Josh's 2019 soil test

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southern-ct-4
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Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 11th, 2019, 9:52 am

Thanks as always, in advance!

Here's a link to last fall for reference (in case it helps): viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24434

After the test last year, I put down 2 large bags of Mag-i-Cal and Epsom Salt (42 lbs if my notes are correct) on 9/25/18.

I put down Milorganite (8 bags for my 20k sq ft) and micros (3 tablespoons/k x 20k sq ft) on 10/9. I only got down one dose, as it was too late to do another dose 60 days later.

2 more bags of Mag-i-Cal on 10/26.

Urea on 11/24.

I haven't done anything yet this year, here are the results.

Thanks again!
Image

last year for reference:

Image

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andy10917
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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 14th, 2019, 8:18 am

That's a pretty sandy soil with a TEC of 5, being held up by a nice OM% of 6.5%. It would be a mess if it weren't for the OM. Adding additional OM will help keep the sandy nature of the mineral portion, and avoid a lot of leaching of the fertilizers you apply.

Apply 9 lbs/K of good calcitic Lime (Encap/Mag-I-Cal/SoluCal) every 90 days, mixed with 2 lbs/K of Epsom Salts - the mixture is applied at 11 lbs/K.

You'll need to find and apply Sulfate of Potash for Potassium ("SOP", not easy to find). Apply at 2 lbs/K monthly.

Phosphorus is plentiful.

Iron is short, but will be available at your pH. Get Ferrous Sulfate and apply at 2-3 lbs/K monthly, but not within a couple of weeks of a Lime application.

In the micro's, only Boron is short - get Twenty Mule Team laundry soap and apply 3 tablespoons/K every 60 days as outlined in the Micronutrient Application Guide.

For Nitrogen, you can apply Urea (cheap!) at 2 lbs/K monthly, or Milorganite/Bay State at bag rate monthly. You can alternate them if you choose to.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 14th, 2019, 2:22 pm

Andy, thanks so much!

Just to confirm:

1) 9 lbs/k of lime x 20k sq ft = 180 lbs every 90 days. Do I need to do any adjusting if I use mag-i-cal vs. solucal vs solucal with humic (or should I not use the humic one anyway), or just 180 lbs of any of those is fine, regardless of whatever the bag says the coverage is?

2) Sulfate of Potash, to confirm, would be this: https://www.pestrong.com/878-sop-sulfat ... 50-lb.html (or any other 0-0-50something, or does it have to specifically say sulfate of potash)? Also, is that price reasonable? I'll of course try to find it cheaper locally.

3) Should I start the urea (or milo) now, or wait until mid-may or so when i normally start fertilizing?

4) Aside from no using ferrous sulfate within 2 weeks of lime, any other restrictions I should watch out for?

Thanks again.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 14th, 2019, 2:43 pm

Also, can I apply the lime, epsom salt and boron all together? Or is it better to apply the boron with Milo?

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 14th, 2019, 7:21 pm

Sorry, another question; for the ferrous sulfate, is this the right stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Ferrous-Sulfate- ... ref=sr_1_5


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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 15th, 2019, 7:49 pm

It's difficult to tell if it is powdery or not. I'd call the vendor and ask -- the powder doesn't spread well and blows all over the place.

With the Boron, I have only tested the Milorganite the way it is described in the Micronutrient Application Guide. I have no idea what reactions may occur with Lime. Milorganite doesn't react with much of anything.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 15th, 2019, 7:58 pm

Thanks so much Andy. I'll try to find non-powdery ferrous sulfate, and I'll stick to Milo for the Boron.

Is it ok to start using urea and/or milo now (for the Potassium and/or Nitrogen parts of your recommendation), or do I want to wait until I would normally start fertilizing in mid-May or so?

Thanks again!

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 15th, 2019, 8:16 pm

If you did the Fall Regimen, you shouldn't notice the color/growth fading a bit until the second half or May.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 15th, 2019, 8:28 pm

Thanks Andy. To be honest I don't fully recall if I followed the fall regimen, as I had just learned about it right around end of summer (and was taking in a lot of new information), and was doing a lot of glyphosating/reseeding. In any case, I did put down Milo on 8/21, 9/1 and 9/8, and then Milo with micros on 10/9, and finally a 50 lb bag (for my 20k sq ft) on 11/24. So I think I somewhat followed it...

Given the above (and even in the past when I didn't do that much/that often in the fall), I would not normally fertilize until mid to late May, correct?

