Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

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Spacklerstyle
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Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 20th, 2021, 1:16 pm

Greetings all, test results from Logan are in, with ammonium acetate testing per the routine. Calcareous loam soil, high pH, (ugh) although I have been pleased how the lawn is progressing. I am looking for best possible result, period, although I have been trying to follow an organic regime as best as I can - so any organic recommendations would be appreciated. Milorganite really seems works well and has a positive impact on color, although the aggressive growth rate in the hot summer is an unfortunate "side effect", ha!). I just aerated and applied compost last week and the Tiffway 419 is already greening up and filling in nicely. I am mowing low at ~5/8" with a reel, and watering deep at 1" every other week (this will increase to weekly when it gets hotter... and probably 2x week in July/Aug when temps are in the 100s. We only have about 5-6" of soil before we hit the limestone, so when it's really hot it can dry out quickly.

Link to last year's test (did not apply any STP, stuck with organic ferts with high P values)
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=25600&p=338564&hil ... le#p338564

Thank you all!!

Image

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 20th, 2021, 2:43 pm

Make sure to add it to the Soil Test Interpretation Queue, so you have a place in the order received

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 20th, 2021, 4:26 pm

OK, Spackler, I had a guess as to your locale when I glanced at the test. I was right. :-) This is not an extreme read, so it's not a problem.

We tend to do adjustments synthetically for a targeted, fast move, but that won't interfere with your organic program, which can continue right during it. And I'll give the line by line in this case.

ME 20.5: Overinflated by some excess calcium in the soil. I suspect this is closer to 15, and I'm working the adjustments and moving numbers around to account for it as if it were. You have what we call a Limestone Quarry soil, which is not a problem, it just means there's a lot of calcium in your soil.

pH 8.3: Extremely high. Grass can work with it, but your instinct to go organic is a good one. Let's get as much OM in this soil as possible, over time. I'll discuss what makes this up more under calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

OM 2.07: Hovering just over Fair, this is probably coming along nicely (I haven't seen any earlier tests). It's not a bad place to be, and if you keep mulch mowing, using organics, mowing your leaves, and so on, it'll continue to rise. This already isn't bad.

Sulfur 20: Normal.

Phosphorus 36: Terminally low. My target for your soil would be 300-350 given the pH; P will be so strongly bound that we'd want to send it rather high to give the grass a chance at it. In this case, I'm going to make a dual feeding recommendation for your Tiffway, but I want you to post a separate question about this in Southern Grasses asking if it's OK--I'm not a southern grass person. You'll use any cheap starter fertilizer, where the second number is around the first one (like 18-24-0, 20-20-4, 22-20-1, or the like). Recommendations below--but if it stops raining or you don't irrigate, discontinue the starter fertilizer immediately. You'd get nitrogen buildup real quick from that.

You actually, as far as P is concerned, can simply carry this schedule into next year. You won't lay enough down this year to go into excess.

Calcium 84.6%: A very high saturation. Grass will deal with it, but it's where your pH is coming from, in part. You don't need any....

Magnesium 9.3%: On paper it looks a bit low. It isn't. You have plenty, there's just so much calcium it's overwhelming the test. The grass has no trouble getting all the magnesium it wants.

Potassium 2.6%: The saturation is OK, but soil levels are a little low. You have enough to do, but I'd like to kick this if you have time. We use potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash) or potassium chloride to adjust this. Some people are having trouble finding potassium sulfate this year, so I'm OK with potassium chloride if that's what you can get. I've given amounts compatible with below in Recommendations. These should be irrigated in or timed with rainfall if possible, so don't worry about moving the dates around.

Minor, Trace Elements: Most look really nice except for iron at 44, which is extremely low. Normally, I'd say use Milorganite to raise that, but...you already do that, so that's perfect. At 5% iron by weight, that'll slowly raise your soil iron levels quite nicely. At your pH, it won't impact grass color too much, and you'll probably have to spray iron for best color, if you even want to bother with that (so even adding it isn't much of an issue).

