# Soil test - everything is high



## Getting Fat (Dec 31, 2019)

I was surprised by the results of my soil test (Texas A&M). The results of front and backyard are very similar, so I'm only posting one of them.

I haven't fertilized since September - how the heck do I have high N?

This is my first ever soil test, any advice is appreciated. Thanks


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

Care to explain your method of obtaining the soil?


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## Getting Fat (Dec 31, 2019)

method of obtaining soil:

pro-plugger, 6 inches deep where possible. 10 samples per test from various areas of the yard, then removed grass and debris.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This is a fairly typical texas limestone soil.

Focus on dealing with the high pH. Use foliar iron to help with color. Try to use AMS for nitrogen source and if you want to try, use elemental sulfur to lower the pH. P and K look good.


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## Lawn Whisperer (Feb 15, 2021)

g-man said:


> Use foliar iron to help with color.


Iron is 4.64(ppm), but scale is mod/high. I'm just trying to understand the numbers and the scale. 
I'm assuming because of the high PH, less iron intake. I would think that they would report iron content at neutral PH.

Just asking to have a better understanding of the reports.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

As pH goes higher, iron becomes less available to the plant. While the test/extraction, can measure that there is iron there, it doesnt mean the roots will be effective at grabbing it. Going foliar bypass the soil and the iron enters the plant via the leaf. So, once I notice a pH of 7.8, I dont even look at the report numbers for iron.

Also, I forgot to address the the nitrates questions. I'm not sure at the source.


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## RichS (Jan 28, 2019)

Unfortunately, I've found absolute numbers for Iron to be one of those that is hard to interpret/meaningless between labs. I just look at trends over time. My results this year were:

A&L Great Lakes - "Iron, PPM FE" - 54 Very High
Midwest Labs - "Iron Fe ppm" - 89 VH (Very High)
Waypoint - "Iron (Fe) Me" - 187ppm Optimum
Logan Labs - "Iron p.p.m." - 206

None of these seem to align with a "high" value of 6.4.



Lawn Whisperer said:


> I would think that they would report iron content at neutral PH.


I'm pretty sure they, and all labs, will report what's actually in the soil. I don't see how they would report your iron level at a pH that the soil isn't.


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