# Need plan for acidic lawn



## kenfeyl (Aug 28, 2018)

Hi everyone,

Thanks for this site. I moved into my home two years ago and have been struggling with my lawn in Long Island, NY. I just got some troubling results from Logan Labs:



Lots of issues, but I assume the biggest is the pH -- is that right? What would your plan of action be? What kind of lime and when should I drop it?

The soil type is loamy sand, and the lawn is a northern mix. FYI, I fertilized two weeks ago with urea.

Thanks.

Ken


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@kenfeyl I moved this to the soil section. I can't analyze it right now, maybe someone else will get to it.

Question, how close are you to a beach or sea water area? The salt levels (4.68%) are really high.

Meanwhile, get lime and apply at 50lb/ksqft as soon as possible.


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## kenfeyl (Aug 28, 2018)

g-man said:


> @kenfeyl I moved this to the soil section. I can't analyze it right now, maybe someone else will get to it.
> 
> Question, how close are you to a beach or sea water area? The salt levels (4.68%) are really high.
> 
> Meanwhile, get lime and apply at 50lb/ksqft as soon as possible.


Hi g-man,

Thanks. Yes, I am about 1,000 ft from the beach. Where are you seeing the 4.68%? Would that be calcitic or dolomitic lime?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Sodium at 4.68%

Cheap lime (aka agricultural lime), dolomitic. You have 10k lawn, so we are talking about 500lb of lime for your yard. You will be doing this for a few years to increase your pH.


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## BenC (Mar 27, 2018)

What g-man said, but feel free to increase the lime rate as much as you care to, tops would be around a 1000 lbs for all 10k. Did you get roots and detritus in the soil sample? Strictly speaking from the soil balancing end of things you should use dolomitic if you have a choice; both ca and mg need to increase about 4 fold each for best results. If I have time tomorrow I'll get you dolo lime rates for pH balancing and also the rec for ca saturation and let you compare them. You may not have to ever put phosphorous down, lots of that, which may mess with micro nutrient availability as you correct your pH. I think guys on here like the the axilo multi. Once you've got your pH coming up ( 3 mo after app, unless you've had a lot of rain) then retest, see where your sodium level is, address that issue, at that time b/c all the lime your getting ready to put down will lower your sodium levels, hopefully. How high is your water table? If you're in the south, maybe look into that seashore paspalum. I don't know much about it.


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## kenfeyl (Aug 28, 2018)

Hi g-man,

Many thanks! There might have been a root or two in the 1-cup sample, but no more than that. How would I find out about my water table?

I'll focus on getting down 50lbs/ksqft dolomitic lime first and then check again in three months as you said.

Here are the dolomitic lime options I was considering:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/40-lb-Pro-Care-Lime/3581994
https://www.homedepot.com/p/40-lb-Pelletized-Limestone-54803/202312836

Would either of these do the trick? For some reason the Lowes says "fast acting" -- not sure what that means.

Ken


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I forgot to do a full analysis.

Let's start with the CEC, 3.64. This means the soil cannot hold nutrients. It is common with sandy soils and I think normal with your long island location. You should apply products twice a month at half rate instead of full rate monthly.

pH is low at 4.3. grass likes the 6 to 6.5 range. The lime will address this. BenC recommended 100lb/ksqft. You might find better prices at coops or places that sell to farmers. It will take time to move thru the soil profile.

Phosphorus is fairly high. Avoid Milorganite or other biosolids.

The soil is low in pottasium. I recommend SOP (0-0-50) at 2lb/ksqft the months the grass is growing.

Sodium is high too like Ben said and hopefully the extra ca and mg will help.

How is the lawn looking?


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## synergy0852 (Jun 30, 2018)

g-man said:


> Let's start with the CEC, 3.64. This means the soil cannot hold nutrients. It is common with sandy soils and I think normal with your long island location. You should apply products twice a week at half rate instead of full rate monthly.


@g-man Did you mean twice amonth instead of twice a week?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes. Thanks for catching that. I will fix it. I should not be typing and watching the kids at the park.


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## kenfeyl (Aug 28, 2018)

g-man said:


> I forgot to do a full analysis.
> 
> Let's start with the CEC, 3.64. This means the soil cannot hold nutrients. It is common with sandy soils and I think normal with your long island location. You should apply products twice a month at half rate instead of full rate monthly.
> 
> ...


Thanks, g-man. I will do the lime.

My lawn is in bad shape. Last year and this I have gotten the weed count way down using all the tips on this forum. However, the lawn is aesthetically bad, which is why I got the soil test. Here's are a couple bigger pictures of the weakest zones:





Several of the blades are yellow, though not in any pattern that I've seen in the various fungus guides. Any idea what this might be? Here's a couple concerning close-ups:





I put some fungicide down about a month ago for red thread. I have no idea what the above is or if it's even a fungus. Any ideas would help!


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## MDJoe (Sep 16, 2019)

Your lawn actually looks a lot better than I would've expected!


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