# Getting started



## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

Hello

First post! I've been a long time forum visitor and decided to seek some guidance after receiving my soil sample. I moved into my home last year and am trying to compete with everyone else in my neighborhood who utilize professional lawn services. I've been utilizing Milorganite and spot treating weeds. This was my first year spraying Prodiamine (to combat crab grass and poa annual) but I think I was a little late with my application. oh well lesson learned for next year.

Anyway, I'm having some issues where the bottom of the grass blades are yellowing.Last fall the grass also seemed to be yellowing as well. I completed a soil sample and this is what I received. Due to the corona situation the UW labs are closed so I utilized a different lab company. I didn't get any recommendations so I'm not exactly sure how to interpret the results. All of the levels seem high to me ? Would you guys continue using Milorganite with the high P levels? Maybe they're not high? I'm in southern WI with mostly kentucky bluegrass ~15000 ft2 lawn.

Appreciate the help and look forward to being a member!


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy pH is perfect (eh..a tad high, so sulphur test next time), P and K are great, K, Ca and Mg are more important in their saturation % not total ppm, in other words, what is available to the lawn.
your K saturation is 2.7%. Range is 2-5. Perfect
your Ca sat is 51.9% a bit low. Range 65-75%
Your Mg sat is 26%. VERY High.
Because you pH is on target but you want to bump the Ca up and K up a bit (even of perfect) to 'replace' and drop the Mg saturation levels you will need Gypsum. No lime! 100lbs per 1000sqf. This a lot and at CEC of 21 will take time. I wouldn't put more than 50lbs/M per app 2 time a year.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca Thanks! Appreciate the info. I'll work on adding the Gypsum (750lbs. Whoofta ). With your comments on P levels would you still recommend using Milo or should I switch to something that has no P.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy Your P is just above range. Mine is 3 times more and I have a pretty good lawn. Milo is very high on P and no K. If you can avoid it. it will be best. I won't put more than 0.25-0.5lbs P/M for the whole season.
Your main concern is Mg being way beyond. I don't know a way to 'flush' it. As I said replacing with more Ca and K in saturation should do the trick.
Pick up anything in 2-0-1 or even 2-0-1.5 NPK ratio. Add humates and Kelp to your program for soil fertility. For summer time any slow release fert will do. There are many polymer coated Urea types. You should have great results even tomorrow with the test results u got. High Mg has negative effect on soil structure so mechanical aeration or Air8 may have beneficial effect.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

I'll grab a bag of Lesco no phos fertilizer instead. I also just realized there's a soil section in forums. Whoops


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca Any reason to pick one of these over the other ? Lesco fertilizer 
25-0-6 50% polyplus 5%Fe 
32-0-8 30% polyplus 2%Fe 
24-0-11 50% polyplus 2%Fe 1%Mn


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## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

That's a great soil test result we should all be that lucky


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy I would go with the 24-0-11. The highest K content. I don't know how far do you want to go with lawn care (Tier?). One thing to keep in mind. Avoid using high K content late fall. If you do a fall N blitz, read the article in the forum. You can combine the above fert with a bit of Milo if you like it a lot. Milo at 0.5lbs N/M will give you 0.35P/M. Pick up the best time for it.
A basic calculation you may have to do is:
4lbs N/M for the season. Assuming only 2.5lbs will come from the 24-0-11 (1lb N from urea for the blitz and 0.5 from Milo), your K input will be 1.2lbs. To get to 2-2.5 you will need to supplement with SOP or any very high in K fert.
This is just an example...


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca I'm shooting for a lawn that competes with everyone else in the neighborhood who uses our local lawn company. That way when they drop their pamphlets off they can't tell me my yard needs improvement. I'm guessing that's maybe a Tier 1.5 - 1.8.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy Then granular products mainly will do the trick. Do final calculations, lay out a fert schedule, mow 2 times a week (if you can) when it is growing (early summer for us up North, and late summer-early fall) and water properly during the hot spell to reduce drought stress. There is also grubs and weeds control etc, but those are another topic.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca If you can see anything in these pictures. This is the yellowing I'm starting to see that I talked about in my first post. Any thoughts ?


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy It's not much. Does it have a pattern. Take some more high level pics. Try a pull test for grubs. Your grass is full of seed heads and stocks... How tall do you keep it? Is this from now?


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca theres no real pattern but it's throughout a good portion of the lawn. I'll check for grubs. We've got a lot of Japanese beetles in the area come fall. I just took these pictures after mowing. My HOC is usually set to 3.5". I'll take a few more pictures tomorrow.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

When I see grass blades needle up like that I immediately think water. Could it be you have some compaction/soil issues in these places? I had seen this firsthand after my soil was dug out by the septic folks... and when backfilled it was no longer topsoil on top but whatever made it in the hole last. It needed constant babying all through the summer, especially water. May be worth pulling a core from those areas to see how it looks compared to the good spots.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

I do not water my lawn. I did aerate it last fall but I will certainly take a look. My entire lawn seems to have the issue. There are definitely very few places where it doesn't look like those pictures.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca Here are a couple higher up pics. Also snapped a pic of what the grass looks like that's causing the yellowing.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy From above the lawn looks pretty darn good! The leaf blades dont really give me an answer (I am not an expert!) It looks like chlorosis. When was the last time you applied fertilizer, how much and what. The easy thing to do is to throw 0.5lbs N of fast release spray some FAS and watch what will happen. None of this will hurt, the opposite, it is about for us up North to start ramping up.


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## wilawnguy (May 8, 2020)

@Babameca You've reached expert level in my book. I used Milo last year 3 times. 6 bags for my 15k lawn. I haven't put down a fertilizer this year yet. Heading to site one tomorrow after work.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

@wilawnguy Being Canadian (spent many many months for work in WI, mainly in Appleton and the area, few times in Madison) I don't know what fast release is available in the big box stores there... If you can find granular Ammonium sulphate it will be best! Slightly acidic it fits the bill with your pH and it is more stable and much better in cool temps, than Urea. It may become your go to for spring green up. Milo, being organic, does not work well in cool weather. What I assume is that your grass is hungry, not having access to available N for some time now. I also suppose, some milo N is still there and will kick in as soon as temps reach mid 70's. So. go light on the synthetic N...start with 0.5lbs.


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