# Soil Test Recommendations



## RebelK (9 mo ago)

First time posting here. I was looking to get some advice based on my soil tests.

What I have done so far is I added JG Mag-i-cal to the back lawn and Sta-Green Calcitic Fast Acting Lime to the front lawn. The reason for using two different products is I just wanted to test the different effects between the two. I added lime based on the tests and my pH levels being less than optimal. I think everything is in order here, but please provide any suggestions or thoughts in terms of my pH levels for both front and back lawns.

As for fertilizers, from what I am understanding, the front lawn needs a fertilizer in the range of 2-0-1 which I interpret as something like 20-0-10 or 24-0-12 where N is twice as much as K or relatively close. And for the back lawn, the range is 1-0-0, which would be urea. If this is correct, I am having a hard time finding fertilizer like this in North Jersey. The only one I found was a 50 lb bag of Lesco 24-0-11 at my local HD, but 50 lbs is way too much for my needs I think as my front lawn is only 1,500 sq ft. I have not put down any fertilizer yet this season due to doing the fertilizer blitz in the fall, but I know I need to put some down soon. I will be putting down Milorganite this weekend at the bag rate.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

General background info:

Location = North Jersey 
Grass Type = TTTF
Front Lawn Sq Ft = 1,500
Back Lawn Sq Ft = 1,000 
Irrigation system = Yes

*Front Lawn Soil Test*



*Back Lawn Soil Test*


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

With your phosphorus so high, avoid Milorganite. I looked online at Home Depot. There are several brands of fertilizer with nitrogen and potassium. Pick one with the largest percentage of K for the area that needs potassium. Pick one with the lowest percentage of K for the area that needs only nitrogen.

Did you do the bag rate for the lime or did you put down what the soil test recommended? Front lawn needs 40 lb per 1000 sq ft. The back needs 105 lb per 1000 sq ft, divided into two applications (spring, fall). If you did the bag rate, you have more to do with this fall and next year until you have put down the total recommended.


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## RebelK (9 mo ago)

Thank you for your response.



Virginiagal said:


> With your phosphorus so high, avoid Milorganite.


I will avoid Milorganite.



Virginiagal said:


> I looked online at Home Depot. There are several brands of fertilizer with nitrogen and potassium. Pick one with the largest percentage of K for the area that needs potassium. Pick one with the lowest percentage of K for the area that needs only nitrogen.


Sounds good. This makes sense to me.



Virginiagal said:


> Did you do the bag rate for the lime or did you put down what the soil test recommended? Front lawn needs 40 lb per 1000 sq ft. The back needs 105 lb per 1000 sq ft, divided into two applications (spring, fall). If you did the bag rate, you have more to do with this fall and next year until you have put down the total recommended.


I put down 50 lbs of lime based on the soil test recommendation and my square footage in the front lawn and one bag of mag-i-cal in the back lawn. I was planning on applying another 50 lbs of lime in the fall in the back lawn based on the soil test recommendations and then getting another soil test done next spring to see where I am at.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

The fast acting limes have lower limits per application.


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## RebelK (9 mo ago)

Thank you for that information. Would you recommend another soil test be done this fall or should I wait until next spring to see whether I corrected or hindered my pH level for that area? I do not plan on overseeding this fall in case that helps.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

You still need another 50 lb of lime in the backyard later on. See if you can find regular calcitic lime that is not fast acting. You can apply that in one application this fall. Though calcitic lime is preferable to dolomitic because you don't need the magnesium, you could use dolomitic. Either will work and as long as it's regular lime, you can do 50 lb per 1000 sq ft at a time. And you will be done. If you want to use the fast acting kind, follow the bag directions on how much to use in an application. Then do subsequent applications until you have applied the total. Since you have used more this time then the manufacturers advised, the top surface may soon be alkaline. Iron may be less available this summer, It will settle out in time. You could call customer service for the the limes you used, tell them what you did, and ask about it. They have probably dealt with this before.

You don't need another soil test this year.


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## RebelK (9 mo ago)

Virginiagal said:


> There are several brands of fertilizer with nitrogen and potassium. Pick one with the largest percentage of K for the area that needs potassium. Pick one with the lowest percentage of K for the area that needs only nitrogen.


My fertilizer plan for my 2 areas:

Front Yard: 22-0-10 @ 4.5 lbs / 1k (or 7 lbs / ~ 1700 Total sq ft)
Back Yard: 46-0-0 @ 2 lbs / 1k Total sq ft

My questions:

1. If I am throwing down 1 lbs of N per 1k, are my numbers correct in terms of how many lbs of product I need to throw down for the total sq footage of the 2 areas?

2. This is the first feeding of the season for both areas. If I apply product this weekend, should I apply another application at the beginning of June before summer comes full blast? If so, should I apply .5 lbs of N per 1k instead of 1 lbs of N per 1k?

3. How will (or how should) the K affect my Front Yard area based on its current K level indicated on its soil test?

I hope my fertilizer plan and questions make sense. If there are any suggestions or opinions for my fertilizer plan, please share.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

For 1700 sq ft, I get 4.5 x 1.7 = 7.65. At 7 lb, there would be 4.1 lb per 1000, so 22% would be 0.9 lb of nitrogen, 10% would be 0.4 lb of potassium per 1000 sq ft. That's fine. 2 lb of 46-0-0 gives you .92 lb of nitrogen, which is fine.

Rutgers is recommending an application in early April, late August, and October. Since you missed April, now is okay. Doing two half applications is generally okay but it's going to be hard to spread 1 lb of the 46-0-0 product evenly over 1000 sq ft. It's hard enough to do 2 lb evenly.

The potassium should be helpful. Here is an article from Penn State on fertilization and there is a section on how potassium helps turfgrass:
https://extension.psu.edu/turfgrass-fertilization-a-basic-guide-for-professional-turfgrass-managers


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## RebelK (9 mo ago)

Not sure if this post would go in this sub, but I noticed the patches in the pictures in a section of my front lawn after cutting the grass today. Would someone be able to give me some feedback on why this occurred?

It may possibly have to do with the following treatment applications I made last week based on my fertilizer plan in my last post:

Applied on 5/9/22
1. Dimension @ 1/2 rate - Front yard and Back yard
2. 22-0-10 @ 1/2 rate - Front yard
3. 46-0-0 @ 1/2 rate - Back yard

* Watered in applications right after putting it down to both front and back yard areas with irrigation system. And, it rained all this weekend.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

I'm going to guess some kind of fungal issue. You'll get more views in the cool season forum. I just put down a preventative application for brown patch. There are other fungal possibilities. Hot humid weather, prolonged wetness, not enough airflow can contribute. Only irrigate very early in the morning so grass dries off and stays dry most of the day and into the night.


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## RebelK (9 mo ago)

Thank you. I will repost in the cool season forum.


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