Soil test results

[Timbo11]

I just got the results back from my first soil test. We’ve been in our home for a few years but this year we’ll be putting in the lawn in the backyard. The backyard is about 10k sqft and I’d like to get the dirt right before we do all the hard work.

[andy10917]

Make sure to enter a link pointing to this thread in the Soil Test Interpretation Queue, so we know you are waiting in line.

[Timbo11]

It should be in there now. Thank you Andy.

[andy10917]

You have a soil that is just a bit sandier than a Loam soil. It has a good OM component at 5.3%.

In the cations, Calcium is low and Magnesium high. Potassium is also low. We can lift the Calcium without lifting the pH (which is in the sweet spot) by applying Fast-Acting Gypsum at the high bag rate, every 60 days. For Potassium, get Sulfate of Potash (0-0-50, "SOP", not easy to find). Apply it at 2 lbs/K monthly until September.

Phosphorus is plentiful, and Iron is very good.

In the micro's, Manganese is short - do you wish to deal with this in 2020?

For Nitrogen, you can use Urea at 2 lbs/K every month. You can alternate between Milorganite and Urea also - Milorganite is appied at bag rate, monthly.

[Timbo11]

Thanks for the analysis Andy. I got my first application of fast acting gypsum down and have started my search for sulfate of potash. I'll pass on the manganese this year while I get everything under control but I will alternate between urea and milorganite as you suggest for nitrogen. I'm excited to see how things progress this year.