# Soil test advice - Long Island



## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

I decided to help take on my cousins lawn on Long Island as a project this year. It was about 90% crabgrass and other weeds last year, so a week or two ago I seeded some KBG and TTTF along with tenacity to try to get ahead of things this year. It's about 7k sqft total.

I just got her first soil test results back from Logan Labs and I'm looking for some help interpreting the numbers. I read the Mightyquinn's thread which got me this far.

It's a sandy soil with a TEC of 4.03 and mediocre OM at 2.55. All of the cations are short, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Would the best way to correct the cations be to source 9 lbs/K of calcitic lime (Encap/SoluCal/Mag-I-Cal) mixed with 2 lbs/K of Epsom Salts? Every 90 days. Also 2 lbs/K of Sulfate of Potash monthly? I'm guessing here based on other soil report recommedations I've read.

Phosphorous seems low but Ocean gro will address this.

Boron and manganese also seem low. Twenty mule team laundry soap and Manganese Sulfate (from ebay) at 3 tablespoons/k mixed into the ocean gro?

Does that sounds like a good plan or is there anything I've overlooked? Or did I just completely miss the ball and should leave the interpretations to the pros?

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## RichS (Jan 28, 2019)

From a few years or reading Logan recommendations, and all of the notes I've taken, I agree with most of what you've said. With the sandy soil and low OM, I'd spread applications out where possible - nutrients will quickly leach.

B and Mn - I applied 4-5 tablespoons/k of micros, mixed with Milorg, 5 times last season, and got them moving in the right direction, but far from overdoing it. IMHO, 3tbsp/K, every 60 days, is conservative and may take 2 seasons to move the needle.

With P and K low, a balanced fertilizer can tackle the problems. I've used 10-10-10 and 14-14-14 in the past couple of years with similar dual shortages.

2lbs SOP/k would typically be decreased by the K in a balanced fert, but you're so low, I think both would be fine. Based on my history, you probably need 5-6lbs/k of K, and it still may take a couple of years. You'll have to do the math on total K content based on the fert you use.

Lime/Epsom salts look fine.

I'd also tackle Iron. I've put down 5lbs/K Ferrous Sulfate, spread out over the season, over the last 2 years to get the FE numbers up. You can also use a foliar application to address the immediate need. (I will say the Ferrous Sulfate is a pain to deal with - the 50lb bags are usually 3-5 chunks of 5-6 lbs, a bunch of smaller chunks, and then a bit of power. I bought a food grinder just to deal with it. Also wear a face mask or you'll be tasting metal/rust as you cough for a week.)


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I like to convert Logan's to ppm since the numbers make more sense to me that way. To convert from 4in of soil we need to divide by 1.33.

pH =6.2 this is a fine pH for cool season grass.
Sulfur =7ppm - this close to the MSLN of 6. Let's address it via the SOP that you also need.
P =43ppm - MSLN calls for 21ppm. There are reports that above 100ppm the mycorrhizal is negativity affected. I like to keep it at ~50ppm. You can apply more P but it is not necessary.
K = 34.5ppm = this is below MSLN of 37. This will need SOP for a while. 2lb of SOP/ksqft/growing month
Ca = 515ppm. This is fine
Mg = 70ppm. This is fine.
If you want a more perfect ratio of Ca:Mg you can apply gypsum to avoid messing with your pH.
Iron = 128ppm. With your pH, this level is fine in my opinion.

With your low TEC, frequent applications (twice a week) at half rate will better than once a month.


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## desirous (Dec 15, 2017)

@g-man, 132 P2O5/A at 4 inches on the Logan Labs report is 43.56 ppm elemental P. Still higher than MSLN, but below your target of 50 ppm.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@desirous yes I screwed that up. I also need to divide by 2.3 to convert from P2O5 to elemental P. ridgerunner also just pointed that out. Logan labs makes things complex. I will fix this.


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## desirous (Dec 15, 2017)

g-man said:


> Logan labs makes things complex.


Yes they do... They do report P ppm if requested, but the default is weird.


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## Lawnguyland (Apr 25, 2018)

thanks guys. @RichS glad you have the same thinking as me.

@g-man so if following MSLN, I would only need to apply nitrogen and potassium? The other nutrients are sufficient? Obviously I will also try to push organic matter to get the nutrients to hang around longer.

The main goal at the moment is to get the seed to germinate as best as possible so if there was anything limiting that, I would like to tackle it. But it sounds like I should either start with a balance fert like 10-10-10 as RichS says or ignore the P and focus on N and K. Is that right?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

The short answer is yes. You want to maintain above the MSLN accounting for how much your soil will consume of them. It is like a checking account that you want to maintain a minimum balance. Consumption is a function of how much nitrogen you apply (more N, then it needs more K) and if you mulch mow or throw away the clippings (and the associated nutrients).

Ridgerunner explained it here and Jason Haines at www.turfhacker.com . He is using this method on his golf course with success.


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