# Soil test for season 2 sparked more questions...



## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

I got my soil test back here in upstate NY, pre applications. Last year I noticed some yellow spots and again this year, heavy in the front. I noticed my soil tests were going to be very different, so I did one in the front and back. At first I thought it was poa triv, but now I'm wondering if it is a deficiency. The grasses yellow spots don't look fluorescent or anything, just light. Also doesn't seem to react to iron well. Did pull tests to make sure it wasn't grubs just in case.

3/22 Soil Test
3/23 Prodiamine / Flasghip / Watered
3/30 Green Effect / Micro Green / RGS / Humic 12

I ordered Double Dark as per the soil test recc. as well as Magi Cal. I assume the shipment will come around step 2 of the plan, and I want to make sure I'm not overdoing it. But I want to help the soil as it seems to be screaming for.

Next steps are Flagship, Prodiamine (#2), RGS, Air 8 (which I think will help as it may be compacted). Is there a way to include the other products to help with the micronutrient deficiencies?


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

Just to add a more recent pic, and sorry for the cell phone pic. Colors aren't perfect, but you can kind of see how there are more yellow areas than green ones. Top views make it more apparent. But they don't quite look like weeds or crazy undesirable grass to me. Kind of feel bad if I assumed it was poa triv and it was just the soil asking for help.. On the plus side, the fix for poa trivialis would have been far more serious.


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

August 2020


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

https://yardmastery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Ask for their wallet de-thatching specialist.


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

Ridgerunner said:


> https://yardmastery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
> Ask for their wallet de-thatching specialist.


I'm sure this was super funny internally to you, but doesn't help my situation. I just want to help my grass/soil, and it seems there is a correlation between some of the deficiencies in the soul and the color/grass problem. I'm not looking to throw hundreds at any company, I'm simply following logic and trying to troubleshoot an issue.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@B1NY3121 Outside of following MySoil recommendations, I dont know what else to tell you. Their methods/ranges are a mystery. Now they also seem to only recommend products sold online by YardMastery. More thoughts on SoilSavvy/MySoil here.


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

g-man said:


> @B1NY3121 Outside of following MySoil recommendations, I dont know what else to tell you. Their methods/ranges are a mystery. Now they also seem to only recommend products sold online by YardMastery. More thoughts on SoilSavvy/MySoil here.


My question was, with the products mentioned, would there be a good way to introduce those additional benefits into the normal plan without overdoing it. It's clear something is wrong, regardless of people's feelings about the companies or soil tests or anything. The grass is yellowish more than green. Doesn't pull up. Doesn't seem like poa trivialis. So it's either deficient in something, or I glyphosate 6,000 sq ft. Kind of a big deal there, that I hoped more educated people than I could offer suggestions about.

Clearly the entire soil section of the forum is just to rag on YM or wheoever by spiteful people who may very well have good reason to be as such. But none of that helps me, a lawn noob, trying to fix his lawn and soil for the better. I'm on year 2, invested a ton of time and money, hell I lost 30lbs because of it. I just want to continue that, didn't seem like I was asking for too much. FB groups never accept the questions anymore, and now the forums are too distracted with hate posts to help either. I thought the whole point was to empower us all to love our lawn and support each other's journeys to better lawncare fellows, and to stop paying service companies hundreds of dollars to rip us off. But here we are.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

B1NY3121 said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > @B1NY3121 Outside of following MySoil recommendations, I dont know what else to tell you. Their methods/ranges are a mystery. Now they also seem to only recommend products sold online by YardMastery. More thoughts on SoilSavvy/MySoil here.
> ...


It is not about how I feel about the companies. You are paying a lot of money for those test ($30 each? = $90?) plus all of their products and yet you are not getting the answers you need to get your lawn looking better. And we can continue to throw more money away trying to fix numbers in a test results that might not be accurate. An option is to grab a soil sample and send it to Waypoint for $16.50, or Midwest Labs or others (see the first post) before you throw anything else down.

