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Just got my soil sample results back. Can someone help me decipher this?
Soil test results
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I also checked my lot size of the back yard and I'm at 4500 square feet.
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I'm just really not understanding it 100% this is still all new to me. I do understand that the recommendation is per 1000 square feet. Your saying their recommendations should be split maybe into thirds and apply only 1/3 of the recommendation?
Which should I try to fix first? Maybe the PH level? I don't see any sulfur available at any local no box store. Just give me some time playing around on TLF and I'll gain a lot of knowledge!
Which should I try to fix first? Maybe the PH level? I don't see any sulfur available at any local no box store. Just give me some time playing around on TLF and I'll gain a lot of knowledge!
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For example, they are recommending you put down 4lbs N over the course of the year. You can split that into 3 or 4 apps throughout the season. To make it simple, say you do 4 fert apps this year, you would put down 1lb N/per K each time. If you did 3 apps, you would put down 1.33lb N / K each time.
Someone else will have to help with the rest.
Someone else will have to help with the rest.
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When I'm looking at fertilizers almost everything is just high in nitrogen and nothing else. I looked at some starter fertilizer, which I still have some at home, would that be ok to throw down? If not where can I find some good fertilizer?
I'll have to order sulfur online I can't find it anywhere local.
I'll have to order sulfur online I can't find it anywhere local.
Your pH is slightly high. This means that iron is not really available to your lawn. Sulfur could be used to lower the pH but it needs warm weather to activate the bacteria that do this. You wont see immediate results. If you chose to do this, they recommend 5lb/ksqft. and no more than 10lb/ksqft/yr. You will either need to buy it online or at a garden center. You will need around 10lb/ksqft to push your pH down.
In my opinion you dont need more phosphorous if you return your clippings (mulch mow).
You need potassium. The best choice is SOP (0-0-50). It is tricky to find. Search if you have an Advance Turf Solution. They do sell it. Otherwise a coop or a seed & feed store. Think of places farmers go to. Some might try to sell you MOP (0-0-60). It will work but it is not as nice to the soil.
Since we discussed iron, if you want more green color, then milo will work in your pH. You could also spray iron to the lawn, but not to the soil.
For nitrogen, I would recommend Ammonium Sulfate (AS) (21-0-0). It works better on alkaline soils (pH>7.0). Look for it when you look for the SOP.
In my opinion you dont need more phosphorous if you return your clippings (mulch mow).
You need potassium. The best choice is SOP (0-0-50). It is tricky to find. Search if you have an Advance Turf Solution. They do sell it. Otherwise a coop or a seed & feed store. Think of places farmers go to. Some might try to sell you MOP (0-0-60). It will work but it is not as nice to the soil.
Since we discussed iron, if you want more green color, then milo will work in your pH. You could also spray iron to the lawn, but not to the soil.
For nitrogen, I would recommend Ammonium Sulfate (AS) (21-0-0). It works better on alkaline soils (pH>7.0). Look for it when you look for the SOP.
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I will call them tomorrow about pricing and also will call siteone. Thanks again for the help so far. So you'd say continuing milorganite will help situate the PH?
It is $36 for the SOP and around $20 for the AS at the Advance Turf by me.
Milo wont do anything to your pH. It just helps that the iron it has work when the pH is above 7. So it will turn your lawn more green if you use it.
Milo wont do anything to your pH. It just helps that the iron it has work when the pH is above 7. So it will turn your lawn more green if you use it.
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So the AS is mainly nitrogen and sulfur. My report says to do 4lbs of nitrogen per 1000 square and 5.8 lbs of sulfur per 1000 square feet. I have 4500 square feet. So to make sure I'm right I'll need about 20-25 pound bag of AS? Does the entire 25 pounds over my 4500 square feet be applied all at once?
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Thanks g-man! I'm still waiting to call I'm just trying to figure out how much of AS I'll need and how much SOP will you suppose I need? Just for some schooling the SOP is to raise my potassium level correct?
