Pls help me interpret "quartzite" test results
nancyj
9 years ago
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olympia776
9 years agoRelated Discussions
soil test results & lawn care plan--help pls!
Comments (0)Hello all, I'm a first-time poster here in the Lawn Care forum. I'm an avid gardener but still consider myself a newbie--especially when it comes to lawns. I just got the results from my soil test from my local UT Extension & would appreciate your help with developing my plan for the coming seasons. The lawn I currently have is maybe 50% common Bermuda, which I hate and would like to eliminate. The remainder is probaby 25% tall fescue which I've overseeded and tried to keep the Bermuda from choking out, and the last 25% is weeds: crabgrass, dandelions, wild strawberries, and an awful lot of purple deadnettle in the winter. I had great results from overseeding in the fall last year. But I'd like to spread pre-emergent to prevent the forest of purple deadnettle I had last year. So when should I overseed fescue relative to spreading pre-emergent? Same sort of balancing act goes for spring... I need to spread pre-emergent for general broadleaf weeds, but would also like to try (for the first time) something to suppress the Bermuda. Will fall-seeded fescue be able to stand up to those herbicides in the spring? And would a fertilization schedule (which has been recommended by my county extension) need to be altered according to these factors? FYI: Irrigation is not an option outside of extreme circumstances. I don't have the infrastructure in place, nor the funds to put it there. And to be honest, no one around me has it either and (some of) their lawns look fantastic. I'm in Middle TN, slightly northwest of Nashville, zone 6B. Soil is mostly clay, but getting better as I mulch-mow grass & leaves into the turf. (This year I've been mowing at ~3.75" which has noticeably helped the fescue.) --- Soil Test results: (Note that I selected turf type as "Lawn, Cool Season". My rationale was that I want to know what helps the fescue the most--not what helps the Bermuda the most.) Water ph - 6.5 Phosphorus - 51 (high) Potassium - 183 (high) Calcuim - 1562 (sufficient) Magnesium - 142 (sufficient Recommendations: Lime is not recommended at this time. II. Medium Level Maintenance of an established lawn. Topdress annually Sept. 1 with 6.2 lbs of 16-4-8 or (other amounts of similar-ratio ferts here... I don't need to type them all out.) per 1000 sq ft. Topdress annually Oct 15 with 3.5 lbs and Mar 1 and Apr 15 with 1.75 lbs of 34-0-0 (or other similar ratio) per 1000 sq ft. If the fertilizer contains at least 30 percent slow-release form of nitrogen, the Mar and Apr applications can be combined as one application in March. --- So, ye masters of all things lawn care... any thoughts regarding the timing of: Fall overseeding Fall application of pre-emergent (mainly targeting deadnettle) Fall applications of fertilizer recommended by my county extension Spring application of fert recommended by extension Spring pre-emergent Spring application of (something like Fusliade or Acclaim?) for Bermuda suppression And one more noobish question... how can I tell which ferts are slow-release and which are not? Thanks in advance for answering my million questions. I've already learned so much from you guys; I'm just trying to tie it all together. :-) --Jon...See MoreSoil Test Results...Finally...help interpret please
Comments (17)I am a dedicated proponent of nutrient-dense foods, and belong to a community-supported co-op to get those foods. But... You're writing this in a LAWN forum, and making numerous assumptions that I don't feel are valid. I reviewed what was on the linked site, and have these comments: (1) the depth at which soil is tested for lawns/turf is not optimal for lawns. Food plants are deeper-rooted than typical turf. This requires adjustments to be made. (2) There is an assumption that the nutrients and minerals can be worked into the soil. Again, the FAQ on the site has a section for adjusting for surface-only applications, but that requires additional adjustments. The adjustments are not minor, and are real problems for the soil biology if the amounts are not adjusted - if the full amounts recommended are applied to the surface all at once, they can cause toxic levels of items like Copper and Boron to be created in the top 1"-2" of soil shortly after application is made. When treating lawns, surface-applications are typically the ONLY way to make nutrient applications to mature turf. (3) I don't see anything that makes adjustments for the season/climate of the area for applications. It's a one-size-fits-all plan. There are numerous nuances that need to be accounted for - people should not apply some nutrients at certain (stressful) times of the year, like mid-summer. We spread out applications to minimize sudden changes in soil chemistry and biology. (4) There are large differences in care regimens for different grasses - a Bermudagrass lawn has a very different care regimen than a Kentucky Blue Grass regimen. (5) The linked calculator recommends that a Soil Analyst be consulted if Lime has been applied in the past three years. In areas where Lime is useful, my experience is that 75% of the lawns have had Lime applied in the past three years -- rightly or wrongly. My experience is that errors very rarely come from Soil Analysts -- they come most-often from bad sampling techniques, taking a sample just after applying nutrients and mistakes during entering the data into things like calculators (PPM/lbs-acre mistakes, etc). An experienced soil test interpreter will spot errors like that pretty often, but a calculator will not -- it will make the calculations based on what was entered. It's garbage-in, garbage-out like all automated products are. Those of us that work as "soil crazies" at the other site build a full annual program based on grass types, whether the owner wants to use synthetics or organic sources, the owner's goals (nice vs showplace), soil types, seasonality and climate. The plans minimize soil disturbance, and maximize the use of soil biology and remineralization to achieve goals. We review each other's work to minimize any potential for errors. I didn't find the site that you linked to valuable to lawn owners - it's great for organic garden owners, but there are far too many adjustments that need to be done for lawns....See MoreCan you help me interpret the soil test results
Comments (19)That is a lot of stuff to be adding every month. But, why would the older roses be fine when the newer ones aren't? My guess is the newly growing roots on the newly planted roses are simply being burned, while the established roses have big enough root systems to handle it. Milorganite is pretty strong stuff. Cow manure can be too, it's often enough by itself. Why the bagged soil? Alfalfa is fairly high in nitrogen too. I fertilize my roses with either alfalfa or manure, but not both at once. I have very sandy soil too, although colder than yours, so everything moves slower. You're not adding all that to the planting holes, are you? you say you're applying as a top dressing. Because that would partly explain the difference between the older and newer roses. So, now, can you tell us what exactly 'fail to thrive' entails? Wilting? burning? just not growing? leaves turning yellow? older leaves, or newer, or all? leaves distorted? If you're in very sandy soil you won't drown the roses. And from what I've heard of Florida soils you could retest it later this spring to see if it's still too strong. I wonder if you have nematodes, or some other bug like FL has so many of, like chili thrips. There are a lot of Florida rosarians on the roses forum, you might want to post your symptoms there, with timeline, and with photos if you have any....See MoreHelp: interpreting hard water test strip from Bosch (or Miele?...
Comments (3)There's often some variation in water hardness, as it is blended from differing sources, or as seasons and rainfall change. I'm inclined to trust your water district's numbers over a cheap and perhaps "stale" paper test strip. Two things confuse me: In your photo, the test strip is placed vertically; I'm guessing what you label the rightmost (darkest) square is the bottom one. Also, water hardness is sometimes given in grains/gallon (when it is higher), or in either milligrams/liter (or, equivalently, PPM). I'm not sure what "grams/gallon" means, exactly, in those terms; but since this will make a difference in your setting, its important to know. You might show the strip to the seller of your dishwasher; presumably others have taken these strips in and I'm guessing everyone in your area has water of similar hardness. Failing that, I'd rely on the 8-10 grains(?) measure from the people at your water district, and set the dishwasher for that level of hardness. The only one of these strips I've used was for a coffee machine; it didn't show anything at all, so I used our local water board's hardness estimate, which is very low....See MoreJancy
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4 years ago
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