That's a fun one.

Logan doesn't test nitrogen because it varies by time of day (literally), air temperature, water content of the soil, and so on. Amounts from 2 ppm to 100 ppm would all be perfectly acceptable, and all subject to change under many circumstances. Nitrogen is easier to eyeball. if the plants are growing well and don't show nitrogen deficiency, they're fine.

Normally, pH would follow calcium. Normally. Your magnesium levels are sky high and those are dominating the pH instead. So below, we adjust calcium levels without raising that pH by using gypsum instead of calcium lime. The gypsum may also help dispel a little sodium and some magnesium over time, but I don't expect an extreme change in pH nor much in magnesium levels. That's OK. Grass grows fine in the sub-8 range.

Of more importance is that magnesium levels that high tend to make soils tight, hard to dig, clingy, airless, and easily cracked when dry. The gypsum should, over time, help a little with that--but again, with Mg that high? They'll probably always be high.

OM is low and raising that will also help. Use organic fertilizers, mow in your clippings every time, mow in all your fall leaves, steal leaves from neighbors to mow in, and so on.

Phosphorus is a bit off. We use simple starter fertilizer for this, and get the cheapest. They're all the same, within reasonable range.

Potassium is a hair low, but I'm ignoring it this year. You have enough to do.

Recommendations:

October 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

October 15: Apply gypsum at around 10-15 pounds per thousand square feet (if this rides higher or lower a bit, that's fine, gypsum is not a touchy substance to apply).

Top Growth Ceases: Feed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Recommendations, 2019:

April 15: Apply gypsum at around 10-15 pounds per thousand square feet.

Memorial Day: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

Labor Day: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

Retest!

Appreciate the feedback!

So here is the interesting part based on the magnesium thoughts. The soil is a sandy loam with excessive draining capacity and low moisture retention. I can literally work the soil and plant the day after I get an 1" of rain. Its very easy to work with.

On the other hand it does get ROCK and I mean ROCK hard if it dries out. But it accepts moisture readily.

Any new thoughts based on that info?

No changes. The CEC says it has a moderate silt content at the very least, and the soil classes as average in terms of resource retention (perhaps a hair low, but not enough to change the math). It could also be some clay content instead of silt.

Wetter soils will always be easier to work--but should never be rock hard at any time. Even dry, mine's pretty friable. In this case, we're hoping for the calcium to open some space in the soil and lighten it up.

Sorry, what is the CEC and how did you determine silt content?

Again appreciate the time to offer up specifics on what to do with the report.

Cation Exchange Capacity. And I'm guessing, but if you report high sand content, then with an EC that high you have to have significant silt or some clay.

I was curious more than anything to see what Logan’s recommendation would be what do you think of what they listed below? That seems like a lot of gypsum.

Elemental sulfur is ineffective when soil-applied (mostly, it out-gasses as smog). I'm covering the phosphorus with the starter, and tabled the potassium untll next time (the gypsum will dispel a variety of elements, so I won't add what'll just get thrown away).

Copper's not that bad and you can table it for now. Again, the gypsum's flowing in...

And I'll eventually get to that level of gypsum over time...I just don't want to shock your soil. If you did the whole 35, it'd adjust, but take a while for all the bacteria and fungi to shift to work with the excess sulfur and calcium (gypsum is a very weak salt, so that's a problem as well).

thanks you should consider consulting with Logan instead of who they are using.

I have a pallet of gypsum coming tomorrow. On sale for $5 a 40 lb bag.

I have this stuff and then Milorganite. May I'll use it next year.

https://www.reinders.com/products/sv2033778/

I like double-duty things. Logan's are computer-generated, so they're not considering that you have a northern lawn that needs fall feeding anyway--so we might as well slip in the P with some starter. Or that this much gypsum is fine, but why shock the soil biology?

Computers are good (I program them myself), but...

2,500 lbs of gypsum delivered from Menards for $60.

I wanted to get it out as we had a long forecast of light rain to soak it in .5" over the last 24 hours. I put out 1,200 lbs yesterday. I was feeling it on the last 5 bags.

My setlist came through to get a boost of adrenaline at the end with Tool Jambi and War on Drugs Pain.

The other 1200 lbs will go out in spring.

Just did a retest a week ago. See results below vs last year's results posted above.

Any suggestions for next steps?

Surprised I still have such a large calcium deficit after two applications of gypsum (fall 2018 and spring 2019). At least on one half of my yard.

It's almost like you did nothing in the side area. Sometimes that happens if upper levels sucked up the resources and bound them. It means "Add More."

My recommendations are going to look oddly carbon-copied from last year because they're carbon-copied from last year. Phosphorus didn't move much (it does take ages to perk down and initial motion can be quite slow). Calcium levels are still disappointing across the side area, but coming along nicely in the front...but I still want to dispel the magnesium by overwhelming it (which is starting to happen out front) since magnesium has a weaker bond.

And I'm still ignoring potassium due to it not working when I'm dumping this much gypsum, and would like to see the organic matter levels rise.

Recommendations:

October 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

October 15: Apply gypsum at around 10-15 pounds per thousand square feet (if this rides higher or lower a bit, that's fine, gypsum is not a touchy substance to apply).

Top Growth Ceases: Feed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Recommendations, 2020:

April 15: Apply gypsum at around 10-15 pounds per thousand square feet.

Memorial Day: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

Labor Day: Feed with starter fertilizer at bag rate. You can also feed organically at the same time if you want, just use a slow organic like soybean meal.

morpheuspa,

As always appreciate the feedback!

Can you clarify the meaning of this statement?

but I still want to dispel the magnesium by overwhelming it since magnesium has a weaker bond.

From what I found magnesium excess causes a potassium and magnesium deficiency which is essentially what we have. Curious if there is more too it.

Also are the dates zone appropriate for zone 5? The first few inches of soil can sometimes freeze in late October/early November if low temps sustain. Wonder if I should do mid Sept and early October vs early Oct and mid Oct.

For Zone 5, you can back-shift. I tend to shoot my answers for the New York-Philadelphia corridor just out of habit as it covers one third of the nation's population overall and most coastal cities. Choose whatever dates are more convenient for you as none of this stuff, except the starter, is at all touchy. Even the starter isn't that touchy.

Magnesium sucks up soil locations that would normally be filled by calcium, magnesium, potassium and a host of other positive ions (in that order). In your case. Adding the calcium will tend to kick the magnesium but, if we added potassium, would kick that as well since everything's lower on the list than calcium is.

On the up side, we're doing this as calcium sulfate. As the magnesium goes, it's going to like the sulfate, which will turn it to magnesium sulfate and wash it out as Epsom salt. We don't want that to happen in huge amounts (it would sterilize the soil for a time), but in 40 pounds per thousand square foot through six inches of soil profile, that's not a problem.

Once we get the calcium up to where it should be and at least some of the magnesium out, we can try throwing potassium at the soil. Some will stick just by happenstance.

This is not an exact science nor, in this particular instance, a very assured process.