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LSU Soil test results came in. What to add before laying sod?

Posted on 9/9/23 at 5:01 pm
Posted by Elusive Crawfish
Baton Rouge
Member since Jan 2020
36 posts
Posted on 9/9/23 at 5:01 pm
New to this and looking for some help. Here’s my interpretation:
1. Since I’m sodding, I’ll follow the “establish” guidance.
2. Nitrogen - Each of the Nitrogen options come out to ~4.5 lb N per 1000. (I based this off of using the molar fraction of N within each of the compounds.)
3. Phosphate - about 1.5 lb P per 1000
4. Potassium- about 2.9 lb K per 1000

For simplicity sake, let’s say I’m doing 1000 sq ft of sodding.

Does this mean I should add the above quantities to my soil before I lay the sod?
…Or…
Should I lay the sod now, then later add NPK in small doses until I achieve these quantities?

TIA for any help on this.

Photo link here: LINK



This post was edited on 9/9/23 at 5:04 pm
Posted by tigermaniac
On the right side of the Red River
Member since Jun 2007
94 posts
Posted on 9/9/23 at 6:21 pm to
Don’t over think it. Get a bag (or however much you need to cover your area) of something like a 18-24-12 and put it out accordingly. At 1 lb/P per 1000 sq ft, you would need to put down 4.2 lbs of product per thousand square feet. A 50 lb bag would cover about 12,000 sq ft. All of the other numbers on your soil report look good. If you’re trying to establish sod, you’re wanting to establish those roots and not push a bunch of top growth. Water management will really be more important for the first couple of weeks. Once it gets pegged in and well rooted, then you can start worrying about fertilizing for growth with something like a 24-2-11 with an extended slow release nitrogen capability.

Hope that helps.
Posted by WhiskeyThrottle
Weatherford Tx
Member since Nov 2017
5360 posts
Posted on 9/11/23 at 7:56 am to
I sodded Palisades Zoysia in April this year. I top dressed before I sodded. My soil sample showed absolutely nothing beneficial in the native soil which sucks. It started taking alright with regular watering and nothing else. I put down a round of 28-0-0 SR about 3 months after sodding and it thickened up a WHOLE LOT. Then another 3 months I applied some 15-5-10 SR and it has been the most lush green lawn I've seen. I'm on a well, and I've been watering the piss out of the sod every day all summer. But I couldn't be happier with the progress. The one thing I didn't really do all that well is establish deep roots, so next fall I plan on watering less frequently but longer.

My suggestion would be to top dress the lawn with a good dairy manure compost or something else rich in nutrients instead of applying fertilizer. This may be a bit more expensive, but my personal experience started with this and I probably wouldn't do anything different if I did it again. However, I'm far less educated than Ronk and Crawdude (I think those are the grass guys here).
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