Therefore, I just wanted to confirm that your recommendation for Sulfate of Potash and milo/urea didn't override that, or if I should still start in late May, and then from there follow your recommendation for applying products either monthly or every 90 days.

Separately, how about this for the ferrous sulfate: https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Granules-Fe ... ef=sr_1_20 ? It's granules, but I'm not sure it's the right product.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by agn015 » April 16th, 2019, 7:00 am

I just found SOP on Long Island from a local turf supply for $28 per 50lbs. You should be able to find something similar in CT. I remember hearing other CT members mention a place called valley green. Not sure if you’re near there but I had good luck calling local turf supply places.

As for the iron, the one you found seems expensive probably because shipping is including in the price. Scott’s makes a granular moss killer product that uses ferrous sulfate as the active ingredient. I’ve seen it at the big box stores $13 for 18lbs. I would look around locally for something similar and save the extra cash in your budget.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 16th, 2019, 6:30 pm

Thanks. A local place has the sop but was out of stock so they’ll order it for me.

Thanks for the tip on the ferrous! Google didn’t tell me that 😢

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 22nd, 2019, 9:06 am

Andy, can you help me confirm the ferrous sulfate please? You said to " Get Ferrous Sulfate and apply at 2-3 lbs/K monthly,"

Does that mean to apply 2-3 lbs of something containing 20% ferrous sulfate (such as https://smile.amazon.com/Ferrous-Sulfat ... ref=sr_1_5, meaning I would need just 1, 50 lb bag to cover my 20k sq ft lawn), or should I figure out how much ferrous is in a bag (i.e. 50 lbs of this stuff on Amazon would contain 10 lbs of ferrous), and calculate it that way (i.e. 20k sq ft lawn x 3 lbs/k = 60 lbs, so I would need 6 of the 50 lb bags to equal 60 lbs of ferrous, since each 1 bag only has 10 lbs of actual ferrous)?

In either case, can you please also confirm that this (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Moss-Out-20 ... 598516-_-N , https://images.homedepot-static.com/cat ... dee06f.pdf) is the same/correct type of ferrous sulfate? It's much less expensive. Looks to be about $2/lb of ferrous (as it contains .32% vs. .20%) vs. almost $8/lb of ferrous for the Amazon stuff.

Thank you.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 22nd, 2019, 7:26 pm

You don't need the quality of the Alpha stuff, by any stretch of the imagination. That's for labs, and is very pure.

I can read the ingredients on the HD item.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 23rd, 2019, 8:23 am

Thanks Andy. For the HD item, it says:

Ferrous sulfate monohydrate 32% (if I pull up the SDS from another website it also says Calcium Sulfate >50%)

The bag also says "with 10% Iron"

Therefore, I'm not sure how much product to put down.

https://www.domyown.com/msds/100099162_ ... _label.pdf
https://www.domyown.com/msds/LM_MO_Lawn ... esMSDS.pdf

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 23rd, 2019, 9:29 pm

Just put down 2-3 lbs/K and don't stress out.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 24th, 2019, 8:30 am

Thanks Andy.

On a separate note, can I use muriate of potash instead of sulfate of potash? My local store isn't sure when they are getting the sulfate in, but they do have the muriate. If I can, would I use the same amount?

Thanks again!

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 24th, 2019, 7:06 pm

I have mixed feelings about it. I'd recommend getting enough of the MOP to do one treatment (to get going) and switch when you can. Muriate is based on Chlorine (it's Potassium Chloride), and harsher - both to the lawn and microherd. In the end, it's your place and your soil...

The Salt Index (which loosely ties to burn potential) and harshness is 42.6 for SOP, and 116.2 for MOP.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 25th, 2019, 9:00 am

Thanks Andy. I'll hold out for the SOP as long as I can. If they never get it in stock I'll use the MOP for 1 treatment, and then re-evaluate what I want to do after that (if they still don't get the SOP in stock).

Thanks again!

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by andy10917 » April 25th, 2019, 8:38 pm

I hear that there are other sources in the world.

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Re: Josh's 2019 soil test

Post by southern-ct-4 » April 25th, 2019, 8:47 pm

andy10917 wrote:
April 25th, 2019, 8:38 pm
I hear that there are other sources in the world.
Unfortunately/apparently, not many near me. I've also checked 3 others so far (where I often pick up things like mag-i-cal, preM, etc...) and none of them have it. I've got one more place to try (Site One) just haven't had a chance to call yet.

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