Soil test -chris -2021
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Soil test -chris -2021
This is only my second time doing a soil test. Last year I used White Tail Labs, and went by their recommendations for Potash and Lime applications. I usually use milorganite fertilizer about 3-4x per year. I have underground sprinklers, and I water about one inch per week in the late spring and summer. My yard is 3000 sq ft. I cut my lawn once per week to about 3” .
- andy10917
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Put a link to your test into the Soil Test Interpretation Queue thread.
- MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Chris, you may want to ask Andy or Turf to remove the image after I post this (Andy or Turf, could you remove the image after I post this?) because your full name is on it and unique enough that you're not hard to find.
I'll normalize everything to a four inch depth, and treat it as an initial test since it's your first Logan. It means you get The Book. Recommendations, from me, always ride right at the bottom. The reasons why are in the book.
ME 4.3: Low, so likely a sandy soil (there are other options, but sand is the most probable). Sand doesn't hold resources well, so testing more often is recommended. Fortunately, sand also adjusts easily...
OM 2.3%: Lowish, but that's sand for you. I'd always mulch mow and the Milorganite is a good idea. Mow in your fall leaves.
Sulfur 8: Within normal range. Decaying OM releases sulfur, so this naturally rises and falls.
pH 6.4: I hate reading pH because it means nothing. On paper, this looks good. And yours really is good for good reason, which I'll discuss under calcium and magnesium. The third element, potassium, does need some work.
Phosphorus 188: Target is around 200, so this is very close to perfect. Since you feed with Milorganite, you're adding P and I'm not going to make a recommendation for adding any (you're close enough that I wouldn't bother anyway; this is fine).
Calcium 61%: On paper, this is just a hair low. I'm...eh, this is optional, as in if you do this, great. If you don't do this in 2021, so what? Your grass is not starved for calcium. Would I do it? Probably, but I'm kind of a stickler. For it, we use a good, humate-bound calcium lime, like Mag-I-Cal by Jonathan Greene or the like, at about 3 pounds per thousand square feet. Seriously, that's all--3 pounds, no more, we don't want to unbalance the soil and send it too alkaline. I added the optional recommendation below.
Magnesium 21.2%: Fine. On paper, a tad high, which would be another reason to use the calcium and another reason why I, personally, would. Higher magnesium can tighten a soil, making even sand act like a silt. Adding calcium will help, and will lower this percentage a bit.
Potassium 2.9%: On paper, OK, but the amount in the soil is about half what it should be. Only the fact that the calcium is a little short is masking this. I don't consider this optional, and we use potassium sulfate to fix it--you can find that online, or at most landscape and garden stores (although they'll have to order it for you). Recommendations below, and this can be applied very close to the calcium.
Sodium 2%: Normally I'd lose my lunch over that, but it's a sandy soil and not a problem with a very low EC. But it's another reason to add the calcium and potassium as it'll drop out some of the sodium. While sodium is needed by some plants in very tiny amounts, more than that is toxic.
Most of your minor elements are in range of normal, with boron being a little bit low (0.7 being the target there). Read the Micronutrient Application Guide under the FAQs and see if you're comfortable doing this with 3 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. If you are, great. If not, it's not a problem and just skip it. I'll put it in as optional. That's a low end app to get you started and you'll need to retest next year.
Other than that, feed normally. None of this will interact with Milorganite.
Recommendations:
April 1: (Optional: Apply a humate-bound calcium like Mag-I-Cal at 3 pounds per thousand)
April 15: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
May 1: (Optional: Apply 3 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet via the Micronutrient Application Guide).
September 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
October 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
I'll normalize everything to a four inch depth, and treat it as an initial test since it's your first Logan. It means you get The Book. Recommendations, from me, always ride right at the bottom. The reasons why are in the book.
ME 4.3: Low, so likely a sandy soil (there are other options, but sand is the most probable). Sand doesn't hold resources well, so testing more often is recommended. Fortunately, sand also adjusts easily...
OM 2.3%: Lowish, but that's sand for you. I'd always mulch mow and the Milorganite is a good idea. Mow in your fall leaves.
Sulfur 8: Within normal range. Decaying OM releases sulfur, so this naturally rises and falls.
pH 6.4: I hate reading pH because it means nothing. On paper, this looks good. And yours really is good for good reason, which I'll discuss under calcium and magnesium. The third element, potassium, does need some work.
Phosphorus 188: Target is around 200, so this is very close to perfect. Since you feed with Milorganite, you're adding P and I'm not going to make a recommendation for adding any (you're close enough that I wouldn't bother anyway; this is fine).
Calcium 61%: On paper, this is just a hair low. I'm...eh, this is optional, as in if you do this, great. If you don't do this in 2021, so what? Your grass is not starved for calcium. Would I do it? Probably, but I'm kind of a stickler. For it, we use a good, humate-bound calcium lime, like Mag-I-Cal by Jonathan Greene or the like, at about 3 pounds per thousand square feet. Seriously, that's all--3 pounds, no more, we don't want to unbalance the soil and send it too alkaline. I added the optional recommendation below.
Magnesium 21.2%: Fine. On paper, a tad high, which would be another reason to use the calcium and another reason why I, personally, would. Higher magnesium can tighten a soil, making even sand act like a silt. Adding calcium will help, and will lower this percentage a bit.
Potassium 2.9%: On paper, OK, but the amount in the soil is about half what it should be. Only the fact that the calcium is a little short is masking this. I don't consider this optional, and we use potassium sulfate to fix it--you can find that online, or at most landscape and garden stores (although they'll have to order it for you). Recommendations below, and this can be applied very close to the calcium.
Sodium 2%: Normally I'd lose my lunch over that, but it's a sandy soil and not a problem with a very low EC. But it's another reason to add the calcium and potassium as it'll drop out some of the sodium. While sodium is needed by some plants in very tiny amounts, more than that is toxic.
