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Soil Test Results - Now What?

Posted on 11/8/23 at 7:30 pm
Posted by jfw3535
South of Bunkie
Member since Mar 2008
5437 posts
Posted on 11/8/23 at 7:30 pm
So I got my soil test results back from the LSU Ag Center, pictured below. Everything is high or very high. Not sure what, if anything, I need to do to treat this. Ronk, Crawdude or anyone else got any thought?

Posted by bayoubengals88
LA
Member since Sep 2007
23503 posts
Posted on 11/8/23 at 7:40 pm to
This guy ferts.
Posted by CrawDude
Baton Rouge
Member since Apr 2019
5692 posts
Posted on 11/8/23 at 9:03 pm to
Lawn I assume? It’s a fertile alluvial soil, typical of much south LA. pH would be higher than optimal for centipede, but fine for St Aug, bermudagrass & zoysia.

You should get a follow up communication from the AgCenter providing soil amendment and fertilizations recommendation for whatever lawn grass type you specified. Interpretation of those recommendations is often confusing for the homeowner as they written for the farming community, but you can always bump the thread if you need any assistance interpreting the recommendations.
Posted by bkhrph
Lake Charles
Member since May 2022
324 posts
Posted on 11/8/23 at 10:34 pm to
Does “excessive” for sodium mean it’s higher than very high? If it needs to be “flushed” from the soil, wouldn’t gypsum application be the answer? Although, you might by adding gypsum get the calcium and sulfur levels even higher. So this might be trading one problem for another, right?
Posted by ronk
Member since Jan 2015
7540 posts
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:45 am to
My question is how did you get high-excessive in every category? What, how much, and how often did you apply it? I'm guessing you live in Lake Charles. Did you water your lawn with well water or pump water directly from the lake?
Posted by CrawDude
Baton Rouge
Member since Apr 2019
5692 posts
Posted on 11/9/23 at 12:33 pm to
quote:

Does “excessive” for sodium mean it’s higher than very high? If it needs to be “flushed” from the soil, wouldn’t gypsum application be the answer? Although, you might by

I've never seen a AgCenter Center soil report with "excessive" listed, and I've seen many, and I assume its higher than "very high". High sodium clay minerals would only be prevalent in the near coastal zone, or inland in deep marine geological deposits that was once the sea coast - Baton Rouge geological aquifers come to mind. Could be a soil sample was taken where someone dropped pool salt, drilling mud, etc at an earlier time. Not sure it would be an issue anyway - I would need to check the literature. But when some parameter is really out of the general norm, its usually best to take another sample and have it re-analyzed.

But you are correct - calcium compounds such as gypsum (calcium sulfate) are used to "bump/replace" sodium ions attached to clay particles, where calcium replaces the sodium on the clay mineral, sodium moves into soil pore water where it can be flushed, along with the sulfate, from the soil pore water via water irrigation. High levels of calcium would be less deleterious to plants than sodium.

OP should not do anything until he obtains additional info from the AgCenter which he should be receiving.
Posted by CatfishJohn
Member since Jun 2020
19047 posts
Posted on 11/9/23 at 12:57 pm to
quote:

This guy ferts.

Posted by KB375
N of I10
Member since Jan 2011
184 posts
Posted on 11/11/23 at 10:19 am to
Did they give CEC and Base Saturation %
Posted by CrawDude
Baton Rouge
Member since Apr 2019
5692 posts
Posted on 11/12/23 at 9:23 am to
quote:

Did they give CEC and Base Saturation %

The LSU AgCenter doesn’t provide cation exchange capacity or base saturation values in their soil test reports, some other universities do, Texas A&M, comes to mind as one that does.
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