# Soil Analysis Results Help



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

My soil test results came back and need a little help with a plan of attack if anyone has any suggestions. I'm a little curious as to why my front sample's ph remained the same as last year even though I added two applications of lime, totaling the recommended 35lbs/M.









Right now I'm just planning to add the required lime to raise the PH levels, and maybe use some AS if I can source it locally to fertilize once I begin adding N to the lawn. If I recall correctly that should help with me Sulfur deficiency. Lastly I figure I'll have to source some SOP to bring up my K levels.

Boron levels are low but I'm nervous to address this because I've heard that if you screw up the borax application it can have detrimental effects to the lawn. Any truth to this? How important is it or should I not even worry about it until I get the other things in check?


----------



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Ok so I was looking for AS but it doesn't seem to be so easy to locate however I did find this locally and thought maybe it would be a good choice to handle two deficiencies at once?



Any thoughts?


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I saw your post, but I'm meeting at work. SOP will give you sulfur and pottasium. Your pH is low, I don't think you should use AS to push it lower.


----------



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Ok got it, no AS for me. I'll stick to amending the ph with lime and getting down some Potassium to bring those levels up.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Let's do a more complete analysis.

You CEC is low. This means that your soil can't hold to nutrients too well. I recommend you switch to applying products twice a week at half rate than once a month at full rate. Is your soil sandy?

Yes your pH needs to come up, but it takes time. It is a logarithmic scale and not lineal. Continue to apply lime. You can have a great lawn at this pH and the agricultural lime will raise it over time for the front lawn. For the back I think you should switch to calcitic lime at the bag rate/frequency.

Phosphorus - soil sample depth was from 0-4? Right? Both are good and the back is actually on the high side. No more milo.

Pottasium is low on both sides - the ideal is SOP (0-0-50) at 2lb/ksqft the months the lawn is growing (avoid drought and late fall). Check the home town section for sources near you.

Sulfur - this plant available sulfur is important. The SOP will address this too.

Try to mulch mow to keep the nutrients in the soil.

Now for nitrogen. AS provides hydrogen that will lower your pH slightly. Urea is neutral and cheap. If you have a Scott wizz then it will be easier to apply without over applying. I don't recommend a push spreader. Another option is ammonium nitrate that has a slight effect in raising your pH.

Let's ignore the boron for now unless you are seeing problem with your lawn.

More info on nitrogen sources and pH: https://www.cropnutrition.com/fertilizers-and-soil-acidity


----------



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Thanks for the more in depth analysis g-man. To answer a few of your questions, I always mulch mow and my soil is sandy and my samples came from 0-4" depth. I took approximately 15 samples from the 3k in the back and approx 25 samples from the 4.3k in the front. I did a composition test last year to know exactly what I was working with. Here are the results.



I'm going to grab lime this weekend to put down and was reading up on Calcitic vs Dolomitic lime yesterday. You only mention Calcitic lime for the rear so I should use dolomitic lime for the front? Not that I'm questioning you're recommendation of Calcitic lime, but why Calcitic lime over dolomitic so that I can better understand how to come to that conclusion myself? Is it because I should keep my Mg levels where they are and raise my Ca levels higher giving me a better Ca:Mg ratio?

As for potassium, I found a source semi-locally last year for SOP (0-0-50) but it's not always available. I also found some sources pretty close to me that have the 0-0-25 liquid that I posted above which also supplements Sulfur and I found a 19-0-19 granular that I was looking at as well which uses Urea for the nitrogen. I already have bags of 46-0-0 Urea and could use that with either the granular SOP if I can source it or liquid if you think that would work well for my application.

Thanks again for the insight.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Calcity raises only calcium, but it is more expensive. Dolomitic raises both can and mg. Your front is low on mg. Waypoint recommended domlomitc to raise both ca and mg. The back levels of mg are sufficient per MLSN and I don't think we should raise them more. As your pH approaches 6 -6.5, we should approach the corrections with more carefully to avoid overshooting.

I quickly read the label for the liquid and it will work for you, but one key thing. Irrigate immediately after application. Follow the dilution information. We want this in the soil and not in the leaves. So, spray and wash it off into the soil. I think greendoc uses this method for pottasium.

The 19-0-19 will also work great if you need the nitrogen. I avoid nitrogen in the summer, but you can use this in the spring/fall.

There are multiple ways to accomplish the same goals. Keep doing what you are doing of looking at the ingredients and labels to ensure it is the right approach/product. :thumbup:


----------



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

g-man said:


> Calcity raises only calcium, but it is more expensive. Dolomitic raises both can and mg. Your front is low on mg. Waypoint recommended domlomitc to raise both ca and mg. The back levels of mg are sufficient per MLSN and I don't think we should raise them more. As your pH approaches 6 -6.5, we should approach the corrections with more carefully to avoid overshooting.


Thanks much for the explanation on the why. It helps me a lot to better understand what's going on and why certain things should be done.



g-man said:


> I quickly read the label for the liquid and it will work for you, but one key thing. Irrigate immediately after application. Follow the dilution information. We want this in the soil and not in the leaves. So, spray and wash it off into the soil. I think greendoc uses this method for pottasium.


Will do!



g-man said:


> The 19-0-19 will also work great if you need the nitrogen. I avoid nitrogen in the summer, but you can use this in the spring/fall.
> 
> There are multiple ways to accomplish the same goals. Keep doing what you are doing of looking at the ingredients and labels to ensure it is the right approach/product. :thumbup:


Since I have the Urea already and a whiz too, I think I'll go this route and spray the Potassium (with follow on irrigation). Good to know I can use the 19-0-19 though if needed.

Thanks :thumbup:


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

If you wish to calculate the approximate (soil is dynamic, there are a number of variables involved-that's the value in comparing tests from year to year and adjusting) change to be expected from the application a quantity of nutrient on soil ppm, you should be able to find the formulas you need in my soil test thread pinned at the top of this sub-forum. Although some nutrient ratios (e.g. Mg:K) have been shown to affect plant performance, Mg:Ca has not been found to be significant to plant health and performance. Ca:Mg can (at the extremes affect soil tilth). Depending on the effort you are willing to make, you can always apply Dolomitic and calcitic lime in percentages calculated for approximate ppm increases.


----------



## Togo (Jun 7, 2017)

Ridgerunner said:


> If you wish to calculate the approximate (soil is dynamic, there are a number of variables involved-that's the value in comparing tests from year to year and adjusting) change to be expected from the application a quantity of nutrient on soil ppm, you should be able to find the formulas you need in my soil test thread pinned at the top of this sub-forum. Although some nutrient ratios (e.g. Mg:K) have been shown to affect plant performance, Mg:Ca has not been found to be significant to plant health and performance. Ca:Mg can (at the extremes affect soil tilth). Depending on the effort you are willing to make, you can always apply Dolomitic and calcitic lime in percentages calculated for approximate ppm increases.


Thanks Ridgerunner, I'll have a look at those formulas and see if I can work out what kind of changes I'm seeing from this year compared to last.


----------

