# New guy. New test results.



## number40Fan (Aug 2, 2018)

Hello, everyone. Working on my backyard here.

I planted some grass last year and everything was great until May of this year when it all fell apart. Sent off a soil sample and got the following back.



I have access to manure from a feedlot if that will help with lowering the pH and raising the Phosphates.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

You hit the nail on the head with the PH. That's the first thing I noticed, but it sounds like you've got a plan. Rather than just spreading, you might consider aeration when you spread the top soil. Get it down into the root zone quicker.

I would hit the phosphates pretty hard - i prefer to be on the high side there. To me it looks like you need to start working towards soil amendments and possibly aeration. You say "it all fell apart" in May, but I'm not entirely sure if you mean the lawn just started getting disease, thinning out, bugs, bare patches, etc. Many of those issues could be explained by something that has nothing to do with your soil sample.


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## number40Fan (Aug 2, 2018)

Thanks for the reply.

The grass just started turning brown and dying. The dirt became hard as a rock too, even after watering. I am sure it was due to having it dug up three years ago to replace the sewer line.

My plan this fall is to roto-till the enter yard up again and work the manure down into the soil and start fresh. Get phosphates back up where they need to be and then send off another sample come spring time.

Is there any soil test kits that anyone can recommend for home use? Really worried about a good pH reader for now. My experience of test kits are only limited to pools and I know that the cheap test strips you can get at Wal-Mart are about worthless for that.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Don't fixate on your pH. Lowering high pH soils isn't practical. As an example, the test estimates the lime content of your soil at > 5%. That's 2300 lbs of lime per thousand square feet. The most effective carbonate neutralizing agent is elemental sulfur which would neutralize about 3.2 lbs of lime for every one pound of elemental sulfur applied. You would need to apply 718 lbs of sulfur per thousand square feet of lawn to theoretically lower your pH to 7. To avoid damage to plants (turf) and soil biology, the maximum annual recommended rate for elemental sulfur is 10 lbs/M. Other acidifying agents have similar volume and rate issues.
The reported nutrient values are adequate/sufficient and do not indicate a nutrient issue would be creating your turf performance issues Your salt Index is low, which eliminates that as a problem. Whether your P values are low or not, would depend on the method of testing used which is not identified (I don't recognize based on the report format which lab was used).
Testing results for Na and Mg values, may add some insight into other possible causes of poor performance, but it sounds like a water issue to me. Either a lack of proper irrigation, or an issue with water infiltration such as hydrophobic soil or compaction etc.


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