Logan Labs Soil Test Help (Zone 5b)
DS_NH
4 years ago
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DS_NH
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Morpheuspa, need help with soil test from Logan labs 2015
Comments (64)Yep, it's entirely possible you got a flawed reading last year, with the better (but not what I'd call stellar) soil that came with the sod. I reproduced last year's recommendations below with some modifications. If it isn't inconvenient for you, do this again. It won't hurt, but might not help--we won't know until 2017. I stepped up the amount of calcium considerably and cut the boron. We'll ride that for a year. Don't bother to top dress. Peat moss contains no nutrients, cow manure contains far too much nitrogen. :-) Just keep tossing the organics around, it's easier, cheaper, and will do the same job. I didn't include most things like cracked corn below as they can be dropped whenever you wish, even on the same day something else goes if you want! Recommendations for 2016: May 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at bag rate. Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. May 15: Apply Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime at 4 pounds per thousand square feet. June 1: Apply 1 pound Epsom salt per thousand square feet. Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. June 15: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. July 1: Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. August 1: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet.. Apply Milorganite at the bag rate. September 1: Apply any starter fertilizer at half the bag rate. October 1: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet. October 15: Apply Encap or Mag-I-Cal calcitic lime at 3 pounds per thousand square feet. November 1: Apply 1 pound Epsom salt per thousand square feet. November 15: Apply 1 pound of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet....See MoreLogan Labs Soil Test Help
Comments (8)Another interesting soil. This one does present some unusual challenges, but nothing we can't handle. My recommendations are based on a southern grass (Bermuda or the like). If that's not true, let me know. Things have to move around quite a bit. EC 9.4: Midrange, a nice answer, meaning your soil is probably mixed silt and sand. You hold decent resources but the soil is on the easy to change side, so some monitoring is called for. pH 7.5: Normally, I don't care. In this case, with a calcium deficit, I do. We have to deal with the calcium and not push this too much higher, if at all--which means no lime. Fortunately, there's a way to do that. OM 0.5%: So far down in the Poor scale that I'm just going to call this Dreadful. Always mulch mow. Mow all fall leaves. Steal your neighbors' leaves. Feed organically around the synthetics recommended below. Throw your morning coffee grounds on the lawn. No source is too small or too weak. Sulfur 39: While this doesn't give me as much margin as I would like, there's still a fair amount. We're going to push this up a bit. Phosphorus 184: On the low side for your higher-pH soil. My target here will be around 300. Recommendations below. Just purchase the cheapest starter as they'll all target around a pound of phosphorus per thousand square feet, give or take too little to worry about. Calcium 62.8%: While not horrible, the soil shows a slight deficit. I'd like to fix that. Most landscape and garden stores can order gypsum for you, and some big box stores have it as well. Recommendations below. Magnesium 22.1%: Very high. Avoid all sources of magnesium including Epsom salt, dolomitic limestone, and so on. This will create a tight, impenetrable soil. I'm hopeful that the gypsum will take out some of it, but it's not going to be extreme. Potassium 8.2%: Very high, but that's not a problem at all with potassium. Still, none is required or desired. Sodium 3.0%/ 128 PPA: Quite high, to the point that salt-sensitive plants are going to have a problem with this. The gypsum will abolish some of the sodium, and one of the reasons I went as high as I did. This is indicative of a low-rainfall soil that receives a lot of its moisture in lower amounts of rain and/or irrigation most of the time. Try to irrigate the grass rarely, but very deeply. Minor Elements: While I'd like to tap copper, I'm not motivated to do that this year with all the gypsum going down, and it's not that short anyway. The others are fine, although I mentioned iron below. Iron 37: Very low and not going to produce good color or efficient photosynthesis at your pH. Whenever you like, apply Milorganite to slowly raise the iron, provide a short-term-available shot of iron to the grass roots before it soil binds, and also increase your organic matter a little bit. NH4/NO3: In the future, don't bother with this test. Nitrogen levels vary by soil moisture, time of year, time of day, soil temperature, and just about anything else you can think of. If the grass is growing well on a corrected soil with proper irrigation and mowing, you have sufficient nitrogen. N levels also vary by how you feed. Synthetic feedings provide a sudden burst, then fall very low very quickly. Organics rise slowly, to much lower peaks, but sustain feeding for long periods of time. Paste test: Skip in the future. This is telling us what we already know; some resources are a little short, and your higher pH is interfering with resource uptake. It's not severe, and we're going to shift the soil to compensate. Recommendations: June 1: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. June 15: Apply 15 pounds (15 pounds; not a misprint) of gypsum per thousand square feet. July 1: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. August 1: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. September 1: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. September 15: Apply 10 pounds (again, not a misprint, 10 pounds) of gypsum per thousand square feet....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 MoreDS_NH
4 years ago
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