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Totals per 1000sqft (M):
AMS
21-0-0-24S
N: 4 lbs of N / .21 =19 lbs of AMS
SOP
0-0-50-17S
K: 3.6 lbs of K /.5=7.2 lbs of SOP
This takes care of N and K.
Sulfur:
19 lbs of AMS * .24 = 4.57 lbs S
7.2 lbs of SOP * .17 = 1.2 lbs of S
4.57+1.2=5.77 lbs of S
So, if you apply
4 lbs of N using AMS
and
3.6 lbs of K using SOP
you will have applied 5.77 lbs of S.
This of course doesn't work if you use urea or other products.
Read following posts....
This is all calculated based on 1M (M=1000sqft). You have 4.5M. So...
AMS: 19*4.5=85.5
SOP: 7.2*4.5=32.4
You need to buy 2 bags of AMS (50lbs) and 1 bag of SOP (50lbs) for this year.
You shouldn't apply more than 1 lbs of N per app, so you can divide in into 4 apps or more if you want. Apply 1 app per month. Wait 30 days before the next app. Also, you need to make sure there is sufficient water. Rain or water the lawn. Probably best not to do this in the middle of summer unless your's are mild or don't go above 80 much.
If you did 4 apps, you can do:
now?: 21 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Sept: 21 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Oct: 21.5 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Nov: 22 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
For timing, maybe do the last 3 apps in sept, oct, nov. For the first app, if it is warm outside now, divide it in 2 and do half now and half in a month.
Optional: If you want to create a slow release type of program instead of a large spike every month in fert, cut each app in 2 and do half on the 1st and the other half on the 15th.
Super optional: Do a weekly app by dividing the monthly by 4.
Obviously, you do need a scale and a bucket to pour the AMS and SOP into to mix it together before spreading it out. I use this below but you can use your bathroom scale if you felt is was accurate enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Accuteck-ShipPro-Digital-Shipping-W-8580-110-Black/dp/B00KYA0RC2/ref=sr_1_6?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1528907300&sr=1-6&keywords=postal+scale
I hope I got my numbers correct. If @g-man or someone could verify... I'll edit to fix numbers if need be. Much appreciated!
edit: I kept writing P instead of K. :roll:
AMS
21-0-0-24S
N: 4 lbs of N / .21 =19 lbs of AMS
SOP
0-0-50-17S
K: 3.6 lbs of K /.5=7.2 lbs of SOP
This takes care of N and K.
19 lbs of AMS * .24 = 4.57 lbs S
7.2 lbs of SOP * .17 = 1.2 lbs of S
4.57+1.2=5.77 lbs of S
So, if you apply
4 lbs of N using AMS
and
3.6 lbs of K using SOP
you will have applied 5.77 lbs of S.
This of course doesn't work if you use urea or other products.
Read following posts....
This is all calculated based on 1M (M=1000sqft). You have 4.5M. So...
AMS: 19*4.5=85.5
SOP: 7.2*4.5=32.4
You need to buy 2 bags of AMS (50lbs) and 1 bag of SOP (50lbs) for this year.
You shouldn't apply more than 1 lbs of N per app, so you can divide in into 4 apps or more if you want. Apply 1 app per month. Wait 30 days before the next app. Also, you need to make sure there is sufficient water. Rain or water the lawn. Probably best not to do this in the middle of summer unless your's are mild or don't go above 80 much.
If you did 4 apps, you can do:
now?: 21 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Sept: 21 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Oct: 21.5 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
Nov: 22 lbs AMS and 8.1 lbs SOP
For timing, maybe do the last 3 apps in sept, oct, nov. For the first app, if it is warm outside now, divide it in 2 and do half now and half in a month.
Optional: If you want to create a slow release type of program instead of a large spike every month in fert, cut each app in 2 and do half on the 1st and the other half on the 15th.
Super optional: Do a weekly app by dividing the monthly by 4.
