# First soil test at OSU, low N and P, need help!



## ithink02 (Mar 6, 2021)

I did my first soil test at Oklahoma State University's local extension office. I am low on N and P, but adequate on pH, K, and micronutrients.

I am planning to apply 20lbs per 1000 sqft of Milorganite over 3 times to meet the P (2.5 lbs/1000sqft) requirement and also push growth given I have a lot of bare spots.

Is this a good plan? Am I missing anything from the soil test? Do you have any recommendations?


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

That plan sounds fine. You may also want to use FAS as iron is not readily available at a high pH. Here is a post on making it yourself:
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=211


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm not sure what the index is based on. The pH is high, so iron would not be available. Bermuda likes nitrogen and you will need more than what milo can give it. I suggest using AMS.

Iron would not be that available at this pH. Milo can help, but consider foliar iron (FAS)

Check the soil remediation guide for more info.


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## ithink02 (Mar 6, 2021)

@g-man How should I mix AMS and milo?

Say, I am planning to put down 1 lbs/1k sqft of N using Milo. How much AMS should I add on top of that?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

If you are doing 1lb of Nitrogen/ksqft of milo, then you should not add more nitrogen. One pound of N is the max I suggest at once.

Milo is 6% nitrogen in a 32 lb bag (used to be 36lb bag). If you want one pound of N, the math is 1 divided 0.06 = 16lb. Yes that's a lot of milo ($$$) per ksqft (16lb/ksqft milo = 1lb of N/ksqft).

Let say you want to do half a pound of N from milo and half a pound of N from AMS. Then that's 8lb of milo/ksqft (0.5lb of N/ksqft) + AMS. AMS is 21% nitrogen. The math for 0.5lb of N is 0.5 divided by 0.21 = 2.4lb of AMS/ksqft. Therefore you spread 8lb/ksqft of milo + 2.4lb/ksqft of AMS.

The math holds for whatever ratio you want to try (100% AMS, 75/25). Divide the desired amount of nitrogen per pound by the percent of nitrogen in the product. You will quickly notice that AMS is way cheaper than milo.


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## gooodawgs (Jul 10, 2020)

@g-man can you explain the difference of using AMS vs Urea? Any reason not to just use a smaller amount of urea? Or does it not tank mix as well as AMS? I'm in the same boat.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@gooodawgs urea is a high nitrogen per weight than ams. It also needs a soil enzyme to make it available.

The OP questions are around granular application of products. Tank mix is a different subject and more complex. There is a thread from MQ with spray applications.


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## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Mixing Milo and AMS will not get you the P you need. Your original plan of 3 applications of 20 lb of Milo will get you 2.4 lb of P. Each application provides 1.2 lb of N and .8 of of P per 1000 sq ft. That is a bit above the recommended limit of 1 lb per 1000 sq ft per month for a nutrient (1.2 lb of N) but Milo is a mostly slow release product so it ought to be ok. Or you could do 4 applications at 16 lb per 1000 sq ft which will give you 1 lb of N and .64 lb of P each application. Milo is more expensive than AMS but at only 3,500 sq ft it's not going to break the bank.


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