# Yet another first test... with SoilSavvy... and UCONN



## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

It might not be all that bad and some information can be gleaned here in order to find a direction. Before buying the test, I hadn't realized they don't do a measurement of organic matter and also don't provide lime recommendations. I went forward anyways. This is for my backyard that had a reno done by a landscaping company a few years back. I believe they threw down perennial rye mixed with fescue. In the years since I've tried to up my landscaping game to no avail. The backyard has received some fert and a few (semi-successful) over-seedings. This brings me to the point of really trying to tackle the yard starting with a soil test. This is the backyard I'm working with:










Backyard is shady. I'm going to say it definitely doesn't get a full 8 hours of sunlight.

From the test results, thus far I can tell I have slightly acidic pH of 5.93. P is high. Cu and Zn are off the charts. Not sure what that all means in terms of Cu and Zn. My guess is bringing up pH will bring them down. I also know I'll need some potassium - SOP? Sulphur looks a tad bit high in the test results. Both Ca and Mg are in their proper ranges with Mn a bit higher than Ca. So which to go for... caIcitic or dolmitic lime? and how much? I can say this... I know it's time to bring back a bunch of bags of Milorganite and exchange for some 10-0-2 Purely Organic Lawn Food. I don't need the extra phosphorus.










So what do y'all think and recommend?

Lesson learned: I'm going with UCONN's soil testing next time. They'll at least tell me what type of lime to throw down and I can also tack on an OM test.


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## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

No one wants to take a stab at my report? I'm just trying to figure out how to lower Zn and Cu, while bring up K and pH.


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## JeffR84 (Apr 25, 2020)

There are a lot smarter people than me that can hopefully help you with the ZN and CU levels, But I would try to add a fertilizer with a somewhat balanced N and K and obviously no P. I know carbon earth makes an 8-0-8, I'm sure there are a lot of others that you can bring help bring your K up without having to try to source potassium phosphate.


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## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

Someone may pop in and add, but I wouldn't worry too much about the micronutrient levels. They are kind of a fine tuning thing and there isn't good data to support particular levels. Work on fixing the macros: pH, N, P, and K. Fe is the only micro worth fixing and it is easy - just use a Nitrogen source with some Fe in it (many have 2-5% iron). Once the macros (and iron) are good, then start thinking about micros if the lawn isn't performing where you want it. As for trying to fix the high Zn and Cu, you can't really remove it from the soil so you would have to dig out and replace the soil, but toxicity from high levels of either is quite rare. I wouldn't worry about it.


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## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

Thanks guys. Appreciate any input. I know I'm staying away from phos. 1-0-1 ratio seems to be a good call. Need to get that potassium up. A 0-0-50 solution might work, but I kind of like an all in one solution . Focusing on the macros vs. micros also seems like a wise choice. The Carbon Earth product looks to be 8-1-8. Either way at least it's not heavy in phos. Are their products organic?

Thx,
CTLawnNut


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## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

This time around I went with UCONN's soil lab and tacked on an organic matter test along with their normal test. Going with this vs. Soil Savvy gets me OM and also CEC and also other pertinent info.

Thus far I can tell i have low pH of 5.3. Phos and Calcium are low. Potassium is good. So it looks like I can drop some Milo here. Other than that not sure how good my CEC and OM are or if they are in an acceptable range. What should they be?

I'm still not clear what buffered pH and what base saturation is. Explanations of these and any insights would be appreciated.

Here is the report:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@CTLawnNut I'm going to merge this report with the Soil Savvy one. Mainly to show the differences.

Did you apply anything between soil samples?


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## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

Thanks for combining threads... the 2nd test is for the front yard. Soil Savvy - backyard. I kind of expected them to be different being that I've been working on the backyard for a few years now after a renovation. I have yet to touch the front yard even with a bag of fert. I'll be adding lime to start with on the front yard and then this fall doing either a full renovation or refurbishment.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

pH is low (5.3) and it is going to take 150lb of lime/ksqft to address it. This will be a marathon (aka years). I think you should use calcitic lime.

Phosphorous is low. Check the CT law on phosphorous.

Potassium can use a bump.

CEC is good at 13 and a good OM at 6.6%. Both are at desirable ranges.

Since this is front and soil savvy is back, I wont highlight the differences.


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## CTLawnNut (May 24, 2020)

My plan is to stick with Jonathan Green's MAG-I-CAL for lime needs. They claim with their product that you need way less product to get pH up. According to a response from an email from them...

_Mag-I-Cal takes 2 weeks to a month to raise soil pH. Love Your Soil will show some improvement in a week but will continue to loosen the soil over time. Because of your low pH, I'd start now. Mag-I-Cal is very water soluble.

Yes. Here are our recommendations - Start at the third bullet point and work your way up:

• If pH is 6.0 - 7.0, apply MAG-I-CAL or Mag-I-Cal Plus once a year

• If pH is 5.6 - 5.9, apply MAG-I-CAL in the spring and fall

• If pH is 5.1 - 5.5, apply MAG-I-CAL every other month until pH is above 5.5, then follow above suggestion

• If pH is 5.0 or below, MAG-I-CAL at 1.5 times the regular rate for three consecutive months. 
Two weeks after the third application, test pH then adjust application schedule accordingly.
_

I'm looking at possibly using a combination of Purely Organic / Milo mixed with Neptune's Harvest Lawn Formula (2-0-2) tank mixed with a product called Quantum Growth for the backyard and Purely Organic / Milo -> Neptune's Harvest Starter Formula (2-3-2) with QG for the front yard. Not sure how to build a plan yet. Thinking it's gotta be a 6 month plan tho. I want to stick with as much organic product while keeping cost down as much as possible.


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