Obviously, you do need a scale and a bucket to pour the AMS and SOP into to mix it together before spreading it out. I use this below but you can use your bathroom scale if you felt is was accurate enough.
https://www.amazon.com/Accuteck-ShipPro-Digital-Shipping-W-8580-110-Black/dp/B00KYA0RC2/ref=sr_1_6?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1528907300&sr=1-6&keywords=postal+scale
I hope I got my numbers correct. If @g-man or someone could verify... I'll edit to fix numbers if need be. Much appreciated!
edit: I kept writing P instead of K. :roll:
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I respectfully disagree.
First: Although sulfur (S) is an essential plant nutrient, plants including turf can only take up and use sulfur in the form of sulfate (SO4). However, sulfate will not lower soil pH. When elemental Sulfur is applied to soil and conditions are amenable (temp and moisture) a soil microbe will combine Sulfur (S) with water (H2O) to create sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and a lot of excess H+. The sulfuric acid is very unstable and breaks down into two H+ ions and a sulfate (SO4) molecule. It's this additional H+ that is created that will lower soil pH. The sulfate is a "waste" bi-product that happens to be beneficial to the plant. It does not acidify.
Spectrum is advising the addition of 5.8 lbs/M of elemental sulfur for the purpose of lowering the soil pH. You cannot substitute sulfate (from ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate or any other source of sulfate) as it will not affect soil pH. The ammonium sulfate and potassium sulfate is a good source for sulfate as a plant nutrient. Keep in mind that nirification of ammonia will also creat excess H+ ions whcih will have an addition acidifying affect.
Common maximum single application rate for N is 1lb/M(thousand square feet). To calculate the amount of an N product to apply each time divide 1 (the amount of N you wish to apply) by the percent of N listed on the fertilizer product bag. In the case of AS, N is 21% of the bag content. 1 / .21 = 4.7 lbs of AS fertilizer product per one thousand feet will deliver 1 lb of N. Spectrum recommends 4 lbs of N for the year, so you will apply 4.7 lbs of As product in four separate applications. Total amount of AS for the year that you will need to have in stock to do this is 4.7 lbs/M times 4 applications times 4.5 thousand square feet is 85 lbs of AS.
Spectrum recommends 3.6 lbs of K2O be applied per thousand square feet for the year. If you are going to break their 4 lb N application into 4 separate applications, might as well divide the K2O into 4 applications also and apply the nitrogen and potassium at the same time for simplicity. 3.6 lbs of K2O / 4 =.9 lbs/M of K2O each application. To determine how much SOP product to apply at a time divide the total amount to be applied by the percentage of K2O in the SOP product bag. SOP is 50% K2O. So, 0.9 lbs of K2O/M divided by 0.50 = 1.8 lbs of SOP product should be applied per thousand square feet in four separate applications over the year.
To calculate the total amount of SOP you will need to have in stock to do this: 1.8 lbs/M times four applications time 4.5 thousand square feet is 32.5 lbs of SOP.
FWIW, I disagree with Spectrum's recommendations for potassium. Personally I would want to raise my reserves some rather than just apply maintenance levels.
First: Although sulfur (S) is an essential plant nutrient, plants including turf can only take up and use sulfur in the form of sulfate (SO4). However, sulfate will not lower soil pH. When elemental Sulfur is applied to soil and conditions are amenable (temp and moisture) a soil microbe will combine Sulfur (S) with water (H2O) to create sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and a lot of excess H+. The sulfuric acid is very unstable and breaks down into two H+ ions and a sulfate (SO4) molecule. It's this additional H+ that is created that will lower soil pH. The sulfate is a "waste" bi-product that happens to be beneficial to the plant. It does not acidify.
Spectrum is advising the addition of 5.8 lbs/M of elemental sulfur for the purpose of lowering the soil pH. You cannot substitute sulfate (from ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate or any other source of sulfate) as it will not affect soil pH. The ammonium sulfate and potassium sulfate is a good source for sulfate as a plant nutrient. Keep in mind that nirification of ammonia will also creat excess H+ ions whcih will have an addition acidifying affect.
