# UGA soil test analysis help needed



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

Hello,

I just received my soil test from UGA but I don't understand what it means except that I need to raise my PH  I don't know what my Nitrogen is or how much P, K I need to look for in an fertilizer. My soil is crappy I know but how and what do I need to use to improve it. I have ordered Feature 6-0-0 then ordered RGS from N-ext products but wanted to get the soil test back before I ordered a main fertilizer so I need to know what NPK ratio is best for me? BTW I have bermuda grass, LaPrima.

Thanks for the help


----------



## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

The soil test recommendations seem pretty straightforward to me. You need lime, 35 lb for every 1000 sq ft. They recommend dolomitic lime to help raise magnesium as well as calcium. They recommend 10-10-10 fertilizer (10 lb for every 1000 sq ft) and tell you when to apply it (spring when growth starts and September). They are also recommending a nitrogen only fertilizer for mid June and early August. That will give you 4 lb of nitrogen, 2 lb of phosphorus, and 2 lb of potassium for each 1000 sq ft for the year. Do you have a question about this? Nitrogen levels aren't tested. Instead the recommendations are for the kind of grass you have.


----------



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

Virginiagal said:


> The soil test recommendations seem pretty straightforward to me. You need lime, 35 lb for every 1000 sq ft. They recommend dolomitic lime to help raise magnesium as well as calcium. They recommend 10-10-10 fertilizer (10 lb for every 1000 sq ft) and tell you when to apply it (spring when growth starts and September). They are also recommending a nitrogen only fertilizer for mid June and early August. That will give you 4 lb of nitrogen, 2 lb of phosphorus, and 2 lb of potassium for each 1000 sq ft for the year. Do you have a question about this? Nitrogen levels aren't tested. Instead the recommendations are for the kind of grass you have.


Thanks but their recommendations are generic and not really helpful, if I just apply a 36-0-0 fertilizer like they recommend to everyone how will that improve my extremely low P & K levels? I guess a more helpful way of asking this question is what are the optimum amounts of N,P,K per acre. My P is 1 and K is 114 Cal 472 so what are good amounts for those?


----------



## Virginiagal (Apr 24, 2017)

Their recommendations are geared to the deficits in your soil. The 10-10-10 fertilizer supplies nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. If you have trouble finding 10-10-10, you could use any other balanced fertilizer, using an amount that will deliver 1 lb per 1000 sq ft of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They recommend using that twice (spring, September) and using a nitrogen only fertilizer for the other two months you should be fertilizing. These recommendations are quite reasonable.


----------



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

Thanks, does anyone else have any suggestions/recommendations? My soil is not balanced so I don't understand how a balanced fertilizer will help add the needed P,K to my soil??? I currently have 1 lbs of P and 114 lbs of K, again my question is how much (what range) should I have? How is it that people with good soil can add CarbonX(24-0-4) monthly yet you recommend 10-10-10 twice???? Humic and Fulvic Acids will help Im sure but Im not sure if I should try Green Punch or maybe Super Juice?


----------



## Sublime (Jun 15, 2019)

Nitrogen is used rapidly and the rates will fluctuate greatly, with its main purpose simply pushing growth and not necessarily overall health of the plant. P and K aren't used as quickly, so they will remain in the soil for longer periods of time. Using a 1:1:1 ratio will bring them up compared to N.

People with good soil can add a 24-0-4 because they don't need the P like your soil currently does.

And I would steer clear of Super Juice.


