Issues with phos and K

[mildewydog]

hey guys,

I'm out here in coastal RI, ive been using soil savvy to guide my applications since 2016, I have never gotten the specific test required to have my soil analyzed by the gurus here, and I'm not looking for an analysis, maybe just a helping hand to steer me in the right direction. I fertilize roughly 10,000 sf. soil type is a sandy loam

first i would like to say this site has been a huge help, thank you guys for putting it together.

starting in 2016 i really started trying the regimens as suggested on this site. micros were all on the low side, p was high, k was low, as was my ph

through 17 -19 really was trying to get everything in line and the lawn has improved dramaticly. lots of milorganite and baystate, lime, agressive witer program hammering the n. the phos went up along with the k while ph has routinely been 5.5 ish

noticing the p number trending way high due to the milo, in 20 and 21 i stopped using the milorganite except for a light spring aplication realy just to get soil activity, started going heavy on alot of the micros and focusing on n-k and ph. using nxt line,humichar, carbonx, and urea mostly.

soil test for this year came in and phos is still way high, and k is still way low, micros have come into the acceptable range, ph remain unchanged around 5.4.

i have been applying a 0-0-60 potash granule, as well as a repeated monthly applications of an 8-0-20 solution called mojo k20 along with solu-cal as well as fast acting lime from bb stores at double the bag rate but i cant get the numbers to move. the mojo k 20 product is a "liduid lime" and as I said an 8-0-20 fert.

over the years the calcium has moved slowly into the acceptable range. iron and Mn are also within the acceptable range

the soil is 1000% better looking, and the lawn itself is great. i guess im just wondering if im missing a trick with the K linked to ph or a counter action from moulders chart with timing of applications (always spaced at least 2 weeks apart)of all this product, or is it just a waiting game. just cant get either number to move very much. despite 4lbs/k potash, 4lbs /k sufate of potash, 10lb/k solucal, 10lbs / k of the fast lime, 5lbs/k of the mojo, and probably 6lbs/k n urea yearly.

not in this for a quick fix, i know fixing the soil is a long game. but im obviously not doing something right here.

any help at all would be appreciated?

[andy10917]

Yeah, I see the list and signature of the products of the "Mojo crowd" all over this. I guess they can't identify the problem?

We don't subscribe to the mojo ("magic") products crowd here - we stick to the core/basics and work the formula and regimens year after year.

We can probably straighten out the issues, but we'll need to start from scratch with the LL test if you want us diagnose the problem(s) and come up with a plan. Your money, your time, your call...

[MorpheusPA]

Yep. I just had a recent run-in with that crew myself. Nothing I said was right, even with papers to back me up. Bark won't fix phosphorus (it can be used to filter water for orthophosphates). Soil-less mix magically has no capacity to bind resources (it actually has a better range than most soils in many cases). Magic works (it doesn't). It still turns my stomach a week later.

We can repair it...to a point. Overapplications often just have to fade on their own, but sometimes it can be fixed by counterbalancing that with raising availability of other things to compensate, to some extent. As Andy noted, your call.

[mildewydog]

wow, the two big guns, I'm honored.

so if im reading your comments correctly, i am my own problem, and i am locking up my soil, with all these magic amendments?

i think i'll get the LL test, and find out for sure.

[mildewydog]

just got my LL test results back in (took a while, I'm lazy), not sure if im interpreting this correctly but i think it looks pretty good

[MorpheusPA]

Drop a link to the test in the Interpretation Queue...we've got 2 in front of this one and right now, at least I'm kind of backlogged. We'll get there, probably by the weekend.

But except for some limitations imposed and some counterbalancing you may want to do...it's not looking too bad overall. And yes, lay off the phosphorus...starting ten years ago.

[mildewydog]

will do!!!

[MorpheusPA]

OK. This is not a bad soil at all, although it comes with some minor challenges. I'll normalize answers to a 4" depth, which isn't a problem. As this is your first, I'll do a line-by-line.

ME 7.0: Lower-midrange, could be sandy-silt, silty-sand, an extremely light clay with sand...given your locale and a quick search, my bet is silty sand. You can do a jar test if you want. It holds decent resources, will shift at a decent speed if necessary, and if you test every second, third year, you'll be fine. It's unlikely to run away on you the way sand can, but won't stay rock steady in place like a heavy silt or clay.

pH 6.4: Unimportant, really, but people expect this. It has its uses, but it's a composite number built from calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium...the list is endless. I discuss the components below, which are of much more concern. If those are correct, the pH will naturally follow.

OM 5.5: Good! Certainly mulch mow and so on. But no special effort is required.

Sulfur 16: Normal. Most answers here are normal.

Phosphorus 815: Sky high. This would be more normal for a flower garden. Try to avoid phosphorus sources where possible. None will be required for the foreseeable future, by which we're talking decades to low centuries. You'd mentioned a concern that it could block uptake of other resources and while that's a possibility, it's unlikely at these levels (my flower gardens are actually set higher). P's availability in solution is always low, and we'll simply counterbalance the other resources (if necessary, which it really isn't here).

Calcium 66%: Perfect. That tiny deficit showing in the pounds per acre doesn't matter and I'm ignoring it.

Magnesium 14%: Perfect.

Potassium 4.2%: Perfect.

Sodium 1.8%: Higher than I like to see, which is true across the board this year. I expect it was the winter we had and the amount of salt thrown around. It's always truer in lower EC soils, which you have, and not really a problem (the pounds per acre is low). It's not of concern, just something to keep an eye on. Sodium does leach out over time and with good rainfall, which is not generally a problem in Rhode Island.

Boron 0.5: Just a tad low. 0.7 would be the target but...eh. Read the Micronutrient Application Guide in the FAQs. If you're comfortable doing it, pick up a box of 20 Mule Team Borax and follow the (optional) instructions under Recommendations below.

Iron 186: Fine, but not going to give you the best color (I like numbers over 200 with a pH under 6.8 for that--one case where overall pH comes into play). The Milorganite from the boron above will help with this, and if you want to feed using Milorganite, that will slowly raise overall iron numbers over time. Your Showtime and Midnight will show better color with more iron than you have.

All the other micros look great.

Recommendations (entirely optional):

June 1: Apply 2 Tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet using the Micronutrient Application Guide.

September 1: Apply 2 Tbsp 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet using the Micronutrient Application Guide.