soil test

We provide soil testing services for clients around the world through Brookside Labs, and have an active research program in the area of turfgrass nutrition, soil and plant analysis, and sampling methods.

Minimum levels for sustainable nutrition—MLSN—is a modern method for interpreting soil tests for turfgrass.

A project that investigated soil nutrient levels of good-performing turf all over the world.

Measure exact topdressing effect, and requirement, by checking total organic material by depth.

When I make nutrient recommendations, I recommend a quantity of each element that ensures the grass can get all of that nutrient that the grass can use. I also make the recommendation with a thought about the soil.

The usual way of thinking about soil nutrients and turf quality is something like this: when the amount of a soil nutrient is low, the turf quality won’t be as good as it would be if that nutrient were more abundant in the soil.

This is one of the many interesting things I’ve been working on recently. A standard soil test for turfgrass is taken to a 10 cm depth (4 inches below the soil surface).

Frank Rossi and Carl Schimenti had a discussion on the Cornell Turfgrass Show about soil testing, fertilizer, the Park Grass experiment, weeds, and some good ways to sell fertilizer. Also, that perennially hot topic of silicon.

Normal range of test results Soil test phosphorus (P) is present across a wide range in golf course putting green rootzones. I looked at ATC data from putting greens for the past five years.

Soil nutrient levels are dynamic. They change. In non-saline situations, the nutrient levels go down as the grass grows and uses some quantity of the soil nutrients.1 This is why the SLAN medium ranges seem so high, and why the MLSN method of soil test interpretation is so much more precise when making fertilizer recommendations for turfgrass.