Juan's backyard soiltest

Learn how improving your soil can lead to a better looking lawn
jrguzmanr
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Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 5th, 2019, 12:07 pm

I'm seeding today (Prosperity, Bewitched and Award) and i just received my soil test results. Your guidance would be helpful.


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andy10917
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 5th, 2019, 12:22 pm

Please add a Link to this thread into the Soil Test Interpretation Queue.

jrguzmanr
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 5th, 2019, 1:25 pm

Unless I'm doing something wrong, I did. I couldn't do it right away following the creating of my thread as I got a message saying that my post was too soon to my earlier post.

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andy10917
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 5th, 2019, 1:48 pm

No problem. I have it.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by lawnlawn » September 9th, 2019, 10:05 am

jrguzmanr wrote:
September 5th, 2019, 12:07 pm
I'm seeding today (Prosperity, Bewitched and Award) and i just received my soil test results. Your guidance would be helpful.


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It seems we aren't that far geographically, do you mind sharing what prompted you to go for seed blend of Prosperity, Bewitched, and Award? I am shopping for grass seeds and would like to go for the best (both visually and ease of maintenance) available in the market that thrives well in our area. Thanks!


jrguzmanr
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 9th, 2019, 12:53 pm

First, I was thinking of doing an Award monostand, but from what I've read, that is more prone to disease than a KGB blend since each blade has the same weakness allowing the disease to spread more rapidly. This being my first reno, I didn't want to take the chance of my backyard turning brown in a few days. Reference here: viewtopic.php?t=25213

Once I decided on a blend, I had to think of which KBG's should I include and how many. it seems that most people go with 3 in the blend and from what I've read in the other threads and taking a look at NTEP, it seems that these have the same color and growth rate.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 9th, 2019, 1:30 pm

I couldn't find a way to edit my post, so here are two edits:

I should've said the three blends that I selected seem to have similar color and growth rate, not equal.

Second, i have a thread in the lawn renovations forum, which you find here viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25322

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andy10917
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 9th, 2019, 9:00 pm

OK, back to the soil test...

It's not terrible, but it needs some work - it will come around and be a good soil in the end.

The TEC is just to the slightly heavy side of a good Loam soil. It will hold nutrients when they're added. It's got a mediocre OM number that could use regular OM additions. Mulched leaves, peat moss and compost should be added 2-3 times a year.

In the cations, Magnesium is higher than we like and Calcium/Potassium are short. These work and combine to make up the pH to be at the very lowest edge of a soil that won't show problems, but they're not enough to be optimal.

Since the Phosphorus is also low, the solution for addressing N, P and K is the use of a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10, 19-19-19 or similar equal numbers. Pick one and post the NPK for application amounts and frequency.

For the Calcium, apply good calcitic lime (Encap/Mag-I-Cal, SoluCal or Stagreen) at 9 lbs/K, every 90 days.

Iron is good, and available at your pH. In the other micro's, all is OK except for Boron. Do you wish to fix that starting this year?

** Do not start this program and try to do the Fall Fertilizer Regimen at the same time.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by lawnlawn » September 10th, 2019, 8:30 am

jrguzmanr wrote:
September 9th, 2019, 12:53 pm
First, I was thinking of doing an Award monostand, but from what I've read, that is more prone to disease than a KGB blend since each blade has the same weakness allowing the disease to spread more rapidly. This being my first reno, I didn't want to take the chance of my backyard turning brown in a few days. Reference here: viewtopic.php?t=25213

Once I decided on a blend, I had to think of which KBG's should I include and how many. it seems that most people go with 3 in the blend and from what I've read in the other threads and taking a look at NTEP, it seems that these have the same color and growth rate.
Thanks so much for sharing your thought process behind seed selection, this is very helpful. I will also try to get a custom blend, will read more about blend possibilities that can lead to the best looking/disease-resistant lawn.

jrguzmanr
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 11th, 2019, 2:31 pm

thanks Andy,
I had a hard time finding a fertilizer locally with the same NPK numbers but I found a place and I'm picking it up tomorrow. it's a 14-14-14 in 40 pound bags. To see if I'm understanding what I'm reading correctly, I seeded 8k (my backyard), so to get 1lb of N per 1k sq ft, I need to spread 1.42 bags, correct?

