Logan Lab test results help
jmcue
8 years ago
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jmcue
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Help with Logan Lab soil test results
Comments (2)This is interesting! Your soil has a bit of a split personality, so we have to treat the front and back differently. It happens sometimes, particularly on slopes, or where a lot of soil was brought in originally to create the grade. As to where the division lines are between the soils, that may or may not be clear. Just do the best you can. Where recommendations go on both the front and back, I've taken care to keep them together. Where they don't, the chips fall where they may. EC 14.5/21.1: Both are moderately heavy soils, and I'd expect a lot of silt in both. The back may include some clay, although I wouldn't expect a vast amount. Both soils hold a lot of resources (back more than front) and are more resistant to change than the average. pH: Always a symptom, never a cause. We'll deal with both individually under Ca, Mg, and K. Ultimately, your natural pH balance looks like it'll be a bit lower than what I tell most people--6.3 or so--but with an EC like that, I'm not terribly worked up about hitting it quickly because that won't happen. OM 3.4/5.0: Fair in the front, good in the back. Certainly mulch mow and consider organic feedings; although good is good, it isn't excellent. Higher levels of OM mean more water retention and less watering. Sulfur 6/11: Both are pretty normal, although the front is kind of trim. It doesn't matter as I've made recommendations below for a sulfate based potassium, which will boost sulfur levels a little bit. Neither is deficient. Phosphorus 111/279: The target for you is 200. The front is low, the back is great (the extra P simply gives you margin against usage and leaching). The recommendations are below. Calcium 71%/45%: A little high in the front (but nothing to worry about), but extremely low in the back. Recommendations below under the Back section. Magnesium 17%/12%: Both are fine and in the optimal range. No magnesium required or desired as it tightens soils (hence the calcitic lime recommendation below; cheap lime contains a lot of magnesium in addition to being slow, far less effective, and overall more expensive when you have to correct the problems). Potassium 0.7%/0.7%: Borderline deficient. Most garden stores or landscape shops will be glad to order potassium sulfate for you if you ask (or you can get it over the Internet but shipping is a killer). Recommendations below. Sodium 0.25%/0.25%: Perfect, Low sodium levels are desirable, even though this looks like it's off the normal scale. Most Minor Elements: Fine, except for boron and copper. I'm not inclined to adjust copper this year with everything else going down. Normally, I'd ignore boron this year as well, but in this case we can't. I've included a few words about iron below as well. Boron 0.23/<0.2: Deficient. We use Milorganite to apply this as the amounts are very small (0.2 PPM is 200 parts per billion). Target is 0.7 PPM. In a wheelbarrow or something like, and adjusting for your 1600 square feet, dump a full bag of Milorganite. Add 4.5 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry section of your grocery store) to the Milo. Spray very lightly with water as from a hand-held spray bottle (the hose even on light spray will wet it too much). Mix. Spray occasionally to damp the Milorganite and make the 20 Mules stick. Keep mixing. Apply the entire bag to your 1,600 square feet by setting your spreader low and criss-crossing several times. The Milorganite will also give you a nice boost of iron--making the lawn greener--and a nice gentle feeding with organic nitrogen. Iron: 175/201: Both are fine, definitely not deficient, but may not produce the best color in the lawn--particularly in the back as the calcium and potassium hit. At any time you like, you can apply Milorganite at bag rate (your full lawn will use about 2/3 of a bag) to gently feed your lawn and apply iron for deeper color. Front Recommendations (fescue): May 1: Apply 3 pounds potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. May 15th: Apply any starter fertilizer (high second number like 18-24-6) at the bag rate. June 1: Follow the above prescription for boron. September 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at the bag rate. September 15: Apply 3 pounds potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. October 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at the bag rate. Follow the above prescription a second time for boron. Growth Stoppage: Apply any high nitrogen fertilizer at the bag rate (don't use starter at this time). The date on this varies, but is usually November 15 give or take a lot. Back Recommendations (Bermuda): General: Bermuda should be fed monthly throughout the growing season with a high-nitrogen fertilizer. That won't interact with anything except the calcium (plus potassium to a lesser extent, but I'm not worried about that). Try to leave at least 1 good rainfall (or irrigation) and 2 weeks between feeding and calcium. April 15: Apply Mag-I-Cal or Encap calcitic lime at 5 pounds per thousand square feet; don't buy cheap lime as it's ineffective and will mis-balance magnesium levels. May 1: Apply 3 pounds potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. June 1: Follow the above prescription for boron. September 15: Apply 3 pounds potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. October 1: Follow the above prescription a second time for boron. October 15: Apply Mag-I-Cal or Encap calcitic lime at 4 pounds per thousand....See MoreLogan Lab Test Results
