# SOIL RESULTS



## al0629 (Mar 28, 2021)

Feedback and suggestions for my sample would be very appreciated. I have 1.5 acres of Bermuda in Fort Worth Texas. Lawn was put in just last June.

Thank you. Al


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## al0629 (Mar 28, 2021)

I talked with the folks at Midwest Labs and they said the reason they are advocating for the 70 lbs/acre of elemental Sulphur or 800 lbs/acre of gypsum is to get the soil pH down.

Also, adding the Sulphur and magnesium would help with soil porousness /drainage and would help in correcting my high Calcium and Sodium.

Again, any feedback is appreciated. This is my first soil test and have never added anything to my lawns in the past except adding fertilizer.

V/r Al


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

In case you haven't seen this, here are some soil remediation guidelines:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15165

I'm hoping @Ridgerunner will weigh in.

Gypsum will not affect pH. Elemental sulfur will lower pH. However, if your soil is calcareous, it is impractical to try. There is a vinegar test you can do if you suspect your soil is calcareous:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1262

Gypsum is calcium sulfate. Adding gypsum will add calcium, not magnesium. It is used on sodic or saline soils, but I don't know that yours is quite that bad. Anyway, it helps with the soil structure so salts will drain away. I'm guessing they recommend gypsum just to improve drainage. Does your soil seem to drain ok?

The guidelines above don't address magnesium. Epsom salt is a source, as is KMag or SulPoMag. Do NOT use lime.

Your soil test is giving recommendations as lb per acre. If you want to know lb/1000 sq ft, divide by 43.56.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Your area is known to have a lot of limestone. You can try the 5lb/ksqft of elemental sulfur every 6 months, but don't expect any miracles. Learn to deal with the high pH via FAS.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

You selected a very good test (provides a lot of relevant data) from a good, reliable lab.
I don't have much to add to the advice you have already been given here. However, I don't understand much of the explanation they gave for their recommendation.

Sodium 184 ppm.
When Sodium levels reach >15% of Base Saturation (BS), it adversely affects the soil. Soil swells when wet and then cracks as it dries and also adversely affects water (and nutrient) penetration. Common advice is start remediation with Gypsum to knock out and replace Na once Sodium levels reach 5% of BS. Your Sodium BS is 4.2%, so the advice for gypsum may be a proactive recommendation.

Mg 102ppm
At 102 ppm, your Mg should be sufficient for healthy turf, but it is on the low side and at that CEC, an increase in Mg could be advantageous. Epsom Salts would be fine or Kmag would be fine too as once again at that CEC a higher ppm of K (within reason, of course) isn't a problem.

Phosphorous
In alkaline soils, the results from the Olsen test has proven to be a pretty reliable indicator of P availability. In high pH soils, P is often low/deficient. The result from the Bray P1 and P2 tests will often reflect this. BP1, which is a weak extractant indicates the most labile forms of P. Your BP1 is 3 ppm, which we would expect in a high pH soil (keep in mind that recent research has indicated the turf may only need very low amounts of available P--maybe @g-man can link that research). Bp2 is a much stronger extractant and will reflect a portion of the P that is less labile and is likely to reflect P that is likely bound and wouldn't be available to the turf in a growing season. An Olsen P level of 16 ppm should be more than sufficient.

You will want to apply enough P and K for maintenance (replace the P and K the turf will use each season) purposes in any event.


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## al0629 (Mar 28, 2021)

Virginiagal said:


> In case you haven't seen this, here are some soil remediation guidelines:
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15165
> 
> I'm hoping @Ridgerunner will weigh in.
> ...


 Thank you for your response and help Virginiagal . I had come across the soil remediation guidelines link in G-man's signature. Including all the links for the studies. Tons of interesting stuff there. This is all new to me. My soil turned hard after the heat of the summer last year. The lawn stayed green. But the clay soil had cracks in it sometimes up to 1/2" wide.

I did forget to mention in my post that Midwest Labs did mention that I need to address the low Potash and Magnesium with K-Mag. It took me a minute to put that name to those elements. So basically I'm looking at a lawn fertilizer (N-P-K)ratio of 2-1-0 along with K-Mag (potash and Magnesium ratio of like(2-1.5) and of course again amendments of elemental Sulphur or gypsum. I am leaning towards the Sulphur as 100 pounds of Sulphur seems easier than 1200 pounds of gypsum. If I do this I am a bit worried about the Sulphur smell. 


g-man said:


> Your area is known to have a lot of limestone. You can try the 5lb/ksqft of elemental sulfur every 6 months, but don't expect any miracles. Learn to deal with the high pH via FAS.


