Lawn Soil Results and Corrections

Question

Hello,

I just had our lawn soil tested. We are struggling getting grass to grow and the results are as follows:

Soil PH: 6. 0
Lime Index: 64. 0
Phosphorus: 250ppm (Far Above Optimum)
Potassium: 97ppm (Below Optimum)
Magnesium: 123ppm (Optimum)
Calcium: 945ppm (?)
CEC: 13. 2 meq/100g
% Exchangeable Bases: K 4. 1, Mg 17. 1, Ca 78. 8

The report says we are Nitrogen deficient so based upon these numbers listed how do we treat our lawn for Northern Ohio conditions moving forward? Thanks so much and hope to hear from you!

Answer 1

Based on this info, you can use a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10 or 20-20-20 will work). You can also use a fertilizer with a higher first number (that is the nitrogen). Spread as directed on the package. That should get things up to speed.

Answer 2

Hi Heather,

Thanks for your response however your response was very contradictory to what the actual report noted. It said to increase Nitrogen as the other levels of Phosphorus and Potassium are extremely high. Can you please double check and advise as I think a balanced fertilizer will make matters much worse. Thanks and please advise upon review.

Answer 3

I apologize. I had misread it as both the potassium and the phosphorous were below, as was the nitrogen. I see now that potassium and nitrogen are low and the phosphorous is high (according to your original question – please let me know if this is not the case).

In this case, I would recommend looking at manure fertilizers which will have a high nitrogen and somewhat high potassium or a LOW phosphorous fertilizer (10-5-10, 20-5-10, etc).

This article explains more about the NPK values on fertilizer and how to read them:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/fertilizer-numbers-npk.htm