Comments (17)That revision is fine on a dead lawn (note to those following along whose lawns are alive, don't try this as it's way too much TSP in too short a period at a terrible time for living lawns to try to deal with it). The starter at seeding time will also feed the lawn as it grows, and newly-sprouted lawns aren't all that interested in eating anyway. The roots are too basic to absorb much nitrogen, but fortunately the seed itself contains everything they need for the first 30 days or so. That October 1 starter app will arrive just about the time the root systems are developing and supply plenty of nitrogen. However, if you want to use Milorganite, have at. It can be applied at any time, even directly atop the lime on October 15. Urea, if you use that, should be moved at least 2 weeks from the liming date, and even so you're going to lose a lot to out-gassing due to the high pH at the top of the soil layer. Personally, this year I'd use Milorganite, which won't do that to nearly the same extent!...See MoreNeed some help with Logan Labs soil test results
Comments (11)Overall, this isn't a bad test at all. There are some things that require fixing, some that should be adjusted, and many that are just fine. It's good you used the starter on her lawn; she needed it! I'll account for the usage in my calculations and recommendations, assuming you went at bag rate (1 pound of P2O5 equivalent). Sample Depth 3: Four is the normal sampling depth, but that's no big deal. I'll adjust your answers to match a 4" horizon. Exchange Capacity 7.5: Silty sand, probably. The soil holds a tolerable level of resources and testing every other year will be sufficient to make sure nothing's going awry once it's adjusted. pH 6.4: Right where it should be, which is because most of the resources that generate pH are right where they should be. I'll want to adjust a few of them a little bit, but will do so in a relatively pH neutral manner. Organic Matter 4.8%: Nicely in the Good range. Certainly mulch mow, mow all fall leaves, and feed organically if you want, but this is not an emergency. The EC of the soil is high enough that there's no reason to specifically work on organic matter to raise the EC. Sulfur 11: A nice answer, with plenty of margin for adding sulfate-based chemistry to adjust things. I don't need much margin. Phosphorus 77 (103 adjusted): Low, and definitely impacting lawn quality. Target here will be 200. To adjust this, we use starter fertilizer, and my recommendations are below. Calcium 64.6%: Right in optimal range, although with a lower EC soil I'd like to adjust this a tiny bit (that 50 pound [67 pound adjusted] shortage is minor, but...) For this, we use gypsum, which is available at many big box stores, landscape shops, and garden stores. Get the pelletized, it's much easier to handle, if available (and it usually is). My goal here is to nudge the calcium levels closer to 70%. Magnesium 15.4%: Perfect. No magnesium is required or desired. Potassium 5.0%: Perfect (the previous test was wrong on this, I think). No potassium is required or desired, and this is absolutely optimal. Sodium 1.0%: Perfect. Sodium does nothing for a lawn, so very low levels are desirable. The gypsum might reduce this a tiny bit and, if so, great. If not, no problem. Minor Elements: Boron is deficient. The rest are fine, although if you wish to use Milorganite (high iron), that would probably improve the lawn color a little bit over time. 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 12.5 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. Recommendations: Seeding Time: Starter fertilizer at bag rate (you already did this). October 15: Starter fertilizer at bag rate. November 1: Apply 5 tablespoons (not a misprint) of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet. April 1, 2016: Apply 5 to 10 pounds of gypsum per thousand square feet (I'd prefer 7, actually, but anything in that range is just fine). Memorial Day 2016: Starter fertilizer at bag rate. Labor Day 2016: Starter fertilizer at bag rate....See MoreLogan Lab soil test - need help with results
Comments (7)The soil pH for citrus trees (Oranges) is in the 6.0 to 7.0 range, slightly acidic to neutral and at a soil pH of 6.9 yours is there, but the amount of organic matter in the soil is a bit low at 4.4 percent. Phosphorus (P) is quite high while Potassium (K) is about right as is Calcium and Magnesium. How well does the soil this tree is planted in drain? What does this soil smell like? What kind of life (earthworms, etc.) is in that soil? How well does the soil retain moisture? Perhaps these simple soil tests may help, 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. My experience is that Logan Labs does not offer much help beyond the basic soil test but you might take it to your local office of the University of California Cooperative Extension Service where they may be of more help. kimmq is kimmsr...See MoreUser
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