Spring 2016 Logan Lab Results - Need Fertilizer Plan Help

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Hi,

I sent my lawn soil samples to Logan Labs, the results are below. Any tips on what my lawn needs? I am located in Santa Ana, California.

Thanks,

Ryan

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Comments (3)

dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Just to kick start this, morpheuspa will be along to give it a good read, but get ready to add organic fertilizer. We like to use animal feed from the feed store as an inexpensive organic fertilizer. The problem in California is stuff is hard to find. There are plenty of feed stores in your area, so I'd start making calls. Probably the easiest to find would be alfalfa pellets (ask for rabbit chow). It should come in 50-pound bags. Corn meal is good. Soybean meal is great. Check prices for what is available. I scatter it by hand at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. It's easiest to find a 2-pound coffee can, fill it with pellets, and scatter that over 100 square feet (10x10). You can do that every other month starting now if you like. You won't need any other fertilizer, but if you're concerned, you can use chemical fertilizers right along beside the organics. They work completely differently. If anything burns you cannot blame it on the organics.

What kind of grass do you have?
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ryandale56
Original Author
9 years ago
It is a bermuda hybrid, I have scalped, dethatched and overseeded with Princess-77 the past two years.
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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.
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Average to above average lawns would normally mean we put the soil "somewhere in the ballpark," but I'll give you the full read for perfect soil. The reason is that soils drift over time, so the closer to perfect you are, the further it has to drift to leave that ballpark, and the longer the periods between testing and correction. ME 9.8: A sandy/silty soil with very little to no clay, and likely to drain very well as you noted yours does. It's a nice place to be! pH 6.1: Not all that far off optimal, but I do correct things under calcium, magnesium, and potassium below. OM 3.5%: In the Fair range. Certainly I'd always mulch mow the lawn, mow in all your fall leaves, and possibly consider feeding organically. Sulfur 12: Normal! Phosphorus 565: Very high. It's not a problem at this level, but avoid phosphorus sources (any fertilizer with a second number that's close to the first). You don't require any more, and don't want any more. Calcium 56.6%: A touch low. For your soil, with a modest CEC (ME), I'd shoot for 65% or even a bit higher. We use calcitic lime to correct this, Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime brands. Others will contain magnesium that you can't afford to add, work too slowly, or require too much product per thousand square feet to make them worthwhile or economical. Adding this will lift your pH. Magnesium 22.6%: High. My target would normally be about 12% in your soil type. It's not a problem, but might make the soil tighter and harder to dig (as well as somewhat clay-like) in some conditions. The calcium should eject a little bit of this, but for the most part you just live with it. Potassium 1.3%: Quite low. My target here would be in the 3-5% range, but more wouldn't bother me. We use sulfate of potash (potassium sulfate) to correct this, available at many garden or landscape stores, or they'll order it for you. Minor Elements: All fine, except for boron. Even iron is great! Boron 0.4: Low, but not extremely so. Still, I'd correct this. 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. Recommendations: May 15: Apply 5 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime. June 1: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate. June 15: Apply 4 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet. October 1: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of potassium sulfate. October 15: Apply 5 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime.
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Even if it's an acre, you can do it far cheaper yourself (if with a lot of work)... Your soil's actually in fairly good shape, although I do aim for perfection (you did, after all, pay for the test so I assume you want soil in the perfect groove). ME 5.1: Prob'ly a very sandy soil that doesn't hold a lot of resources. It'll drift pretty fast, so testing every other year once stabilized will be a good idea. pH 6.0: Textbook, a little low, but nothing severe and we'll fix this under calcium, magnesium, and (a little) potassium. OM 4.3%: Well into the Good range, although with your low ME soil, I'd always mulch mow, mow all fall leaves, steal neighbors' leaves who don't mulch them, and consider feeding organically. The higher this goes, the more water your soil will hold, and the higher the effective ME becomes. Sulfur 18: Optimal. Phosphorus 876: Extremely high. You don't need starter when you seed, and I'd avoid phosphorus sources as much as possible when feeding anything. This will support a tightly-packed annual garden easily, and that's saying something. Calcium 61.1%: A little low for a low-ME soil, and what's setting off your lower pH. Technically, it's just barely in the optimal range, but I'd raise this a bit. We use Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime to do this as these limes work faster, don't add elements I don't want or need to add, and tend to be cheaper per thousand square feet than supposedly "cheap" limes. Recommendations below. Magnesium 13.6%: It looks optimal, but your slightly low Ca levels are enhancing this. Still, let's ignore this for 2016, it certainly isn't a problem at this moment. Potassium 2.7%: Like magnesium, this is a little enhanced by lower Ca levels than I'd like to see. This is optional this year, but I'd do this if it were my soil. We use potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash) to fix this, which you can get from some garden or landscape stores, or they'll order it for you. Get the granular, it's easier to apply. Sodium 2.2%: Textbook, this is very high. However, your low ME soil won't hold much and total soil amounts are low. Calcium and potassium sulfate will dispel some of this, and one reason I don't want to put off the potassium application. Minor Elements: All are fine, except boron. Boron 0.21: This is borderline at the lowest level before deficiency. While not the most important element, I'll always work to move your lawn into the most optimal range on everything. Me? I'd fix this. 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. Recommendations: Now: Apply 3 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime. September 1: (Optional but Recommended) Apply 2 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. September 15: Apply 4 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet. October 15: Apply 4 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime.
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User
9 years ago
Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit busy! California, Santa Ana, Bermuda grass. Got it.