Most of your minor elements are in range of normal, with boron being a little bit low (0.7 being the target there). Read the Micronutrient Application Guide under the FAQs and see if you're comfortable doing this with 3 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. If you are, great. If not, it's not a problem and just skip it. I'll put it in as optional. That's a low end app to get you started and you'll need to retest next year.
Other than that, feed normally. None of this will interact with Milorganite.
Recommendations:
April 1: (Optional: Apply a humate-bound calcium like Mag-I-Cal at 3 pounds per thousand)
April 15: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
May 1: (Optional: Apply 3 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet via the Micronutrient Application Guide).
September 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
October 1: Apply 2 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Thank you so much.
Is sulfate of potash magnesia ok to use for potassium sulfate application? Or Murate of potash? I’m having trouble finding anything else online.
Is sulfate of potash magnesia ok to use for potassium sulfate application? Or Murate of potash? I’m having trouble finding anything else online.
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- Posts: 52
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Please disregard my last post. I was able to find sulfate of potash. I will definitely be following this program this year. I appreciate the feedback!
- MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Skip the Sul-Po-Mag as it'll raise your magnesium levels. If you absolutely can't find anything other than muriate of potash (potassium chloride), it'll do (it's actually cheaper), but be very sure not to overapply. 2 pounds per thousand is very safe even for KCl, but the stuff is pretty harsh. Try to time it before rainfall or irrigation, although it's not all that important, and I definitely wouldn't apply it to a wet or damp lawn--burning is a real possibility as muriate of potash is a salt. Dry lawn only. If you even faintly suspect the lawn was damp, irrigate immediately after application to wash it in behind you and it'll be fine.
Other names for potassium sulfate are sulfate of potash and 0-0-50 (although you'll see it up to about 0-0-53 in ultrapure form). What I'm seeing is...not a lot of vendors, actually, and those are rather expensive. Fortunately, your lawn is small, and the maximum you'll need is 18 pounds from your lawn size and my recommendations.
Other names for potassium sulfate are sulfate of potash and 0-0-50 (although you'll see it up to about 0-0-53 in ultrapure form). What I'm seeing is...not a lot of vendors, actually, and those are rather expensive. Fortunately, your lawn is small, and the maximum you'll need is 18 pounds from your lawn size and my recommendations.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Would you also recommend watering in the sulfate of potash after application?
- MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
It's not necessary with potassium sulfate, the stuff is quite mild. But if you want to, you can. Sulfate of potash is also usually in granular form, so there's little to no dust. It kind of looks like chicken feed.
Both potassium sulfate and potassium chloride can irritate bare feet of you, kids, and dogs, so irrigation after application is something you might want to do for that reason. Neither are toxic; potassium chloride is used as an alternate to salt for those who can't have sodium chloride in their diet. Potassium sulfate is listed as non-toxic (LD50>5,000mg/kg oral).
Both potassium sulfate and potassium chloride can irritate bare feet of you, kids, and dogs, so irrigation after application is something you might want to do for that reason. Neither are toxic; potassium chloride is used as an alternate to salt for those who can't have sodium chloride in their diet. Potassium sulfate is listed as non-toxic (LD50>5,000mg/kg oral).
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Sounds good. Thank you. I was able to find everything online. The most difficult part for me will be figuring out the spreader settings.
- MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Start really, really low. Or use a carrier product, like Milorganite, and follow the Micronutrient Application Guide, just with a much larger mass. It does work, it won't be quite even, but it'll work out over 2 to 3 applications. Start in different sections with each application.
If you have to make several passes to get it all down in a section, that's better than accidentally running short and applying far too much in a thousand square feet--although I built a LOT of error into that app rate for you already and just let me know if it happens. We always do that.
If you have to make several passes to get it all down in a section, that's better than accidentally running short and applying far too much in a thousand square feet--although I built a LOT of error into that app rate for you already and just let me know if it happens. We always do that.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Quick question,
So my lawn if more like 4000 sq feet.
I applied the mag I cal today and realized that I must have miscalibrated my spreader. I ended up putting down about 3.75 lbs per 1000sq feet. Should I be ok?
Thanks!
So my lawn if more like 4000 sq feet.
I applied the mag I cal today and realized that I must have miscalibrated my spreader. I ended up putting down about 3.75 lbs per 1000sq feet. Should I be ok?
Thanks!
- andy10917
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
I'm not seeing your issue - 3.75 lbs/K is FAR below the maximum. What rate were you trying to achieve?
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Morpheus had told me to apply 3lbs per 1000sq feet.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
I just wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to throw off my pH too much as MorpheusPA had told me to apply only 3lbs/1000ft2.
- andy10917
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
OK, I looked at the soil test, and I see why he's going that route, Regardless, 3.75 lbs/K will hurt nothing. Nothing at all - you can sleep without worrying if the lawn/soil are permanently damaged.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Thank you Andy! yes, I can sleep well now. Whew! I appreciate the feedback.
- MorpheusPA
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Yep, it's fine, as Andy said. It's a little high, but I was shooting low to begin with to avoid misbalancing the top layers anyway, so it won't kick anything out of whack. The little bit extra might be all to the good to shift the calcium to magnesium balance a tad and even knock out a little bit of magnesium.
So no harm done at all.
So no harm done at all.
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Re: Soil test -chris -2021
Thank you.
I was having trouble with my Scott’s mini broadcast spreader. I weighed out the 3 lbs , but there seems to be a dead volume that I need to determine and add to my weights.
I was having trouble with my Scott’s mini broadcast spreader. I weighed out the 3 lbs , but there seems to be a dead volume that I need to determine and add to my weights.
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