that you overseed your lawn or is the fall nitrogen regime a way to promote growth so that you don't need to overseed?

One more question is in the spring. What are you using for grabgrass?

[andy10917]

I will also find some calcitic lime to put down before winter. From what I looked at it seems fairly spendy!

No! Calculate the fact that you put far less down (10 lbs/K vs 50 lbs/K) and see how much each really costs per Ksqft

[Ryan Free117]

I am going to put it down, but compared to regular lime it is spendy. It is about $1 a pound. So $10 a k. I have a 18000k yard. So $180 is spendy to me, but if that is what it needs that's what it will get.

[TimmyG]

Say what? Stop buying your lime at Whole Foods.

Sta-Green Rapid Lime 30-lb is $12.97 at Lowe's any day of the week (half that price if you bought during one of two crazy-good sales earlier this year). Buy 5, get 10% off. That's $11.67 for 30 lb or $0.389/lb. (Find/generate Lowe's coupons online to save even more.) Heck, Lowe's will ship it to your door for free.

Spread at 10 lb/K, that's only $3.89/K or $70 per app on 18K. Standard pelletized lime will cost you the same or more when spread at 50 lb/K (and weigh 900 lb).

[Ryan Free117]

So I have been searching for specific calcitic lime when it is just your ordinary pellitized lime? If that is the case it is super cheap.

[TimmyG]

Not exactly. "Ordinary" pelletized lime is generally about $4 for a 40-lb bag (like this) and can be either dolomitic or calcitic depending on where it was mined, even though it will always say "dolomitic" on the front of the bag. This cheap lime takes forever to effect a change in the soil.

Generally, when someone on these forums recommends a "good" calcitic lime, they're referring to a fast-acting calcitic lime (negligible magnesium) that goes through additional processing to speed up how long it takes to work. Not all "fast-acting" limes are created equal, but rest assured that the one I shared above is not only considered good but also likely the cheapest.

Read the following thread:
Solu-Cal Calcitic Lime?

[Ryan Free117]

TimmyG thanks for the link. I just purchased 6 bags for $74 shipped. Not a bad deal.

I guess the only other question I have at this point is about the fall nitrogen regime. If I put 30-0-3 down a week ago, I should do the standard and put urea down after top growth stops. Is this correct?