Help with soil report
I have received this year's soil report. It's not as complete as a Logan Labs report, but our local ag extension office offers free testing, and you can't beat free. Maybe next year if problems remain I'll get the more detailed report. In the mean time, would you folks be willing to help me with the report?
I live in the piedmont in North Carolina. We've had the house for about three years. For a long time it belonged to a greenskeeper, but for maybe 5-10 years after that it had other owners who where neglectful. Our soil is clay + the usual 2 inches of random topdressing from the builder. Back yard is shaded probably about half the day. Additionally, I think it's a kind of zoysia. It's definitely warm season, spreading, it almost never grows higher than 3-4 inches and never puts up seed heads. The yard has gotten shadier over the years as neighbor's trees have gotten taller. I assume at some point I'll have to give up on zoysia there, but for now it's holding on and it's a pretty damn ideal turfgrass. The front yard is 75-100% sunny and a very invasive bermudagrass. I'll be attempting to make the bermuda as happy as possible, because I like its low maintenance character.
Last year after the report I limed front and back with dolomitic lime. Before that, I core aerated (though since then I've seen this forums views with regard to aeration). I also fertilized once last summer after the report with a pure nitrogen source in the front. I did not fertilize the back yard because it's currently affected by three large patch / brown patch infections. These have been there since we got the house, spreading 1-3 feet each year.
This spring I fertilized both yards (plus the strip by the street) with slow release nitrogen in May, but have yet to make any further amendments. I under-limed the front yard last year out of caution, and because I underestimated its square footage.
Here are this year's reports:
Comments (8)
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Soil Test Report questions-please help.
Comments (28)Az-very interesting, but I think I have this quite well figured out. For the home gardener with a mixed bag of crop - it's all worthless The item that caught my attention was your reaction to the figures I put up from Brian & Darren and the comparison to Bernie. When compared to the ref. for Wiki, and the information that it contained, the figures varied. What I see - the base sat. MAY be of value, but only to specific crop. All the research was on a singular and certainly did not take into account all the possible variables but all came up with a 60-80Ca./0-20mg. Where did the Hefty's come up with 65-85 and 6-12? I am guessing that it may be the figures for corn & soy as it's fairly far off the academic consensus and if so, it had to be obtained by trial & error. Maybe they know something? Whatever the case as I grow corn,lettuce,cukes,tomatos,sweetpotato,chives,peppers,onions,tobacco,& on occasion, others - it's useless on my part. In June I am 24 years retired and my only goals these days are to TRY to get some of the local small part time farmers and hay field people to stop tossing money. These people do not do any kind of testing and do as "been doing". Yup, the guys doing hayfields & pasture use 19-19-19 and the other bcast AFTER they till. I use the heading " you are tossing money" and nothing else. It does get some attention - skeptics abound. Again, thanx for the followup but it's been my results in my backyard that has gotten the initial attention. Garden is 3,000 sq.ft....See MoreLogan Labs Soil Report - Overseeding Help
Comments (5)+1 DCHall. He actually hit every single high point. ME 3.7: Sand, and not the small stuff. ;-) It holds few resources, drifts fast, and also won't hold a lot of water. So... OM 2.1%: Always mulch mow, use organic fertilizers if you can, and chop up any organic matter and toss it on the lawn. Anything helps. I have no target here except "much higher than this." Sulfur 11: Normal. Phosphorus 527: Very high, which isn't a problem! But avoid P sources if possible, so always choose fertilizers with a low second number. Calcium 73.15: Why your pH is a touch high, but it really doesn't matter in the slightest. This is a good place to be on a sandy soil. Magnesium 16.6%: Although the number above looks a bit low, this is very close to optimal and on a soil that sandy I'm not going to fiddle with this. It's fine. Potassium 3.1%: Ditto with the Magnesium; this is shorter than the Mg comparatively, but I'm disinclined to fiddle with it this year. Minor Elements: All fine except boron! Boron <0.2: Deficient. We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 10 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. So... Recommendations: May 1: Apply 4 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax in Milorganite carrier....See MoreReporting Dracana: mold problem: what soil??
Comments (7)Honestly, while that soil may be slightly better, it's still going to hold onto water for a long time. Perlite doesn't help much with drainage unless you were using like 90% perlite to 10% peat. If you're up for the challenge of making your own mix, I'd recommend the 5:1:1 mix. 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part perlite and some dolomite lime....See MoreHelp me understand my soil report
Comments (12)high pH locks up certain nutrients in forms that are unavailable to plants. Having them present on a soil test report does you no good unless you know how much of what form is present. Start simple. Whenever the presentation is chlorosis, and especially when coupled with a soil test that returns an elevated pH, the first check is always mineral deficiency. Simple check, apply iron. if you see improvement, you know this is the right track. Is it the complete answer? Nope. Do you really want the dissertation? No more than I want to type it on a mobile device. Honestly, I'd start with liquid iron. It's simple, readily available, and the down sides are low...the biggest down side with liquid iron is how often you need to reapply it...think of it like a shot in the arm, a quick boost, not necessarily a long term treatment. Granular forms...especially the chelated forms, will give you longer effects, and the chelated generally also has what i'll call the banana bag...chlorosis is rarely the result of a single nutrient, and usually involves the m's...Mg, Mn. Long term results are where sulfur comes in. Adding sulfur will help lower the pH. None of these are one time treatments. Liquid iron is pretty often, granular chelated is significantly less, and sulfur is a time or two a year...other factors are in play, such as how much rainfall do you usually see? Less rainfall, more likely nutrient unavailability. More rainfall, more frequent treatments. this is the simple version. Not the idiot version, just the simple version. 2 Questions: 1. Do you see good new growth each year? or minimal? 2. Did your soil test results come with any particular recommendations?...See More- 9 years ago
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