Recommendations:

May 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

May 15: Feed with Milorganite. Apply 2 pounds of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.

June 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

June 15: Feed with Milorganite. Apply 2 pounds of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.

(July, feed as you normally would, if you do)

August 15: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

September 15: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate. Apply 2 pounds of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.

Spacklerstyle
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 20th, 2021, 5:04 pm

Awesome Morph. Thanks for the detailed plan! Question for you... since my potassium needs a kick, what do you think about using a balanced fertilizer, like a 14-14-14 In lieu of the starter fert and separate SoP apps? If it seems reasonable, check this out https://www.siteone.com/pdf/sdsPDF?skuI ... ceId=16619 and let me know your thoughts. It’s got some slow release, polymer coated mixed in and the K choice is SoP).

So no micros this year?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 20th, 2021, 6:08 pm

I'm fine with the 14-14-14 instead of the starter fertilizer; just use it at bag rate instead on the following schedule. It'll be a little less K than I called for, but that doesn't concern me. You're not that short, and if you didn't do it this year, I wasn't that worried about it anyway.

You won't need micros this year. I might-could tap things because your pH is very high, and you can always call on Andy to check (he's better at micros than I am) due to the copper and zinc being a tad borderline and relatively unavailable at your pH. I won't be at all offended. Just post another request in the Soil Interpretation thread asking Andy to check the micros on your test. I'm also more conservative on Cu than he is. :-)

May 1: Apply 14-14-14 fertilizer at bag rate.

May 15: Feed with Milorganite.

June 1: Apply 14-14-14 fertilizer at bag rate.

June 15: Feed with Milorganite.

(July, feed as you normally would, if you do)

August 15: Apply 14-14-14 fertilizer at bag rate.

September 15: Apply 14-14-14 fertilizer at bag rate.


Spacklerstyle
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 20th, 2021, 6:22 pm

Fantastic. Thank you so much.

Truth be told, I could take a year off from mixing micros unless needed - so if you’re good, I’m good!

I sincerely appreciate it.

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 23rd, 2021, 7:55 pm

Boron and Zinc could use adjustment. Twenty Mule Team laundry soap from the grocery for Boron, and Zinc Sulfate from Amazon/EBay for Zinc. 3 tablespoons each every 60 days as specified in the Micronutrient Application Guide.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 23rd, 2021, 7:59 pm

DAQ (Dumb-arse question)---why boron at 0.77? (Zinc's fine from 1 to 100, so that makes sense).

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 23rd, 2021, 8:11 pm

Optimal amounts of Boron are not fixed by a single component. They are determined partially by a ratio related to Calcium amounts. I do not publish the ratio publicly as I don't want newbies thinking they can calculate amounts themselves and pushing the limits. Boron is pretty touchy.

Spacklerstyle
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 23rd, 2021, 8:49 pm

Once again, thank you both. I greatly appreciate it.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 23rd, 2021, 8:54 pm

Yeah, that's why I have an absolute ceiling of 1.0 and with 0.77 wouldn't push much.

Spacklerstyle
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 23rd, 2021, 9:11 pm

Andy, are you comfortable giving me a range to shoot for in the micros? Since I’ll always have this calcium “problem” I don’t suspect my requirements are gonna change much YoY, right?

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 23rd, 2021, 10:17 pm

In 14 years here, I haven't ever posted micronutrient "ranges", because they change as the soil changes. I'm not changing that position today. Tomorrow's not looking so good either...

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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 23rd, 2021, 10:20 pm

It was worth a shot ;) Thank you once more!

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 23rd, 2021, 10:29 pm

Thanks for understanding. They haven't even been shared with Morph. Good reading to mimic them is to understand Liebig's "Law of the Minimum", written in the 1820's IIRC. Then read and apply Muldar's Chart. Then read everything William Albrecht wrote. That should get you close.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 23rd, 2021, 11:51 pm

I know what he's getting at. B opposes Ca, N, and K, and has no reinforcements. That's...a lot oversimplified, but it works.

