# soil test results--advice welcome!



## SuddenSam (Jul 23, 2019)

Hi Everyone,
Brand new member. Just got some soil test results from UMass extension and lots of issues--so many that I hardly know where to start and hoping for some advice from the experts here. (If I somehow violate any norms or rules, please let me know.)
A little background: I have a small grass lawn in urban northeast Ohio, Cleveland inner suburb. One section of front lawn died a couple years ago, after struggling for a while. Developed a completely dead "thatch" that was like thick particle board and could be dug up and cracked in two. Had a lawn guy till everything up and reseed a new lawn. It was fabulous at the start and through the first summer, but this year is really struggling. Sent out the soil for testing and looking for advice on how to proceed. Low pH, very high Iron, low P, K, etc.. I don't want to screw anything up further, so any help appreciated. Thanks!!


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

UMass wouldn't have been my choice for testing an Ohio soil. Follow their lime recommendations and raise your pH. Use only a calcitic lime rather than a dolomitic lime. In NE Ohio, you should have no problem finding a triple NPK fertilizer at a discount (i.e < $20 for a fifty pound bag.) Apply the NPK at the rate of 1#N/M three to four times per season May 30, Aug, Sept and Oct.


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## SuddenSam (Jul 23, 2019)

Thank you for your response, Ridgerunner. Just so I get this right..does "triple NPK" mean one with equal parts N:K? And does "1#N/M" mean "one pound of Nitrogen per meter of lawn"?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Yes, Sir. Are you close to the Akron area? If so you can get a triple NPK at places Like Copley Feed or at Hartville Elevator or BestTurf. There are other such sources scattered about Eastern Ohio and there is always Site One and the Big Box Stores carry a TNPK in the gardening section (not lawn), but best prices and 50# bags will be at the Feed/Farm retailers.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

SuddenSam said:


> And does "1#N/M" mean "one pound of Nitrogen per meter of lawn"?


1#N/M means "one pound of Nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn." M is the traditional abbreviation for 1000sqft in the turf business. The "M" is derived from the roman numeral for 1000.

The turf industry has used the "M" nomenclature partly because the abbreviation predates common use of the metric system in the USA, and has continued to use it partly to avoid confusion between "k" (the metric system's standard abbreviation for 1000) and the element "K" (potassium).

Personally, I like to use ksqft for "thousand square feet" even though it mixes systems (k for 1000 from the metric system and square foot from the traditional British units) to try to increase clarity, even though it is a little more verbose.


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