I found StaGreen on the bix box store's website, but i want to make sure that I'm looking at the right product, would it be the "Rapid Lime with soluble calcium"? if so, do I apply it at bag rate? Can I do this on the same day that I fertilize? Does it matter that I'm waiting for seeds to germinate?

thanks!

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by TimmyG » September 11th, 2019, 3:04 pm

jrguzmanr wrote:
September 11th, 2019, 2:31 pm
I had a hard time finding a fertilizer locally with the same NPK numbers but I found a place and I'm picking it up tomorrow.
None at Home Depot or Lowe's? Around here, both Home Depot and Lowe's carry 10-10-10. The bag will say something like "All Purpose Fertilizer" and can usually be found in the same garden center aisle as the lawn products.

Also try Walmart. That may be your cheapest option, especially if your local Walmart is clearancing fertilizers.

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andy10917
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 11th, 2019, 3:07 pm

I had a hard time finding a fertilizer locally with the same NPK numbers but I found a place and I'm picking it up tomorrow. it's a 14-14-14 in 40 pound bags. To see if I'm understanding what I'm reading correctly, I seeded 8k (my backyard), so to get 1lb of N per 1k sq ft, I need to spread 1.42 bags, correct?
The 10-10-10 and 19-19-19 are just a couple of examples of "balanced fertilizers". 14-14-14 is a balanced fertilizer. It goes down at approx. 7 lbs/K. So, for 8,000 sq ft of lawn, you'll need 56 lbs of the 14-14-14. That's 1.4 bags of 40 lbs each.
I found StaGreen on the bix box store's website, but i want to make sure that I'm looking at the right product, would it be the "Rapid Lime with soluble calcium"? if so, do I apply it at bag rate?
That's the product. Bag rate is generally around 9 lbs/K for products using the technology.
Can I do this on the same day that I fertilize? Does it matter that I'm waiting for seeds to germinate?
If the fertilizer contains Urea, you should wait two weeks between Lime and fertilizer apps, as Nitrogen can be lost to the atmosphere when these are applied together. I am not a fan of applying Lime near or just after seeding - it can make the surface soil pretty alkaline, and that won't help the seeds.

Don't try to do everything at once - remember that lawns/gardens are a marathon and not a sprint.

jrguzmanr
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 11th, 2019, 7:21 pm

I didn't even think of walmart and found 10-10-10 40 lb bags. Thanks! To confirm, I would need 2 bags? I will put it down this weekend and continue to stare at my seeds. LOL

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 11th, 2019, 8:29 pm

Unless you know some way to get the 56 lbs of fertilizer into a 40 lb bag, Yes you will need 2 bags. The second bag will still contain 60% of the contents when you are finished.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by TimmyG » September 11th, 2019, 8:48 pm

Actually, it would seem that jrguzmanr is going with 10-10-10 at 10 lbs/k, so with 8k of backyard, he'll need two full 40-lb bags.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 11th, 2019, 8:55 pm

I answered with my 14-14-14 numbers. 14-14-14 requires fewer lbs/K for an application. Compare price/K before assuming that a lower price per "bag" is the best deal - price tags mean nothing.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 11th, 2019, 9:53 pm

Good point about being cheaper per lb of N.....but honestly I was just happy that I found a balanced fertilizer.

As for the lime, you said to wait two weeks after I apply the fertilizer, but hopefully my seeds will be in the sprout and pout phase then. Would it be ok to walk around to apply the lime then or should I wait longer, e.g. until the first mow?

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andy10917
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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by andy10917 » September 11th, 2019, 10:01 pm

Everybody seems to be trying to make themselves into a "Special Situation" that goes around the "nothing until the grass emerges from Sprout-and-Pout". Relax. Nothing means nothing, and because you have an itchy trigger finger and want to do something doesn't make it a special situation.

"Volcanoes in your backyard" count as a "special situation" - please post if you get one or two of them...

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 11th, 2019, 10:41 pm

TimmyG wrote:
September 11th, 2019, 8:48 pm
Actually, it would seem that jrguzmanr is going with 10-10-10 at 10 lbs/k, so with 8k of backyard, he'll need two full 40-lb bags.
Yes, that's what I meant...that I needed to apply two bags. thanks for confirming that for me.

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Re: Juan's backyard soiltest

Post by jrguzmanr » September 14th, 2019, 8:31 pm

I'm applying the 10-10-10 tomorrow...how often should I apply it?

Andy, Yes I would like to address the Boron now, if possible.

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