So ignoring the soil test and just going blind using what I see in the pictures - > I dont see poa t, so no need to reno. The lawn in the first images looks under fertilized. Are those from this year or last? Summer? I would throw some nitrogen down, but since we dont know the real status of P and K, I would have to say to use a balanced fertilizer (no need to buy online, just go to HD/Lowes). Target 0.5lb/ksqft of N/ksqft now and let see how the lawn responds in two weeks. If no improvement, then we will need a soil sample to see what the problem was (ideally sample before throwing anything else down).

As part as all the other products, do the prodiamine #2 in 3-4 weeks. Wait on anything else.


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## zeroibis (Sep 28, 2020)

Your issue could be related to your very low sulfur levels. If you watch the most recent Lawns Across America video there is a lot of info in there especially about the importance of sulfur and how it can be overlooked.


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

zeroibis said:


> Your issue could be related to your very low sulfur levels. If you watch the most recent Lawns Across America video there is a lot of info in there especially about the importance of sulfur and how it can be overlooked.


That was a tricky part as well. Because form what I understand, I would use sulfer to fix the lack of. But you use sulfer to lower PH. My PH is already low lol So adding would lower it more? Kind of confused on the science there. As for the other soil test reccs what I have local I'm not sure which would be best. Also sure hope my lawn is following all guidelines and I'm not opening myself up to issues with fert etc through the county if I mess up an app or something. I always follow bag rates etc but idk..


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

If you are going to mail in your soil sample, you can pick any lab in the USA for the same USPS shipping cost. You do not need to pick a local lab unless you are going to drive it there to save on shipping cost.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Using sulfate of potassium will not lower your pH. As an analogy, the S in SO4 (sulfate) will no more lower pH that the hydrogen in H2O will explosive. In addition, although plants need sulfur, plants can only take up S in the form of SO4. SOP is win/win for you.
Raise your pH, start by applying 20#/M this year or until you get a soil test that includes Bph lime recommendations
Follow g-mans advice regarding a triple NPK fertilizer and with those trees make sure you water.
Overseed this Fall. Do not thatch. Aeration in the Fall is fine if the soil is compacted.
Good luck and spend both your time and money wisely. Remember, it takes time.


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## B1NY3121 (Jun 29, 2020)

Ridgerunner said:


> Using sulfate of potassium will not lower your pH. As an analogy, the S in SO4 (sulfate) will no more lower pH that the hydrogen in H2O will explosive. In addition, although plants need sulfur, plants can only take up S in the form of SO4. SOP is win/win for you.
> Raise your pH, start by applying 20#/M this year or until you get a soil test that includes Bph lime recommendations
> Follow g-mans advice regarding a triple NPK fertilizer and with those trees make sure you water.
> Overseed this Fall. Do not thatch. Aeration in the Fall is fine if the soil is compacted.
> Good luck and spend both your time and money wisely. Remember, it takes time.


Thank you all for the help. I know I still have plenty to learn, just get frustrated when I hit a wall. It's not everyday I'm motivated to get out there, then life in between getting in the way. I'll work on the fixes I can for now, pretty sure SOP is fairly simple to get. And definitely want to overseed again in the fall, made a huge difference.


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## zeroibis (Sep 28, 2020)

B1NY3121 said:


> zeroibis said:
> 
> 
> > Your issue could be related to your very low sulfur levels. If you watch the most recent Lawns Across America video there is a lot of info in there especially about the importance of sulfur and how it can be overlooked.
> ...


As you already likely know even once you arrive at your target PH level if you do nothing it will go down all on its own. As a result it is common to continue to make ph maintenance adjustments annually to keep the ph level where you want it. This is not only due to the natural loss of the ph adjustments you made in the past but also how other things like sulfur for example can effect ph all on their own. Phos can tie up calcium for example, although that is really high ph levels.

Anyways what may work for you is to use something like "Love Your Soil" which is 21% Calcium and 3.8% Sulfur. If you maintain your ph level with this you should be able to increase your Sulfur levels without worry of decreasing ph. You could also use ferts that contain Sulfur as well to raise your levels.


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