# Soil Tests Done - Now What?



## Idaho Turf (8 mo ago)

Still a newbie at this!

I got my first soil tests done in August. Unfortunately, I chose SoilSavvy. I'm not sure why I chose them - maybe the price was right. At the time I didn't realize there were threads on TLF about choosing a laboratory or that there were so many labs available. I could not find a lab run by the University of Idaho Extension, so I just chose SoilSavvy. That seems to be a poor decision based on reading all the Soil Sample threads on TLF.

I did read the soil sampling thread and spent a lot of time collecting samples and preparing them. I took ten samples from each of two lawn sections, each roughly 3,500 sq ft. I used a stainless steel soil sampler I bought on Amazon, sampled down to about 4 inches, removed all organic material and large stones, thoroughly mixed the samples, and sieved them through window screen. I might have taken my samples too soon after fertilizer treatment: Milorganite went down on 7/22 (96 pounds over 8,400 sq ft). Ironite went down on 7/22 (30 pounds over 8,400 sq ft). Tenacity went down 8/15. Samples were taken 8/19.

Here are my results:


















Here are the numeric data in tabular form:









SoilSavvy recommendations were:

*Front Lawn*: Synthetic fertilizer 21-0-0 @ 1.75 lb/1000 sq. ft or Organic fertilizer 9-0-0 @ 4.0 lb/1000 sq. ft. 
An Additional Micronutrient Application may be Beneficial.

*Side Lawn*: No N-P-K Needed. An Additional Micronutrient and Lime Application may be Beneficial.


*Questions:*
1. There are many micronutrient products available. What should I choose?
2. I'm confused by the high calcium numbers and lime recommendation. Should I apply lime? It's interesting that the side lawn is more acidic than the front lawn because the front lawn has the two huge pine trees.
3. Should I bring up the sulfur? How?
4. What are your general recommendations for now and next spring?

I have two SoilSavvy test kits left over which I will use next spring, then switch to another lab.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Here is website for U of Idaho soil testing:








 Soil Chemical & Physical | Analytical Sciences Laboratory


Learn more about soil chemical and physical analyses services offered by the Analytical Sciences Laboratory within the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho.




www.uidaho.edu





Main reason to get a test there in addition to this is to get a lime recommendation. How much lime do you need? U if Idaho would tell you. Soil Savvy doesn’t know (no buffer pH was done) and you can’t really rely on their pH reading either. The capsule put in with the soil sample mailed in reacts with the soil and changes the pH a bit.

Most of the year’s fertilizer should be applied in the fall. Hopefully you’ve been fertilizing in September. Going by their recommendation, all you need is nitrogen (don’t need phosphorus or potassium). I wouldn’t worry about micronutrients. See if they go up or down or stay the same on the next test.


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## Idaho Turf (8 mo ago)

Virginiagal said:


> Here is website for U of Idaho soil testing:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input, VG. I didn't realize that about the SoilSavvy pH measurement.

I was wrong when I said I hadn't seen a U of I testing lab. I DID see that before, but their prices scared me off. I think that was the main reason I thought I'd try SoilSavvy.

Our daughter got married on our property on June 18, so we hit the lawn hard with nitrogen in Spring (those Spring apps were by a lawn service). I was going to put down Scott's GreenMax, but I ran out of time before the wedding and had the service do the June 2 application. So I used the already-purchased GreenMax on August 29. It's a bit early, but I wanted to get it down before applications of Tenacity and PoaConstrictor in the fall. Here's my total application of Nitrogen in 2022. I'm way over the 3 lb/M SF recommendation from the U of I.

I've been adding low concentrations of Urea and Ammonium Sulphate to my herbicide tank mix. The AS is to handle our medium hard water and the Urea acts as an adjuvant to improve herbicide performance. Those are foliar applications, so they don't add much N.

The big N apps were March, May, June, and August. I have third and final app of PoaConstrictor to go down on 10/23 (21 day interval).


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Late August counts as a fall application. Here’s U of Idaho recommendations on how much and when to fertilize:








Fertilization - Idaho Landscapes and Gardens - University of Idaho







www.uidaho.edu





The prices are high for their soil testing. Waypoint is much less. Are there differences in soil of the two yards or how they perform? You might be able to just send in one sample. If you use Waypoint the Eastern package would be fine as you apparenty have acidic soil. The main reason is for the lime recommendation. Manganese can be toxic at low pH levels. I don’t believe your pH is really 4.96 in the side yard while the front is 5.74. But they are saying manganese is high in both yards and the way to avoid low pH manganese toxicity would be to raise the pH. You do that with lime. You need to know how much because you need enough to raise the pH sufficiently but not so much that you go above 7.0. If you don’t want to do more soil testing this year, you could apply a modest amount to the side yard, using a fast acting kind that has directions on the bag (“for such and such pH, use this amount“). Best times to apply lime are late fall and spring.


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## robjak (Mar 31, 2020)

I clicked on the UIDAHO pricelist. WOW. 

Waypoint gives all for 16.50 Penn State gives macros / ph-lime for 9.00.


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## Factor (Oct 10, 2019)

+1 for Waypoint.


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## Idaho Turf (8 mo ago)

robjak said:


> I clicked on the UIDAHO pricelist. WOW.
> 
> Waypoint gives all for 16.50 Penn State gives macros / ph-lime for 9.00.


Outrageous Idaho prices, huh? I’ll switch to Waypoint next time. Maybe I’ll run a Waypoint test and a SoilSavvy test at the same time to compare results Since I have two SS kits in the garage.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

If you apply a fast acting lime this fall, add 0.5 to their pH measurement because it could be off by that much. So assume it’s more like 5.4 for the side yard and go by the bag’s direction for pH and the kind of soil (sandy, clay, etc). It will be a temporary fix. The fast acting limes are much more limited in how much you can apply per application so it’s unlikely you’ll overdo it. But because you probably need much more lime in total, the rise in pH won’t hold. But hopefully it will be enough to get you to your next soil test, one that includes a buffer pH and a lime recommendation.


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