 I read and re-read your soil remediation including all the studies and FAS information. Thanks for having that up on the site. I am thinking of giving this soil amendment a shot to see how it changes anything. If not I am not adverse to working around the high pH. I enjoy doing things myself. Even before I retired I always did my own lawn maintenance. 


Ridgerunner said:


> You selected a very good test (provides a lot of relevant data) from a good, reliable lab.
> I don't have much to add to the advice you have already been given here. However, I don't understand much of the explanation they gave for their recommendation.
> 
> Sodium 184 ppm.
> ...


I picked Midwest Labs and the testing based off the sticky post posted in this forum by you, G-man and others. They have been excellent from helping me get my samples submitted as well as helping me understand the test results. However, my science education is comparable to a 5th grader... So understanding a lot of this is difficult. But, I'm trying. What do you think about the recommendations above? Basically, go with the a N-P-K fertilizer of 2-1-0 to get the Nitrogen and Potassium taken tare of. Then the K-Mag (2-1.5 or similar ratio) to take care of the Potash and Magnesium. And lastly using the elemental Sulphur to see if it does anything to the pH.

Also, you are correct about my soil.. Last summer was my first Summer in this home. The soil after the Summer was hard as a rock and had cracks in it. I did do an aeration. I wish I would have added amendments at that time. I'm not opposed to doing that again with this soil improvement plan. But, currently the soil is still fairly soft since the Texas heat of 100+ degrees of weather for 100+ days is not occurred yet.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

NPK with a ratio of 2-1-0 will take care of nitrogen and phosphorus. KMag will take care of magnesium and potassium. Here's a Texas publication on turfgrass fertilization with details on when to fertilize among other things:
https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Watershed/growgreen/3_7_12_2011_lawn_fertilization_in_tx_E-437_handout_3_Chalmers.pdf
Here's information from the Warm Season section of the forum on taking care of Bermuda:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1651
What you use may depend on what you can actually find at local stores.

It's fine to try the elemental sulfur. It will help only with the pH, if it helps at all (g-man thinks it's doubtful because of your area having so much limestone). Gypsum will help only with the issue of excessive salts, not with pH. The two treatments are not interchangeable.

Read about using foliar iron. Even if you get the pH down some, it will still be above 7. Foliar iron will get around the problem of iron being bound up in the soil and unavailable to the grass.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

I think the recs you've gotten are fine. Regarding N and P, I'd just apply maintenance amounts. N based on healthy growth (about 1" a week) and how often you like to mow and for every pound of N you apply, apply .25 lbs of P2O5 P. As far as applying Kmag, apply it at a rate of 1 lb of K2O K for every one pound of N you apply.
Regarding ES, IMO you are spitting in the ocean, but to each, his own, it won't hurt anything at those rates.
Sodium issues don't just start at the 15% level. It's a continuum, so it can start to cause issues at lower levels like 5% or even less. In your case S may be a factor in what you are seeing although we wouldn't be surprised to see cracking with any soil (other than sand) if it gets dry enough. So you might want to apply at least some of the rec gypsum to remove excess Na.


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## al0629 (Mar 28, 2021)

Virginiagal said:


> NPK with a ratio of 2-1-0 will take care of nitrogen and phosphorus. KMag will take care of magnesium and potassium. Here's a Texas publication on turfgrass fertilization with details on when to fertilize among other things:
> https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Watershed/growgreen/3_7_12_2011_lawn_fertilization_in_tx_E-437_handout_3_Chalmers.pdf
> Here's information from the Warm Season section of the forum on taking care of Bermuda:
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1651
> ...


 Virginiagal, thanks again for the response. I will get to reading to try and formulate a final plan. There is limestone throughout my lawn. I picked up thousands for rocks when in preparation for the hydroseeding last year. They were all were limestone. I can dig into the soil and get you 100's more. Sounds like it would be best to not worry about my pH....but go the FAS method, I think that is what is meant with the foliar iron. Either way thank you again for your time and knowledge.


