Just got this today and I am including last year's test also for comparison. The numbers are A LOT worse since last time. I used the soil from 1"-6" and this time I just used the soil from the 3-4" range. I do have to say that the soil in the top 2" looks pretty healthy since it is black and looks like topsoil but that isn't the part that got sampled. Well let the recommendation begin!!!!
OLD SOIL TEST 12/10

NEW SOIL TEST 12/11


P.S. Is there a way to post a PDF without converting it???

P.S. Is there a way to post a PDF without converting it???

Sorry I can't help you out with the soil test, but as far as the PDF posting goes, I never found a way to post it without converting it over to an image file. I tried and searched on the board for instructions and never found anything other than folks saying you have to upload it as an image.

What did you add this past year?

Front Lawn 4500 Sq/ft----Back Lawn 4300 Sq/ft(Roughly 9000 sq/ft)

22 Dec 10 200 lbs. Cracked Corn(.37 lbs N/1K)
22 Dec 10 90 lbs. Calcitic Lime
22 Dec 10 90 lbs. UCG
05 Mar 11 Barricade @ 5.34 ibs
05 Mar 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @ 6oz/1K
05 Mar 11 Sprayed BL KH & SC @ 2oz & 3oz/1K
19 Mar 11 200 lbs. Cracked Corn(.37 lbs N/1K)
20 Mar 11 Sprayed BL KH & SC @ 2oz & 3oz/1K
03 Apr 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @ 6oz/1K
08 Apr 11 100 lbs Cotton Seed Meal/Front Yard(1.34 N)
08 Apr 11 100 lbs Soybean Meal/ Back Yard(1.63 N)
08 Apr 11 36-0-0 @ 3.5 x2 passes(2 N)
09 Apr 11 Watered Lawn w/ BL SC&KH @ 1 on EZFlo(1HR)
16 Apr 11 Watered Lawn W BL SC&KH @ 2 on EZFlo(1HR)
20 Apr 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @ 6 oz/1K
21 Apr 11 144 lbs. Milorganite
21 Apr 11 200 lbs of Alfalfa Pellets
22 Apr 11 Watered Lawn wBL SC&KH @2 on EZFlo(1HR)
25 Apr 11 Spot Sprayed with Celcius @.133 rate
29 Apr 11 Spot Sprayed with Celcius @.133 rate
30 Apr 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @6 oz/1K
03 May 11 200 lbs of Soybean Meal(Spreader @ 7)
06 May 11 Spot Sprayed with Celcius @.133 rate w/Iron&Yucca
07 May 11 144 lbs Milorganite
07 May 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @6oz/1K
07 May 11 Filled EZFlo with BL SC&KH
14 May 11 Laid 450 sq/ft of TifGrand Bermuda
21 May 11 144 lbs Milorganite
21 May 11 200 lbs Cracked Corn
02 Jun 11 144 lbs Milorganite
02 Jun 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @6oz/1K
04 Jun 11 Spot Sprayed Celcius @.133
09 Jun 11 Spot Sprayed Celcius @.133
11 Jun 11 200 lbs Soybean Meal
17 Jun 11 144 lbs Milorganite
17 Jun 11 Sprayed Iron Plus @6oz/1K
25 Jun 11 Spot Sprayed Celcius @.133
03 Jul 11 144 lbs Milorganite
07 Jul 11 100 lbs Soybean Meal
08 Jul 11 36-0-0 @ 3 1/2
24 Jul11 200 lbs Soybean Meal
24 Jul11 144 lbs Milorganite
02 Aug 11 36-0-0 @ 3 1/2
02 Aug 11 80 lbs Horse Bedding(Front)
02 Aug 11 120 lbs Horse Bedding(Back)
22 Aug 11 144 lbs Milorganite

I kind of stopped adding to this list towards the end of the season but all I added was 200 lbs more Horse Bedding and one or two more applications of 36-0-0 and BL Soil Conditioner and Kelp Help when I watered.

great list , but all those pounds over how many square feet ? much easier to list products/treatments amounts per 1000 sq ft vs total amount dropped.

Sorry, that would be 9K sq/ft

so about 371 lb/K .probably not enough to show any increase in organic matter on a test,but plenty for feeding!

<Oops - sent before I saw the concurrent posts>

All I can say is that if the top inch or two is black, keep pouring it on and hope that the higher OM is on the way. A CEC of 2??? That's pretty much sand. BTW, how many sq ft are the combined yards?

I'd concentrate on the OM to whatever degree you can bear to pour it on.

9 lbs of Calcitic for the back yard, and 5 lbs for the front yard, per 1000 sq ft. Add 0.5 lbs of Epsom Salts per 1000 sq ft also.

Did you do anything to the micronutrients this year? I don't see anything in your list or evidence of changes in the soil for them.

Any ideas where the Sodium is coming from? That's getting up there...

For the major nutrients, I think you're doing OK. In a low-CEC soil, you have to keep it up, because it ain't hanging around for very long. How is the quality of the grass? Does it show signs quickly of being hungry if you skip more than a few weeks?

