# Result came in!



## Socks (Jul 26, 2019)

My results came in. Not sure why my magnesium is so high - definitely need to lower my PH though. Any advice and hidden meanings in these results would be appreciated :thumbup:


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I discussed this results a little bit with ridgerunner due to mg levels in Cincinnati.

What was the lab for this test?

pH is high, which is typical for the Midwest with all the limestone around here. Lowering will be hard. You can do 5lb/ksqft of elemental sulfur per year, ideally in the summer.

But high ph is not the end of the world. I have high and all you need to know is how to deal with it. Mainly, the high pH will make iron not available via the roots. We use foliar iron to bypass the soil. You should also use ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) as your ideal nitrogen source since it has a slight acidification effect.

The phosphorus is in range for bray1 (15-30), but I agree with the lab recommendation to increase.

Potassium is low for an AA extract (100 -235). SOP (0-0-50)is the ideal choice. Advance turf solutions in cinci should sell it.

The ratio between mg and calcium is toward the mg being too high. You can use gypsum to increase the calcium without increase the pH.


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

g-man said:


> pH is high, which is typical for the Midwest with all the limestone around here. Lowering will be hard. You can do 5lb/ksqft of elemental sulfur per year, ideally in the summer.
> 
> But high ph is not the end of the world. I have high and all you need to know is how to deal with it. Mainly, the high pH will make iron not available via the roots. We use foliar iron to bypass the soil. You should also use ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) as your ideal nitrogen source since it has a slight acidification effect.


My pH in central Texas is very similar and I've been trying to learn more about elemental sulfur. The bag says do not use more than 4 lbs/1000 per application, but it also suggests I need possibly 40 lbs/1000 to get to the right pH. Is there a limit or guideline on applying elemental sulfur? I did two apps of 5 lb/1000 a month apart.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@DuncanMcDonuts the elemental sulfur is processed by soil microbes, so it takes warm temp and time. The standard recommendation is 5lb/ksqft every 6 months. For folks that get frozen soils, then only one application per year.


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

@g-man Looks like I overdid it. I guess I'll have to take it slower to lower my pH. I saw some YouTube videos of farmers adding hundreds of pounds of sulfur to their soil to change the pH, but they also till and mix the soil heavily before growing anything. I haven't found many articles detailing elemental sulfur for residential lawns. Do you know any that I could read and learn more?

Edit - I found this article after a little more digging if anyone else is interested. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss480


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