# WAYPOINT Soil Test - Latitude 36 Lawn



## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

Hi Guys! 10K sq ft Latitude lawn here. I installed the latitude last fall in early September. I'm currently mowing at 0.5 inch and have a sand project planned for May.

I just got the results back from my first soil test. I put down PreM in January but haven't fertilized yet. I live in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (NE Oklahoma).

Any insight or recommendations from the experts! This will be my first year managing the lawn treatment entirely myself.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Nice soil. Other than raising your S levels, you are in great shape. You should consider a "maintenance" fertilizer program. This will supply the turf with it's seasonal nutrient requirements while allowing your soil test levels to remain intact as a bank/pantry of nutrients.
For Bermuda: For each pound of N you apply this year, add .3 lbs of P and 1 pound of K. With your pH and current soil nutrient levels, you can be pretty flexible as to when you put the P and K down. If you can find a fertilizer close to a 20-6-20 ratio, that would work or if you can find potassium sulfate 0-0-50 for K, ammonium sulfate 21-0-0 and 0-45-0 for P. The 21-0-0 and 0-0-50 will give you the S you need.


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

Thanks for the help! If I find a balanced fertilizer, do I need to worry the S?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

> If I find a balanced fertilizer, do I need to worry the S?


 Depends on what you find. Many/Most balanced fertilizers use MOP for K and urea for N. Neither supplies S (read as: sulfate) and after NP and K, S (sulfate) is probably the next most important nutrient. Is that what you were asking?


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

Yes, exactly what I was asking. What are my options for increasing sulphate?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Ridgerunner said:


> The 21-0-0 and 0-0-50 will give you the S you need.


As ridgerunner highlights, these two: ammonium sulfate and potassium sulfate, will get you sulfur. Any product with sulfate will. Even elemental sulfur that we use to lower pH will eventually give you this type of sulfur too.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

If you can't find ammonium sulfate or SOP fertilizers or balance fertilizers containing them, you could use elemental sulfur as @g-man said. 2 lbs per thousand should provide the sulfur you need and shouldn't detrimentally lower your pH.
In that case, any multi fertilizer where the K number is 75-100% of the N value number and the P number is no more than 25-30% of the N number will work.


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

Thank you both so much! Very helpful.


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

Where do you guys find your fertilizers?

I've searched all over locally and it seems all I can find are fertilizers that fall in 1 of 3 categories;

1) balanced (i.e. 10-10-10)
2) high N/P low K (i.e. 18-24-6)
3) high N low P/K (i.e. 27-0-4)

My analysis suggests I need 0.75 lbs if K for ever lb if N. I don't know how to do that with these fertilizers. Also, I can't find any 100% potash (0-0-50).

Any suggestion you guys have would be greatly appreciated.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

You'll need to do a little investigating and expand your search. I get my fertilizer from a local sod farm, at a former grain elevator that's become a feed and seed and a seed and feed about 15 miles away. I've also got a semi organic gardening place that sell SOP, urea etc too.


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

@g-man @Ridgerunner

I'm sorry to bump this old thread, but as I'm starting the year over again I realized I had another question that I needed to ask.

I found SOP 0-0-50 with added S. So I've been using that for my Potassium and to hopefully help get my Sulphate up.

However, for N I really like using Greens Grade Milorganite because its so forgiving to apply. At 6-4-0, this means I'm putting out .67 lbs of P for every lb of N I put out. With my phosphate numbers already being so high, will this be a problem?

Last year I used Milorganite and SOP for my entire fertilization program. I pushed nitrogen pretty hard last year because the lawn was thin and I also did a major sand project. This year, I want to try to pull back on the nitrogen quite a bit to keep growth in check. I was planning on trying 0.5lb N/month during the growing season, for likely a total of 3-3.5 lbs of Nitrogen full year. I was wanting to use Milorganite for this, which means I would also put down about 2 lbs of phosphate. I will hit the lawn with FEature occasionally if I need a little extra color.

For K, I would use SOP and I would match the total lb of Nitrogen (so 3 lbs for the year) and I plan on putting it down in 3 applications throughout the year with the last application being in the fall.

My plan is to do this for another full year and then test soil again next spring (2 years from my previous soil test).

Any problems with this plan? I don't really understand what risk there is in putting down more phosphate than the lawn needs and if I need to adjust because of it.

I appreciate all of your advice.

B


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Will high sulfur levels be a problem if you put more sulfur down? Is that the question?


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## BvilleGrass (Jul 31, 2019)

@SCGrassMan ha! No, sorry if it didn't come across clearly.

I've got the K and S handled with my SOP. However, I like to use Milorganite for Nitrogen and I already have very high P levels.

So, how big of a problem is using a 6-4-0 fertilizer for N & P when my P levels are already high and I likely only need half that much P?


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Phosphorous binds with nutrient cations. This can make those nutrients, like micros, less available. There is also the environmental issues.


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