I'm not going to pull punches - that's a challenging soil. You're going to need to stay on it to keep a top-quality lawn. But I think it can be done.

The lawn is 9K sq/ft. The only amendments I added was Boron and Lime which you recommended last year. The boron I think all went on the west side of the front yard since that area never really got dark green like the rest of the lawn no matter what I did to it but other than that it seemed healthy and grew like the rest of the lawn. I tried going totally organic last year but the lawn never seemed to take off until I started adding the Urea. I remember TW writing about how organics don't really work well with bermuda so I was debating about continuing it or not? I didn't know about the Milorganite trick with the Boron until it was too late. The only thing I can think of for the Sodium is that I applied BL Soil Conditioner on the lawn all year and used SLS as the base for it. The lawn seemed fine once I started using the 36-0-0 which is urea based slow release. My lawn seems to be just fine, I was hoping to just need some fine tuning to take it over the top as I haven't really seen any other issues with it. During the summer it is about 99.9% weed free and seems to fill in the burn spots in the back from the dog in about two weeks or so. I am willing to do anything possible to get it where it needs to be, just let me know what else I need to do. Thanks for the advice already given!!!

HanLawn wrote:so about 371 lb/K ..........but plenty for feeding!

Mightyquinn wrote: I tried going totally organic last year but the lawn never seemed to take off until I started adding the Urea. I remember TW writing about how organics don't really work well with bermuda so I was debating about continuing it or not?

I dropped NOWHERE NEAR that much of an organic feeding, but was also disappointed with the results.

I'm probably going urea only as well in 2012.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I was thinking the same thing but if I need OM, I am wondering what the cheapest way to go since I won't need any feeding I was thinking of going with the wood pellets which are cheap and break down really fast!

depending on how physical you are {and/ or have some teenagers helping} 1 cubic yard of compost topdressing per 1000 sq ft would give you about 1000 pounds per K of good late stage organic material per application.If you shop around, you should be able to find a supplier to deliver it for about $20-35 per cubic yard.

I don't mind physical work but I plan on leveling The lawn this spring so that might have to wait till later. I have heard that you don't get that much return on doing that but I am sure open to ideas!

May have to invest in a wheelbarrow too!

Mightyquinn wrote:May have to invest in a wheelbarrow too!

If you do, do yourself a favor and get a two-wheeler. You won't believe the difference in handling.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Its not that bad really,I can spread 1 yard in about 2 hours taking my time to rake it in well,drink breaks,a few sit down breaks, etc with no helpers. I would think on 9000 ft, doing it yourself, would be 3-4 days working 4 hours each.Get a few teenagers to help move it around, and easy to knock out in 1 day. I dont know any quicker or cheaper way to add so much organic matter in one shot!

I have been looking at wheelbarrows and have thought the same thing about a two wheeled version, I think Rubbermaid makes one that looks pretty sturdy.

I think if I did go that route I would do it in a day or two because once I start something I just want to get it done and over with. I don't have the luxury of knowing many teenagers and my kids are too young. It is usually just the wife and me when it comes to labor around the house plus I am very particular on how I want things done. Two years ago I tried leveling the lawn with sand and laid out about 6-8 yards of it in one day all by myself with the wife helping just towards the end. Needless to say it didn't work out as I looked over a few key steps.

the teens/cheap labor would only be used to work the master pile dumped in driveway/road- load the wheelbarrow and push around lawn to dump small piles all over the property in spots you mark with flags {the grunt work}- then all YOU have to do is spread the small individual piles around with a rake! Well worth the $40-50 to pay the lucky laborer for 3-5 hours of grunt work!

Yeah, that EC stinks so we're going to be gentle. With a 2, expect the soil to pin around fast; anything added or anything nature brings in will cause a large change. You don't have the cushioning a higher CEC (and hence higher stored resources) will give you.

One, pour OM if possible to get the CEC up. I don't care what source. OM takes a while to perk down, so I wouldn't expect to see the answers rise much the first year.

Phosphorus out front is kind of low--I'd rather see 200 here--but what you add will wash, so gentle is best. Half bag rate of starter in May and June, and let that perk for a bit. Then half rate again in September. If you can get high-potassium starter (like Lesco's 18-24-12) that would help out the K a bit.

Other than that, let's hold off on the K source until things change a bit more. It's not that bad, but as CEC rises that percentage will drop.

Mind any sodium sources if you can, I don't like the rise there. However, with your CEC, even that saturation percentage isn't a real problem.

My soil was like that. I've been doing two tests, one at 1.5 inches and one at 4-5 inches to see what is really going on. You'll find that the heavy OM really takes hold in the top much faster, but it does perk down. If you do the same next year you'll see improvement. I had the exact same thing happen as I was sampling high and when I went low, even after a year of decent OM dropping, I saw terrible numbers.

After 3 years, the last two around 1000 lbs/thousand, I'm almost at 4% OM down low and approaching a CEC of 10. Keep it up, it does work.