He's raising B because your Ca is very high. I tend to be extremely conservative on B because of the base toxicity. We're both right, I just choose a lower ceiling than he does and tend to call anything 0.65 or over fine unless calcium is very high. Even with your very high Ca, 0.77 is within my normal range. Grasses aren't particularly boron-hungry.

There's a tight band of "enough" and "too much." Soils start going toxic in the low PPM range, but fortunately high pH soils block boron uptake. Sensitive plants start dying at 3 PPM. Grass isn't sensitive in the slightest.

https://permaculturenoosa.com.au/mulder ... eractions/

Spacklerstyle
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 24th, 2021, 12:29 am

This is fantastic, thank you. I’m a lot like my 4 year old... always asking “why” even if I don’t have what I need to comprehend the answer. This is a great starting place, so thank you for the resources and explanation.

Now if I can learn why a high (alkaline) pH binds up iron causing it to be unavailable to the grass I’ll be on a roll ;)

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andy10917
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by andy10917 » March 24th, 2021, 12:48 am

You really want to go down that rabbit hole? Here's the right answer:
The most abundant form of Fe in soils is ferric oxide (Fe2O3) or hematite, which is extremely insoluble and imparts a red color to the soil. The oxide form is commonly hydrated. In aerobic soils, the oxide, hydroxide, and phosphate forms control the concentration of Fe in solution and its availability to plants. In typical aerated plant production systems of acceptable reaction (pH) of +/- 6.0, the concentrations of ferric (Fe+++) and ferrous Fe++ iron are on the order of 10-15 molar (very low concentration). As pH increases by one unit, activity of Fe+++ decreases by 1000-fold due to the formation of insoluble Fe +++hydroxide. Under reducing conditions—addition of H+ or other reductants—Fe solubility increases. Under such situations, Fe can be adsorbed on soil as an exchangeable ion.
Feeling better now?

More than one or two members have said "I think I'll trust you that Iron availability to plants (including grasses) falls off rather sharply as the pH of the soil rises".

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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by Spacklerstyle » March 24th, 2021, 1:08 am

Ha! Yes, actually thank you. I figured it had something to do with higher hydroxide levels “binding” it up- I’ve just never been able to explain it. The insolubility of ferrous hydroxide makes sense. Is this why chelating agents tend to work? Prevents the conversion to ferrous hydroxide?

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Spacklerstyle 2021 Soil Test

Post by MorpheusPA » March 24th, 2021, 1:39 am

He does this a lot. You get used to it.

The important sentence here that really concerns you is:

"As pH increases by one unit, activity of Fe+++ decreases by 1000-fold due to the formation of insoluble Fe +++hydroxide."

If you remember your high school chemistry, water is made of hydrogen (H+) and hydroxide (OH-). It's weird in that it forms its own solvent; it splits into hydrogen hydroxide in water, with some free-floating hydrogen and hydroxide flying around.

As the pH of any solution rises (if you have a lot of sodium, calcium, and magnesium hanging around), there's going to be a disproportionate amount of hydroxide hanging in the solution (OH-).

It really, really likes binding with iron instead, and is strongly attracted to it, because iron sits there with three positive charges (Fe+++) compared to Ca++, Mg++, K+, and Na+. It's not quite that simple due to valence charges and electronegativity and all that, and the fact that charges get masked as they get bound, but...

Once bound, it's strongly bound, by oxygen or hydroxide or a lot of other things. This is not a bond a plant can break easily, or that will dissolve in water. It requires biological processing by some bacteria, and a lot of energy spent to break it, or weathering over time, and energy.

In more acidic soils, the chemistry to break it is more common and the bonds iron makes are also weaker and more easily broken as well--and it's more likely to simply soil bind and be easily available to the plant in the first place.

For each pH point, the availability of iron changes by a huge amount, but you'll find that it isn't severely locked until a pH over 7.0, and it can be worked with up to about 7.3-ish with some effort. Where that effort fails depends on how much effort you want to put in, but right around there, give or take a little. Mostly, a pH around 6.0-6.5 gives good iron availability balanced with good availability of other nutrients, plant dependent.

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