Ridgerunner said:


> I think the recs you've gotten are fine. Regarding N and P, I'd just apply maintenance amounts. N based on healthy growth (about 1" a week) and how often you like to mow and for every pound of N you apply, apply .25 lbs of P2O5 P. As far as applying Kmag, apply it at a rate of 1 lb of K2O K for every one pound of N you apply.
> Regarding ES, IMO you are spitting in the ocean, but to each, his own, it won't hurt anything at those rates.
> Sodium issues don't just start at the 15% level. It's a continuum, so it can start to cause issues at lower levels like 5% or even less. In your case S may be a factor in what you are seeing although we wouldn't be surprised to see cracking with any soil (other than sand) if it gets dry enough. So you might want to apply at least some of the rec gypsum to remove excess Na.


 Ridgerunner, thank you also for your time and knowledge. I'm going to abandon the elemental Sulphur idea. Between you and g-man, I can see there is a smarter way. I will read the threads that Virginiagal shared above as well take into advise your ratio's above for N-P-K and P205. I had to google what P205 was.. I will get some gypsum to lower the sodium. Just to clarify, Should I add the K-Mag to this plan also?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

I would raise the Mg levels up to around 7% BS (150 ppm or slightly higher). In your case, If you can find it Kmag is your go to for that and it's added advantage of some K. 
Elemental P in ppm is what is reported on most soil tests. When you buy fertilizer, the P content is listed in units of P2O5 (P2O5 and K2O are just units of measurement) on the label. One unit of P2O5 contains 44% elemental P. If you have a bag of 10-10-10. it is 10% nitrogen, 10% P2O5 and 10% K2O (K2O is 83% elemental K). When you apply 10 pounds/M of that product, you are applying 1 pound of N, a pound of P2O5 and a pound of K2O. Every pound of P2O5 will theoretically raise elemental P soil levels by 9.5 ppm and every pound of K2O will theoretically raise elemental K soil levels by 18 ppm. Based on the results of a soil test and by selecting a target ppm value in the recommended sufficiency range, you can calculate the total amount of P2O5 or K2O fertilizer need to achieve that level.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

The gypsum will help displace sodium from the soil cation sites. But you still need water to get them to leach away. It's the water, the leaching, that gets rid of the salt. If you don't have sufficient rain or irrigation, the salt will hang around. It may be that your soil drains well anyway and with enough rain, the excessive salt will leach away without gypsum. Gypsum just detaches the sodium so it's easier to leach away. If it were me, I think I'd wait on the gypsum and see what happens with sufficient watering.

Here's some info on salt affected areas and how gypsum works. It may be useful to get an electrical conductivity (EC) test first:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs141p2_018280.pdf
The article has salt tolerance levels for the various grasses. Bermuda seems to be more tolerant of salt than other grass.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

For calcareous soils, the elevated pH ammonium acetate extractant should be used to measure the cations (calcium, potassium, sodium, etc):
https://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/?file=/article/whitlark-soil-3-4-11.pdf
Midwest used the neutral ammonium acetate extractant and the article says that extractant may be overestimating calcium and underestimating sodium. So maybe your sodium percentage is actually higher. And needs addressing (with gypsum). The amount of gypsum needed would be different if sodium is calculated differently.

Maybe call Midwest and ask if they have the elevated ph ammonium acetate extractant? Before you go to the expense and labor of spreading gypsum, I think you should get another test with the other extractant so you know how much gypsum you really need.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Read the section on saline and sodic soils here:
https://turf.unl.edu/NebGuides/g2265.pdf
Gypsum is not recommended for saline soils, only for sodic ones (and not all sodic ones).

You might also consult your local extension agent. He likely knows the general condition of local soils.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

I learned something today! Elemental sulfur applied to calcareous soil can form gypsum. That is why the lab was recommending sulfur OR gypsum. The sulphur wasn't to lower pH, it was to form gypsum from the existing soil.
https://www.coffey.k-state.edu/crops-livestock/crops/soils_fertility/Saline%20and%20Sodic%20Soils.pdf

Your soil with an exchangable sodium percentage of 4.2% isn't close to sodic. But is that percentage correct?

Another thing to look at with saline and sodic soils is the amount of sodium in the irrigation water.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Virginiagal said:


> Read the section on saline and sodic soils here:
> https://turf.unl.edu/NebGuides/g2265.pdf
> Gypsum is not recommended for saline soils, only for sodic ones (and not all sodic ones).
> 
> You might also consult your local extension agent. He likely knows the general condition of local soils.