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Soil tests measure and report nutrients in their elemental form. Unfortunately, fertilizer guaranteed analysis for NP and K only reports Nitrogen content in the elemental form. Fertilizers report the content of P (phosphorous) in the bag as P2O5 and K (potassium) as K2O. "Balanced" is a term of the trade meaning a fertilizer containing equal quantities of Nitrogen (elemental), P2O5 and K2O. The consequence of this is that every 1 pound of fertilizer in a 10-10-10 (balanced) product wil contain 0.1 lbs of elemental N, 0.043 lbs of elemental P and 0.083 lbs of elemental K. Confusing? Sure, but it is what it is and when Universities, commericial testing labs, and arm-chair people like us, give recommendations, we all do so with that reality in mind.
Bottom line: although via "term of the trade", a balanced fertilizer has been recommended, it's not providing equal parts of elemental NPK. It was selected to meet the needs of your "unbalanced" soil with a readily market available fertilizer. Yes, the individual quantities could be fine tuned by using individual sources for each nutrient, but sourcing and cost can be a problem for many people.
Your soil has a very low CEC and will barely be capable of storing enough nutrients for a growing season.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

A balanced fertilizer is one that provide equal amounts of N, P2O5 and K2O. It is an easy way to address P and K in one single application. There are ways to make this more complex if you want the challenge.

Their recommendations are: apply 10lb of 10-10-10 in spring and in September. In mid June and early august then only use the N. They are being cautious of not throwing P and K in the summer since it could add more stress to the lawn. If you can keep your lawn irrigated then go 10-10-10 all season long.

The lime should be the most important thing to correct since it takes time to process thru the soil.

If you want to learn more about ranges, test methods, soils, etc. Ridgerunner soil thread has a ton of info and references to even more information.


----------



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

Ridgerunner said:


> Yes, the individual quantities could be fine tuned by using individual sources for each nutrient, but sourcing and cost can be a problem for many people.
> Your soil has a very low CEC and will barely be capable of storing enough nutrients for a growing season.


Thanks so much this info is very helpful. How would you recommend that I increase my CEC so that it can be winter ready??? I saw a 0-52-34 fertilizer that I was wondering if that would be good for me to use with the 36-0-0 that they recommend?


----------



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

g-man said:


> A balanced fertilizer is one that provide equal amounts of N, P2O5 and K2O. It is an easy way to address P and K in one single application. There are ways to make this more complex if you want the challenge.
> 
> Their recommendations are: apply 10lb of 10-10-10 in spring and in September. In mid June and early august then only use the N. They are being cautious of not throwing P and K in the summer since it could add more stress to the lawn. If you can keep your lawn irrigated then go 10-10-10 all season long.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your help  I always thought that P,K helped create stronger root system for plants, I didn't know it would cause stress. I have lime so I am going to put that down today along with some humic/fulvic acid.


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Yes, that would be an option for the short term. Apply no more than 2 lbs/M of the 0-52-34 product within a 30-60 day period. No more than 2 apps this season. You could do one app now and then a second app after the turf goes dormant and let it cook over Winter. Retest next year to see where your P levels are before adding more P.
You can apply the 36-0-0 at 2 to 2.5 lbs/M every 30 days while the turf is actively growing. Talk to the people in warm season about best N application practices for Bermuda.
As @g-man and @Virginiagal have suggested, you'll eventually want to go with a maintenance program using the 10-10-10 (or any balance fert) or more likely, a 2-1-2 fertilizer for regular applications. With your soil, your turf will need it.
Just out of curiosity, is your soil sand or clay?


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Sorry, missed your CEC question. Raising CEC is a long term process. Most efficient method is root cycling. So healthy turf will make for greater OM in the soil. Short of tilling in OM, probably the most promising possibility, at least on sand/low CEC soils, is through the addition of HA. That's still pretty theoretical.


----------



## ladycage (Aug 12, 2019)

Ridgerunner said:


> Yes, that would be an option for the short term. Apply no more than 2 lbs/M of the 0-52-34 product within a 30-60 day period. No more than 2 apps this season. You could do one app now and then a second app after the turf goes dormant and let it cook over Winter. Retest next year to see where your P levels are before adding more P.
> You can apply the 36-0-0 at 2 to 2.5 lbs/M every 30 days while the turf is actively growing. Talk to the people in warm season about best N application practices for Bermuda.
> As @g-man and @Virginiagal have suggested, you'll eventually want to go with a maintenance program using the 10-10-10 (or any balance fert) or more likely, a 2-1-2 fertilizer for regular applications. With your soil, your turf will need it.
> Just out of curiosity, is your soil sand or clay?


