Soil Test -- Turk 2023

[Turk]

Third year soil test, fourth year in the house:

Location: near Annapolis, MD
Lawn Size: 24,000 sf total
Grass Type: Mix of TTTF, perennial ryegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass
Weekly mowing during season (mulching mode during season, mulched leaves during fall)
Watering: approx 1 in. / week or less during summer
Experience: Some experience.

Based on last year's recommendation, I did the following:
-May 23, Sept. 29, and Oct. 28: Added 18-24-12 Starter Fertilizer on average 4.23 lb/ 1000 sf;
-May 28, also added Mule Team Borax (3 Tbsp / 1000 sf) and Copper Oxide mixed with Milo carrier 12.8 lb / 1000 sf. (sorry, unable to apply in fall as recommended due to personal time constraints)

The 6-inch sample depth is a guess, some of the samples may have been less (e.g., 5").

I see the Phosphorous, Boron, and Copper have increased thanks to Morpheus' help last year. Don't understand why organic matter has been dropping every year, especially since I mulch mow lawn and leaves in fall.

Lawn is definitely looking healthier, TTTF seedlings from last fall finally starting to wake up and recover from the winter (bermudagrass finally under control). Mature TTTF in back yard growing crazy thick and green

Just did the first (mulch) mow yesterday, it's good to see a green carpet again.

Thanks!



(2021 soil test is in last year's rec. in the link above)

[MorpheusPA]

Welcome to my life, my soil OM keeps rising and I don't do much to help it. I have no real idea why at this point. Since yours is around 4%, I wouldn't worry about it too terribly much. You have bigger fish to fry.

Your pH slipped. Slightly, but it did. Last year I wasn't certain; at 5.9, I am. You have a heavy soil, and enough magnesium, so we absolutely don't want to add any magnesium. At all. In this case, we're talking a pure calcitic lime--you're looking for anything with 0% magnesium in it.

I was in the same boat and found Sta-Green Fast Acting Lime at Lowe's, $13 for 25 pounds. No magnesium, fast calcium. Sol-U-Cal, EnCap, or any other brand of fast calcium with no magnesium at all is fine. It's not going to be the cheapest, but we're going to slap this soil. My recommendations are below, but please feel free to cut this back to fit the budget given the size of your lawn. Anything is better than nothing.

We could chase boron a little more, but I'm not inclined to do so. It's very close, and you'll do that next year again anyway. We're done with phosphorus (for now; I suspect a bit of over-sampling here but that's fine), and copper seems to have come up quite nicely.

Other than the below, feed normally (May, September, October, and November), and use organics if you wish.

Recommendations:

April: Apply 7 pounds per thousand square feet of calcitic lime.

October: Apply 5 pounds per thousand square feet of calcitic lime.

[Turk]

Thanks so much, Morpheus!

I guess the low pH helps explain why last fall's seeding came in but didn't really fill in over the winter as much as I expected, I'm guessing it's still trying to grow roots with limited topgrowth so far.

[MorpheusPA]

It's not horrible or anything by any stretch; 5.9, 6.0 is just a little low. That first season is normally a little sparse, and I wouldn't be surprised if the first spring is a bit sparse as well. Keep it damp if your weather is getting as dry as my April currently is; water weekly to insure that the roots don't struggle even in this relatively cool weather (except for the end of the week, which is supposed to be stinking hot!)

My own soil balances flawlessly at 6.3; on the low side of the scale, but a picture-perfect chemistry with a literal ton of calcium per acre. My gardens have slipped to 5.6 and that's on the low end. They still do, overall, mostly fine, but I took the zinnia mostly off the table this year as they really don't like soil that acidic and didn't do well last year.