Common maximum single application rate for N is 1lb/M(thousand square feet). To calculate the amount of an N product to apply each time divide 1 (the amount of N you wish to apply) by the percent of N listed on the fertilizer product bag. In the case of AS, N is 21% of the bag content. 1 / .21 = 4.7 lbs of AS fertilizer product per one thousand feet will deliver 1 lb of N. Spectrum recommends 4 lbs of N for the year, so you will apply 4.7 lbs of As product in four separate applications. Total amount of AS for the year that you will need to have in stock to do this is 4.7 lbs/M times 4 applications times 4.5 thousand square feet is 85 lbs of AS.
Spectrum recommends 3.6 lbs of K2O be applied per thousand square feet for the year. If you are going to break their 4 lb N application into 4 separate applications, might as well divide the K2O into 4 applications also and apply the nitrogen and potassium at the same time for simplicity. 3.6 lbs of K2O / 4 =.9 lbs/M of K2O each application. To determine how much SOP product to apply at a time divide the total amount to be applied by the percentage of K2O in the SOP product bag. SOP is 50% K2O. So, 0.9 lbs of K2O/M divided by 0.50 = 1.8 lbs of SOP product should be applied per thousand square feet in four separate applications over the year.
To calculate the total amount of SOP you will need to have in stock to do this: 1.8 lbs/M times four applications time 4.5 thousand square feet is 32.5 lbs of SOP.
FWIW, I disagree with Spectrum's recommendations for potassium. Personally I would want to raise my reserves some rather than just apply maintenance levels.
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Thanks @Ridgerunner! Haha. Brain fart. Of course the S from sulfate doesn't acidify. The acidification comes from the nitrification process. The acidifying ratio is 2.8:1 lb of AMS to S. Do you disagree that the AMS application alone isn't enough to lower the ph?
Regarding K, they are recommending almost a 1:1 ratio. I thought a 2:1 ratio was maintenance. Do you feel differently?
Regarding K, they are recommending almost a 1:1 ratio. I thought a 2:1 ratio was maintenance. Do you feel differently?
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I have never seen a formula for calculating the amount of acidifying material needed for lowering pH. Lots of charts (see my post below), but they often differ significantly. There are formulas that could be used to estimate the meq of H+ for a specific pH and you conceivably could then calculate the quantity of a acidifying material needed to theoretically produce that amount of H+ needed for a targeted pH, but it would still be a crap shoot due to all the variables. Even lime application calculations are considered only accurate to within 500 lbs per acre (+ or - 10 lbs/M).
Short answer: Yes, I'd see what change could be had from the AS applications rather than adding Sulfur. At the 2.8:1 ratio, 16.25 lbs/M of AS should have the same effect as the 5.8 lbs/M of elemental sulfur. A pH of 7.2 isn't going to be an impediment to a great lawn anyway.
Most turf will use K at an N:K ratio somewhere between 2:1 and 1:1 or for every pound of N, the turf will use somewhere between 0.5 lbs of K and 1 lb of K. Once again, this can vary due to a number of variables: turf type, climate, cultivation practices, ET, etc. Spectrum chose to use a ratio of 1lb N to 0.75 lb of K. They split the difference. Only a follow-up soil test will show what the K use is for a specific lawn in a specific location.
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1,884 Posts
Here are some soil sulfur acidifying charts as examples:
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/files/Lowering_Soil_pH_with_Sulfur.pdf
http://www.plantstress.com/articles/toxicity_m/soilph%20amend.pdf
http://www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/Ag%20Soil/2008/April/S-04-08.pdf
https://articles.extension.org/pages/13046/raising-soil-ph-and-soil-acidification#Neutral_to_Slightly_Acid_Soils
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/agf-507
http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_managing_soil_ph/
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/files/Lowering_Soil_pH_with_Sulfur.pdf
http://www.plantstress.com/articles/toxicity_m/soilph%20amend.pdf
http://www.aces.edu/timelyinfo/Ag%20Soil/2008/April/S-04-08.pdf
https://articles.extension.org/pages/13046/raising-soil-ph-and-soil-acidification#Neutral_to_Slightly_Acid_Soils
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/agf-507
http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_managing_soil_ph/
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