Nitrogen (under Other): I ignore these as they change hour by hour, by moisture level in the soil, temperature, and so on. In the future, don't bother with this test.

Exchange Capacity 13: Most likely a fairly dense silt soil, which is great to have. This is a near-optimal EC as far as I'm concerned and only requires retesting about every 3 years once balanced.

Organic Matter 2.4%: Fair. I wouldn't mind seeing this go up, so mulch mow, mow any fall leaves (if you get those there), and maybe feed organically if you wish.

pH 7.5: A little high, but no barrier to a fantastic lawn. More below under Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium.

Sulfur 20: Normal!

Phosphorous 97: Somewhat low. The target here would be 240 or so. We raise this using any starter fertilizer (get the cheapest, they're all pretty much the same). Recommendations below.

Calcium 69.1%: On the high edge of normal, but normal (high Ca wouldn't do any harm anyway). None required or desired, and this is helping to set off your high pH.

Magnesium 20.4%: Extremely high. Although still fine, for a soil with an EC of 13 would only require about 11-12% Mg. Excess Mg raises soil pH, and tightens soils and makes them hard to dig and rock-like when dry. I'd avoid anything that lists magnesium in it for quite some time to come!

Potassium 3.2%: This is a touch trim, but nothing severe, and I'm going to ignore it this year. Excess K isn't a problem and doesn't raise pH that much, but I'd still rather avoid it.

Sodium 3.4%: A little high. Sodium sharply raises pH, and serves no useful purpose. Excess Na is toxic. We could dispel it...at the cost of adding even more calcium, so I'm inclined to let it ride this year. I'd definitely advise against using softened water on the lawn, but sodium is frequently from salt spray or natural in the soil. Perhaps you could tell us about conditions?

Minor elements: Boron is a touch low but nothing to worry about. Most others are OK, although all tend to be sky high (your copper levels might be a slight problem, but there's nothing we can really do about it, so...)

Definitely avoid feed with micronutrients. You don't need them!

Iron, however, is a bit low at 101. It's not severe, but may result in lighter colors in the lawn. You can always use Milorganite to feed the lawn and add iron (slowly).

Recommendations

April 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

May 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

September 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

October 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.
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ryandale56 thanked User

Spring 2016 Logan Lab Results - Need Fertilizer Plan Help

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dchall_san_antonio

ryandale56
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Spring 2016 Logan Lab Results - Need Fertilizer Plan Help

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dchall_san_antonio

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ryandale56
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