wow, that site was really slick as far as converting the pdf. anyway, we have had a warm winter and i was bored so i thought id get the soil test done.

8.5 k lawn.

thanks in advance for the feedback

I won't be able to go over this in detail until Monday night or Tuesday. Please ping me then or bump it then, should I forget.

I don't see too many issues at all and very few glaring problems. The Right could use a tap as far as pH is concerned, it's low. The other two are OK, although Ca levels are a whisper low on the left. I wouldn't bother to do much about that. Andy will do the lime, but I see a bit of calcitic for the right in your future.

Potassium is a bit low on the right and back, and a touch low on the left. I'd apply potassium sulfate at 1 pound per thousand per month in April, May, June, September and October on all three (the bit extra on the left won't matter, but you can skip September and October there if you want). Then re-test and you should be much closer to optimal. However, in no case is that badly deficient with your CECs.

I like your OM levels for your CEC, but raising those is always good. You know the drill.

Sodium's a touch high on the left side, but no big deal. Some extremely salt-sensitive plants won't like it, but grass isn't one of those plants.

Iron's low across the board, so Milorganite (or Lilly Miller Moss Out) would be a good idea. Whatever the budget will bear is best, and this number will very slowly rise.

Andy does the micros, but I do see some boron in your future on the right, at least. The back could use a small tap, but it's secondary.

great, thank you

my organic fert plan for the yard plan is 100 lbs MO a month april though nov skipping july and doubling up in may, aug and sept, sbm 50lbs monthly same time and same sched but stopping in oct, 100 lbs cc march april may sept and oct 100 lbs alfalfa in may and sept. sawdust and anything else i can get cheap as it is available and as it breaks down. a guy moved into the neighborhood who does landscaping and he dumped and mulched a pickup truck load of leaves every week or so last fall. easier for him when he works late than running to the dump. He thought i was nuts at first given the volume until he saw how fast it worked in

may try to spray iron but as far as other spraying goes i will be working with soil conditioner this season, maybe try spray iron in may, i am a little concerned about my prowess with the hose end sprayer to commit to the iron apps but that may change. the spraying milk and molasses worked well in the garden and lawn last year too, definitely part of the plan.

morph we added triple super pohsphate late year to bump phosphorous leves, iron levels were lower on this years test. Is there any relationship there or just a coincidence?

and i plan to winterize with urea again, hit it at thanksgiving and at christmas this year, lawn is still deep green except for the quackgrass which is fading from last seasons tenacity. maybe also a synthetic in may/sep will let the grass tell me whether this is neccessary.

can't wait to get started

In this case, I'd use soil-applied iron, and there's a definite relationship between P and Fe levels--P is an iron antagonist. Iron is a P antagonist, but practically everything is so I don't expect any P drop from adding iron (it binds tightly under all circumstances). Air and water are P antagonists...

any danger in using the lilly miller moss out product an the milo? am thinking the moss out product (without fertilizer) migh be a good addition late march mid april with the fast release n discussion on MO last fall.

j rockford wrote:any danger in using the lilly miller moss out product an the milo? am thinking the moss out product (without fertilizer) migh be a good addition late march mid april with the fast release n discussion on MO last fall.

Don't get the Moss Out on concrete (sweep off after application). It'll make ugly rust stains.

Er...don't eat it. Other than that, used at bag rate, there's no issues there.

What is this - a Goldilocks lawn? The pH of the "left" is too high, the "right" is too low, and the back is (you guessed it) juuuusssst riiiight. Geez! Any interesting stories to tell us?


I'm not buying the pH results 100% - I'm going to be conservative in case there's a sampling issue. Five lbs of good Calcitic Lime per 1000 sq ft on the "right".

Do you want to play with the micro's? Boron varies from almost-OK to pretty-poor in the tests.

nothing really interesting to tell, added about 3 pickup truck loads of leaves this fall in addition to what fell from the trees in the yard, about 20 bags of leaves year before. in the left area a top dressing of compost last spring, record rain for the year and about 6 lbs of potassium sulfate (nutrient) per k. we tapped boron and zinc last year the right area took the worsy of the rainfall and has shade where as the left has full sun. also his left and right areas with 0-45-0 and a 20-20-20 last spring

as far as calcitic will 5 lbs per k of mir i cal do?could i drop this in feb?

i am up for nudging the boron and have zinc sulfate in the cabinet as well

would gypsum help as opposed to lime?

should i ask logan for a retest of the right?

thanks again

as far as calcitic will 5 lbs per k of mir i cal do?could i drop this in feb?

You can go up to 9 lbs per 1000 sq ft, but I'm nervous about the differences in the same area, without an explanation. I'd rather go slow and test again in August or so. You can drop it any time that the ground isn't frozen.

would gypsum help as opposed to lime?

Why? We're trying to raise the pH. Lime will, Gypsum won't.

should i ask logan for a retest of the right?

Nope. I'm sure Logan did it right. How many samples did you mix for the test?

about 2 dozen cores for the sample in each area.

area is just under 2k sqare feet so about 9 lbs of mag i cal should on the total area. i assume i can get that down in feb, the ground is not frozen.

the gypsum was a lark on adding calcium in addition to the lime.

i am totally with you on walking up the ph slowly, same with boron given the discrepancy

if all the readings on the test were closer i could get down to one soil test for the lawn, glad i separated it into three i think...

as far as the moss out product for iron any limitations on when that can be dropped other than on frozen soil? was thinking about feb and march and july the MO the other months of the growing season

No real limitations. I might avoid a July drop if the temps are in the 90's and 100's, but it's not much of a worry with a soil application.

andy, what rate to tap boron?

the " right" area is about 1800 sq ft. the back is abot 2800 sq ft and the left is about 2200 sq ft. i will remeasure before applying but that is from my notes last year.

1.5 tablespoons per 1000 sq ft on the Right, and 1 tablespoon per 1000 sq ft on the Back. Leave the Left alone for now - we'll tweak when the others are ready for tweaking.