# High Sulfur and Copper



## quattljl (Aug 8, 2018)

Hello all, I received my first soil sample back for my back yard. I've basically never done anything other than mowing and an occasional weed-and-feed type product. So as expected, it's pretty much deficient in everything. Everything except for Copper and Sulfur that is. I tried searching to see what I can find but when every thread is titled "XXX's soil results" it makes it a little difficult to sort through.

What could cause these two elements to be present at such high levels relative to everything else that's so deficient? Is it something that I need to be concerned about or will this clear itself up with regular fertilization practices? If not, how do I go about correcting it?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1akNB7JRQQX9reZhVMJ3h56NKeXS3eqbmXg/view?usp=drivesdk


----------



## grassland (Mar 7, 2019)

I am not a specialist in turf management, but from what I've learned, I don't think those levels are anything you need to worry about. Again, I could be wrong but your levels look ok. Trying to over correct can cause more problems. Micronutrients can vary from lawn to lawn and from region to region. When I got my soil results back, every macro and micro was severely deficient, except sulfur and cooper. The land my neighborhood was built on used to be a cow pasture, so what I got in the lawn is probably naturally there from poo, sewage, or whatever was sprayed on it or died on it. It just might be what your soil is composed of naturally.

Heavy use of cooper-containing fungicies, fertilizers, etc can be the cause...or what ever resides naturally in the lawn.

I believe sulfur can be vary depending on soil types (clay, sand, or soils containg gypsum, salts, sulfates), but your sulfur is pretty close to the target area. Sulfur is good for fighting off diseases

I would think that you don't need to do anything with the cooper and sulfur levels since you are practically in the target area. Plant and animcal do a pretty good job of naturally managing micronutrients. It's when those levels are critically low or at toxic levels that they cause problems.

I would stick with addressing the macros and promote good cultural practices to promote a healthy lawn. Maybe some dolomite to help with the Ca, Mg. The pH will probably correct naturally (besides, if you wanted to raise the pH, you would have to put down alot of lime with repeat applications and you might risk over correcting it. I would only do it if your pH was really low). Cycle some organic fert in between synthetic ferts to lessen additions of salt to soil over time. Get a good insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, preemergent program that fits you. I would go as far to say that if your macros look good and your lawn looks great, that's all you need to do as a DIYer. Being too OCD about soil amendments and corrections might cause more problems.


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

The Lawn Care Nut, Allyn Hane, (Hot LIne: 833-526-8477) is a distributor for Soil Savvy. He should be able to answer your questions and explain how the raw data is used to calculate the recommendations for nutrient applications. I expect he has thoroughly researched Soil Savvy and can direct you to the studies (university, turf consultants, etc.) that have been performed regarding the calibration, accuracy and reliability of the Soil Savvy Test.


----------



## quattljl (Aug 8, 2018)

@grassland thanks for the thorough response and advice. I didn't think it was anything to be concerned about, but did want to check. My septic tank and drain field is located in my back yard so that could explain the Sulfur levels.

I have basically no viable grass and a lot of weeds right now. I'm more or less using this test as a baseline to see what can happen with regular fert over a season while trying to establish new grass.


----------



## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

Soil Savvy doesn't disclose their testing procedures so it's kinda hard to do an independent analysis on the results. I read somewhere that they measure plant available nutrients. (Can't remember where). That being the case, with a low PH, less will be available and if you raise it, your other nutrients may increase as well. Now, how much to raise it? Since they don't test for CEC, H value, % sat of H, or buffer PH, it's a guess on lime quantity. Maybe put out 20 lbs/M of calcitic or if you have sandy soil, 10 lbs/M? That's just a shot in the dark though. If you choose to use soil savvy again, then retest in a few months to see what the difference is. With soil savvy, you should adjust, and retest to see the outcome and then keep repeating. It can get pricey.

I would suggest taking a look at the soil testing thread. The labs suggested there disclose their testing procedures and test the whole bank of nutrients so you can adjust any deficiencies accurately.


----------



## grassland (Mar 7, 2019)

quattljl said:


> @grassland thanks for the thorough response and advice. I didn't think it was anything to be concerned about, but did want to check. My septic tank and drain field is located in my back yard so that could explain the Sulfur levels.
> 
> I have basically no viable grass and a lot of weeds right now. I'm more or less using this test as a baseline to see what can happen with regular fert over a season while trying to establish new grass.


No problem! Happy to help.

I did the same thing with soil testing just to get an idea of where to start. There's also the option of your local extension office (which I find is cheaper). Good luck with the weeds!


----------



## LawnCareNut (May 31, 2018)

The Soil Savvy test is meant to be very basic. It shows you what's available right now, and then you can adjust going forward. Like a doctor analyzing your bloodwork, adjusting your diet and asking you to retest in 12 months. That's what this test does - just shows you where you should be adding. I addressed it in the podcast this week (timestamped) 



 @quattljl I think you posted this in the FB group also right? Just want to make sure. @Ridgerunner thanks for the props bro, appreciate it! @grassland brilliant reply!


----------



## quattljl (Aug 8, 2018)

Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't mean to leave you all hanging and disappear. We had our first child on March 26th so it's been a bit of a whirlwind since then. And of course, I don't have as much free time to do lawn things anymore but I do still try to get out and enjoy the mow!

Now that the little tyke is here, we'll see how much time I have to dedicate to renovating my back yard and how successful it is. I'll still nuke the weeds and throw down some cheap Scott's Bermuda seed, but I won't obsess over the prep work like I did with my front yard. Anything that comes up is better than what's there now. I'm also hoping that the Bermuda can take the abuse and be a bit of a buffer for the lack of attention I'll be able to give it.

I do plan to use Soil Savvy at least one more time to see what improvements I can make in one season. I have a feeling that I will want a more detailed report when I need to go to the next level. This post was mainly to satisfy my curiosity as to why two elements were so high (although one is almost within range at the high end) when everything else seemed so deficient.

@LawnCareNut If I remember correctly, I posted both my front and back yard soil results more as a way to show off the difference that following your plan can make in just one season (my soil results were drastically different from front to back yard). I wasn't really looking for advice/feedback in that post. I don't think the post got approved, though. Either that, or no one found it as impressive as I did lol.


----------

