# Soil Test Results and My Plan



## tommydearest (9 mo ago)

My plan is as follows:
1. Put down a mix of 11-52-0 MAP at 1lb/ksqft right away"
2. Put down 0-0-60 SOP at 2lb/ksqft right away.
3. Put down elemental sulfur at 5lb/ksqft in the July heat
4. Put down a balanced fertilizer sometime around Sept.

I'm new to this site. Trying to get my lawn back into a decent shape after I let TruGreen handle it for years. Started with this soil test. I thought I read that the people here preferred a certain company. I apologize as I didn't see those posts until after I sent this away to MSU for testing.

I have a couple of follow-up questions, such as mixing 1&2 and if this is enough nitrogen, but can get into that more after I find out if this general plan has any glaring flaws.

Thanks!


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

If you put down balanced fertilizer now, you'd get nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Let's say you do 5 lb per 1000 sq ft of 10-10-10. That would take care of your phosphorus and give you a half pound of nitrogen and potassium too. That would leave about 1 lb per 1000 sq ft of potassium still to do. You could use SOP (0-0-50) but you can probably find a fertilizer with nitrogen and potassium that would do the job. Most of your nitrogen fertilization should be done in the fall, which for you starts in mid to late August. You could plan to do three applications this fall. The elemental sulphur can be done anytime now. I wouldn't wait until July.

Here are soil remediation guidelines:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15165


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## tommydearest (9 mo ago)

Thank you, @Virginiagal . How does this sound? 12-12-12 at 4lb/ksqft and 7-0-20 at 5lb/ksqft. I'm fairly new to all this math and measuring. Before I let TruGreen handle our yard for a few years, I just dialed the Scotts spreader to whatever the fertilizer said on the bag.

I believe those to applications should cover everything except the bulk of the nitrogen, which I will do after the summer heat. The nitrogen in the 12-12-12 is 3 parts slow release, 9 parts quick. The 7-0-20 is all slow release. Can I just put all that down same day, or should I wait a couple weeks between them?

I started a new thread for the elemental sulfur as I ran across Mag-I-Cal which is supposed to also lower pH, but I'm not sure the differences.

Thanks!


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

4 lb of 12-12-12 gives you about a half pound each of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. 5 lb of 7-0-20 gives you 0.35 lb of nitrogen and 1 lb of potassium. The two together would take care of the potassium and phosphorus and give you about 3/4 lb of nitrogen. But generally you shouldn't do more than one lb of a nutrient in a month (potassium would go over). So don't do them both now. Do one and do the other in a month.

Another idea: You could do 8 lb of 12-12-12 now if you haven't done any nitrogen this spring. That will give you one lb of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In the fall find another fertilizer that has both nitrogen and potassium, but with more nitrogen than potassium. They are common.


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## tommydearest (9 mo ago)

Virginiagal said:


> Another idea: You could do 8 lb of 12-12-12 now if you haven't done any nitrogen this spring. That will give you one lb of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In the fall find another fertilizer that has both nitrogen and potassium, but with more nitrogen than potassium. They are common.


I'm ok with adding twice phosphorus they suggested in the test? If so, I'll probably do this. I found a 24-0-6 fertilizer I could use in the fall. Perhaps, 4lbs late August then another 4lbs late September?

Really appreciate your guidance.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

It okay to do one lb of phosphorus instead of a half pound. The 24-0-6 is perfect. You'll get a lb of nitrogen and a quarter pound of potassium with each application.


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