Thanks so much for the soil test guide you wrote, I'm reading it now. Its full of so much information. I have Georgia red clay soil. I have Bermuda grass and I read the following"
Type of Fertilizer to use on Bermuda Grass
Fertilizer is described by the percentages of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) contained in the bag. All fertilizer bags are clearly labeled with these three numbers known as N-P-K ratio. Whenever possible use a slow release fertilizer with a 3-1-2 ratio. An example would be 12-4-8. A bag of 12-4-8 fertilizer contains 12% nitrogen, 4% phosphorus, and 8% potassium by weight. The remaining 76% is inert material that adds bulk to the mixture and makes it easier to spread.

It is important to use slow release fertilizers whenever possible. Most major brands of lawn fertilizer will have a combination of soluble and slow release forms of nitrogen (indicated on the label). Soluble nitrogen is available to the Bermuda Grass plant immediately while slow release nitrogen becomes available over a period of two to three months. In most situations it is best to have as much of the nitrogen in slow release form . This is usually noted in a statement like "containing 6% in slow release form."

Be careful when using hose end fertilizer sprayers or dry fertilizer in which all the nitrogen is in a soluble nitrogen will cause a major flush of growth for a week or two and will completely dissipate in 4-6 weeks. For most of us, it is almost impossible to fertilizer with quick release fertilizers without causing wild, fluctuating growth spurts. If you decide to use quick release fertilizer, never apply more than 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet. You will need to fertilize every 4-6 weeks during the growing season for a total of 4 or 5 applications. Stay on schedule throughout the season so that nitrogen levels will remain fairly constant in the soil.

How much Fertilizer to apply on Bermuda Grass
There are universal ways to know how much fertilizer to apply, regardless of the brand or the specific N-P-K ratio. All you need to do is figure out how much "actual nitrogen" is contained in the bag. Bermuda grass lawns generally need 4-5 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet each year, regardless of the brand of fertilizer you purchase. If you use a fertilizer that contains a slow release form of nitrogen, you can apply the need nitrogen in three applications of 1.5 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet in mid-spring, mid-summer and early fall.

Unfortunately, the average bag of fertilizer does not tell you how much actual nitrogen it contains in the bag, it is easy to calculate, though, using two simple pieces of information: the N-P-K ratio and the weight of the bag. Multiply the percentage of nitrogen (the first number of the N-P-K) by the weight of the bag and you will know the amount of actual nitrogen it contains. For instance, a 50 pound of 12-4-8 fertilizer has 6 pounds of actual nitrogen (12% of 50).

Determine the amount of coverage by dividing the amount of actual nitrogen in the bag by the amount of nitrogen you want to apply in a single application. With Bermuda grass, you will want to apply 1.5 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet. Therefore a bag that contains 6 pounds of actual nitrogen will cover 4000 square feet (6 divided by 1.5 pounds per 1000 square feet). If your lawn is less than 4000 square feet, remove the mount you do not need. Two cups of granular fertilizer weight about 1 pound.

All of this calculating may seem like a hassle, but it really is the best way to apply the correct amount of fertilizer to your Bermuda grass lawn. If it also a great way to compare the cost of different fertilizers so that you get a good deal.


----------



## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

I misspoke. Not 2-1-2. More like 3-1-3, but 3-1-2 is fine. research indicates that for every pound of N, turf will use .13 lbs of P (.3 lbs of P2O5) and between .5 to 1 lb of K. Warm season grasses/Bermuda use K amounts in the .75-1 lb range, cool season grasses use K amounts closer to 0.5 lbs. So 1-0.3-1 would be a 10-3-10 (3-1-3) ratio and a 1-0.3-.75 or 20-6-15 (3-1-2). 
There are pros and cons to using a slow release. Studies have shown that it will take a year or two for a slow release program to level out. Most pros and most people here prefer the tighter control attendant with fast release.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

There is one other really fast way to change your CEC. Remove 6 or so inches of soil and replace it with a higher CEC soil. But the $$$ will be very high.


----------

