# Soil Results what would u do?



## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

Phoenix Arizona climate, 1000sqft of Bermuda, hard compact soil. I see all the numbers and even see the recommendations. I must not be as smart as I thought, because I am lost about how much of what to apply and when to apply it. I have all kinds of stuff I have accumulated last year during my rooking season. N-EXT products, milorganite, CDX, Ironite, Revive, some balanced fertilizers. I do not want to just throw stuff at it this year. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here are my thoughts let me know if I am way off.

1. My PH is high? Not sure the best way to bring that down
2. Every other number on that page I am not sure what it means (I have read ridge runners post great post by the way but I still do not know where those numbers should be and how to get them to the right place.)
3. I seem to need quite a bit of gypsum?
4. Do not need much K, when putting down fertilizer?

I guess what I am asking for is help reading the report and an Idea of what you would do this growing season if these were your results.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

From left to right:
Organic matter is .6%, that's very low. Besides contributing to CEC, OM helps with water retention and improved soil tilth. You'll want to raise OM to improve your soil (alleviate the hardness). Easiest way to increase OM is from root growth. However if the ground is hard and compacted, that's going to impede roots' Catch 22. One suggestion is to aerate and back-fill the holes by topdressing with a peat moss and sand mixture.
Phosphorous. There are results for 3 three different P tests the lab performed. P1 (Weak Bray) and P2 (Strong Bray) Both give useful results for soils with a pH below 7. Your soil pH is 8.1 and at that pH P1 and P2 give us no insight into you soil phosphorous. When pH is above 7, Olsen provides the most useful P results. Your Olsen P level is 29 ppm. The recommended sufficiency level for Olsen is 12-28. When nutrient levels are within sufficiency levels or slightly higher, there are enough reserves/banked that only maintenance amounts need be applied. In this case that means for every pound of N you apply, you should apply an additional .25 lbs of P2O5 over the same growing season.
Potassium is 372 ppm. The sufficiency level for K extracted by ammonium acetate is 100-235. Your K levels are on the high side. For the most part this isn't an issue but keep in mind 1. if K base saturation exceeds Mg, it can become detrimental to the turf and 2. high K levels (usually in combination with high Na levels) can cause dispersion and destroy soil structure. You don't need any more K this season.
Calcium and Magnesium. Nothing unusual. No concerns.
Sodium. Your Na levels are a possible issue. hen Na levels are above 5% of Base Saturation. soil dispersion can start to occur. When levels reach 15% it becomes very likely that there will be soil structural issues. Your at 11%. Gypsum can remove Na from exchange sites and allow it to leach out of the soil. Maybe the reason the lab recommended Gypsum. Apply gypsum after aeration so it can fall into the holes and be incorporated better into the soil.
ph. Your pH is 8.1. pH can affect/reduce. nutrient (especial micro) availability). You are NOT going to be able to permanently lower soil pH at 8.1. To counteract this you can spoon-feed fertilizer or spray nutrients using something like FEature and water soluble NPK. You can help soil nutrient availability by applying elemental sulfur (in low amounts) and citric acid. search this site for comments by user "greendoc" and the term citric acid.
Nitrogen: IMO your level is excessive. Otherwise, no comments.
Soluble Salts: Your result is 1.1, Under 2 is desired. You are fine.


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

Ridgerunner said:


> From left to right:
> Organic matter is .6%, that's very low. Besides contributing to CEC, OM helps with water retention and improved soil tilth. You'll want to raise OM to improve your soil (alleviate the hardness). Easiest way to increase OM is from root growth. However if the ground is hard and compacted, that's going to impede roots' Catch 22. One suggestion is to aerate and back-fill the holes by topdressing with a peat moss and sand mixture.
> Phosphorous. There are results for 3 three different P tests the lab performed. P1 (Weak Bray) and P2 (Strong Bray) Both give useful results for soils with a pH below 7. Your soil pH is 8.1 and at that pH P1 and P2 give us no insight into you soil phosphorous. When pH is above 7, Olsen provides the most useful P results. Your Olsen P level is 29 ppm. The recommended sufficiency level for Olsen is 12-28. When nutrient levels are within sufficiency levels or slightly higher, there are enough reserves/banked that only maintenance amounts need be applied. In this case that means for every pound of N you apply, you should apply an additional .25 lbs of P2O5 over the same growing season.
> Potassium is 372 ppm. The sufficiency level for K extracted by ammonium acetate is 100-235. Your K levels are on the high side. For the most part this isn't an issue but keep in mind 1. if K base saturation exceeds Mg, it can become detrimental to the turf and 2. high K levels (usually in combination with high Na levels) can cause dispersion and destroy soil structure. You don't need any more K this season.
> ...


Thank you so much for the reply @Ridgerunner After a few hours of research on TLF and a bunch of Google searches. I now feel like I have a pretty good idea of what to do this growing season. Your knowledge that you share is great for guys like me and I really appreciate it. Not to bother you too much but can you tell me if you think this plan is not terrible. I know you do not like to recommend certain products or labs to use so if I am asking too much I understand. Again thank you.

- Aerate backfill holes with gypsum/peatmoss/sand mix
- Gypsum 40lbs per 1000sqft twice during growing season
- Elemental Sulfur 3lbs per 1000sqft every four weeks
- Citric Acid 1lb per 1000sqft every month during growing season
- FEature (can not find where to order)
- I can not find any liquid fertilizer with no K so use Milorganite at bag rate since it has no K (or very little I guess)

Other than that, mow often, water deep and infrequent


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Other than aid you in understanding your soil report, I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help.
A couple of observations that I hope can be of help:
Is this a recommendation that greendoc posted?


> - Elemental Sulfur 3lbs per 1000sqft every four weeks
> - Citric Acid 1lb per 1000sqft every month during growing season


If so, go with it. Otherwise most recommendations that I've seen elsewhere suggest limiting apps to 2#/M of elemental sulfur.
There is a substantial number of people who grow great turf in high pH soils. Many of them spray foliar, and have a wealth of knowledge on the process (Mightyquinn, for example). I would suggest that you ask for assistance on the Warm Season forum for guidance on what products could be used and where they can be bought. In any case, If you can't find a product without K, you could use something like Peters 21-7-7 (domyown.com) or any product with a high N to K ratio. Milo should suffice and it will ad some amount of OM.
I think, I'd hold off on the sand. I'd suggest you wait to apply sand until you're done aggressively aerating (your lawn is going to get pretty torn up) and amending with gypsum and peat leaving the sand to be used for leveling possibly as late as next year. At only 1000 sq ft., it should be doable to remove the cores and dispose of them. As I have no personal experience with high pH, low OM, hard soils, I encourage you to solicit experiences on the Warm Season forum.


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

@Ridgerunner Thank you for your help.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

For elemental sulfur, you can do up to 5lb/ksqft every 6months if your soil stays warm (for microbes to break it down).

For a nitrogen only fert, you can buy granular and just dissolve or use it in granular.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

> Many of them spray foliar, and have a wealth of knowledge on the process (Mightyquinn, for example). I would suggest that you ask for assistance on the Warm Season forum for guidance on what products could be used and where they can be bought. In any case, If you can't find a product without K, you could use something like Peters 21-7-7 (domyown.com) or any product with a high N to K ratio. Milo should suffice and it will ad some amount of OM.


I meant to add, check with them about what they are using for Fe and other micros (that FEature contains). I think some are getting good results with foliar iron sulfate apps. I think g-man is dealing with high pH (albeit cool season turf), so he may have some other insights.


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