JPack's Soil Test Results - 2021

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JPack
Posts: 29
Joined: March 9th, 2016, 1:43 am
Location: Southeast Iowa
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

JPack's Soil Test Results - 2021

Post by JPack » April 25th, 2021, 3:01 pm

Happy Spring ST6!

My 2021 soil test results are attached, and here’s the link to my 2020 results: viewtopic.php?t=25634.
• Lawn size: 1 acre (only 2500 sf front yard, rest the back yard – relevant for pH discussion below)
• Irrigation: front yard irrigated, back yard just rainfall
• Goal: continue “best” practices to gradually improve my soil and lawn, but will hold on micros for now until I’ve accomplished more with the rest of my soil remediation plan. I probably will also need to hold on any significant OM supplementation this year. After further soil remediation plan progress is made and I’ve completed my tree plantings on the property, the budget should open up to consider spreading OM on the lawn.

Last year, I completed the following from my soil remediation plan:
• Sta-Green Fast Acting Gypsum: 3 apps at 6 lbs/K and 1 app at 5 lbs/K (the 5 lbs/K app was in October after the product’s bag/labeling/weight had changed, and the “heavy” bag rate for lawns also changed from 6 lbs/K down to 5 lbs/K)
• 19-19-19: 3 apps at 5 lbs/K (spaced at least 2 weeks from the gypsum)

Regarding pH: Comparing this year’s test results to last year’s, the pH notably dropped from 8.1 to 7.3. For sampling this year, I took 7 samples from my back yard and 1 sample from the front yard. Same total of 8 samples like I did last year, but last year I took 6 in the back yard and 2 in the front yard. I switched to back-7 front-1 this year because I felt that would give a more representative sample of my yard as a whole (front yard is only approximately 7% of my total yard sq ft). I mention this because I did some pH sampling in the fall last year in preparation for picking “right trees, right places” before doing my tree planting plan for the whole acre. I wanted to know if the 8.1 pH from last year’s overall lawn soil sample truly applied throughout my whole acre, or if some areas had pH closer to neutral (and thus, hopefully some more tree options for long-term success in those areas). I used an Apera Instruments PH60 pH Tester; 3-point calibrated the tester using Apera’s 4.00, 7.00, and 10.01 calibration buffer solutions; pulled 8 soil samples in the 3-4” depth (6 soil samples in the back yard and 2 in the front yard, pretty much in the same general areas as my 2020 soil sampling); and prepared and tested each individual sample using the extraction procedure explained here: https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floricu ... -nutrition. Here are the results:
• Back half of the back yard: 6.12, 6.93, and 7.00
• Front half of the back yard: 7.43, 7.47, 7.80
• Front yard: 7.71, 8.06

So, pH is slightly acidic in the back yard furthest away from the house, gets more alkaline as you get closer to the house, and is definitely alkaline in the front yard. So, I offer that as a potential explanation (at least in part) as to why going from 2 samples in the front yard in 2020 down to 1 sample in the front yard for 2021 may have influenced the pH for my overall yard sample results from Logan going down to 7.3 for this year. I don’t know if this will affect continued gypsum usage or not, but wanted to make sure I provided the full picture of my slight change in sampling method this year and potentially relevant pH results from last year.

Hopefully, this year’s test results show some improvements compared to 2020’s results, and I’m excited to tackle another year of improving my soil. As with every previous year, thank you very much, ST6, for your time and advice helping me to improve my soil and yard! I really appreciate it!

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: JPack's Soil Test Results - 2021

Post by andy10917 » April 29th, 2021, 8:16 pm

That Magnesium number continues to amaze me. It's simply astounding...

I can't think of a better plan than the one you did last year, and nothing has made enough change to invalidate it. I'd repeat the regimen for 2021.

JPack
Posts: 29
Joined: March 9th, 2016, 1:43 am
Location: Southeast Iowa
Grass Type: Northern Mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: JPack's Soil Test Results - 2021

Post by JPack » April 30th, 2021, 1:43 pm

Sounds good, Andy. I'll repeat the plan this year. Wish the "astounding" aspect of my soil was a better kind of astounding... If you need any Epsom salt, just let me know. Thanks again very much for your time helping me!

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