@Virginiagal His EC is 0.5.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

@Ridgerunner Thanks for pointing that out. So the soil isn't saline. And if the exchangable sodium percentage is correct, it's not sodic either. What do you think of the lab's recommendation? Do you think it's worth pursuing an elevated pH ammonium acetate test?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Virginiagal said:


> @Ridgerunner Thanks for pointing that out. So the soil isn't saline. And if the exchangable sodium percentage is correct, it's not sodic either. What do you think of the lab's recommendation? Do you think it's worth pursuing an elevated pH ammonium acetate test?


I would expect the amount of Na ppm to be correct and to stay pretty much the same no matter what extractant was used but we know that the exchangeable sodium percentage is not correct, it's low. A nuetral pH AA test will extract more Ca from high pH soils (particularly in soils with >8 pH---see the article you sited above) although no where near what Melich will report, so even neutral pH AA is miles better than than M1-3 testing in higher pH soils. Consequently percent of Na base Saturation is going to rise. (If I have 60 apples and 40 oranges in a basket, 60% of the fruit in the basket are apples and 40% of the fruit are oranges. If I remove 20 apples, then the oranges increase to 50% of the fruit in the basket even though we didn't add anymore oranges--same thing here.) Using the enhanced pH AA is only going to increase the exchangeable sodium percentage.
I'll try to make this not too deep of a dive:
Oversimplifying, Adding gypsum is adding Ca and sulfate, SO4. The Ca knocks off and replaces the Na on the exchange sites on the soil and the sulfate combines with the Na which increases the rate of Na leaching out of the root zone.
The advantage of using Ca is that it makes the best binding between soil/clay particles for good tilth.
Epsom Salts will do the same thing but with Mg instead of Ca. The down side is that Mg makes a much tighter bond between soil/clay particles which can be detrimental in some cases. (Na being a monovalent doesn't bind soil/clay particles, so the particles slide around making for poor tilth and permeability.)
You are absolutely correct that Elemental Sulfur and CaCO3 can result in the formation of gypsum. More importantly Sulfur with the help of temp, water and microbes will produce sulfuric acid, which will disassociate into H+ and sulfate. The H+ interacts with the calcium carbonate producing Ca atoms. and the Ca and sulfate do their thing on the Na as described above. The downside of this method is it is climate dependent. 
OP says he seeing soil cracking. Agronomists suggest remediation start when percentages of Na hit 5, So it would hurt to follow the recommendation IMO, but it's not critical to do so.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

So there's a sodic problem if ESP is above 5%, even if it's not at the level of 15% or above?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Virginiagal said:


> So there's a sodic problem if ESP is above 5%, even if it's not at the level of 15% or above?


By definition, a soil is only labeled Sodic if Na is 15% or greater of Base Saturation. Apparently at that level and above, it must be common to see adverse plant performance.
But like most things soil (e.g deficiencies, toxicities), it's a continuum and some effects (diminishing soil permeability and soil swelling and cracking) might be seen at lower values. 
A number of articles that I've read in the past suggest that remediation be considered once levels exceed 5% even if not yet problematic.
As a "if it ain't broke..." person, I personally probably wouldn't take action yet, but apparently more experienced and better soil educated professionals at Midwest think it's time to be proactive.


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## al0629 (Mar 28, 2021)

Well, After taking a look at FAS and the costs associated with it, that is out of my budget. Honestly, I just want to try and have a good and healthy lawn.

I have 1.5 acres that I'm trying to improve. I purchased every bag they had (13 - 40 pounds bags) of Gypsum today from a big box store and will be getting it applied to the lawn here real soon. Here is a link to the stuff I bought.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Soil-Docto...rganic-Gypsum-Improves-Soil-Structure/3062445

I plan on putting down another application 60 days later and then even another after that.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. Still looking for a good K-Mag for my situation.

Al


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Yes, 1.5 acres is a lot to take care of. There are people on here who have big areas. They might be able to give advice on how to buy fertilizer and gypsum and stuff in larger quantities at better prices (post something in the warm season forum or just do some searching). You might check out where farmers in your area buy their supplies. I sent you a private message earlier today because I didn't know if you were still reading. Here's hoping you get lots of rain to leach out that sodium.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Just looked and my message to you is sitting in the Outbox, not in Sent mail. So I guess you didn't get it. While you're logged in, you could collect it by going to Private Messages in the black line near the top of the screen.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Outbox means that it is sent, but they still need to open it. It is a weird default wording in the forum software.


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