soil test

I wrote an update about normal manganese (Mn) levels in soil and in turfgrass leaves. Mark Smith posted about Mn with some extraordinarily verdant grass and attributed the color to Mn.

I received an interesting question about some soil test results. Hey Micah, I’m just looking at the soil test results again … is there anything to worry about regarding sodium (Na) being higher than potassium (K)?

I’ve collected a lot of soil samples for total organic matter testing by depth. That’s what I call OM246 testing. My preferred method for this is to use a straight (no taper at the tip) cylinder to pull the core.

Dried, ground, and sieved soil samples on a laboratory bench ready for scooping and further extraction and testing. A correspondent wrote with an inquiry about MLSN. The question I was listening to your podcast regarding the MLSN nutrition method as I’ve begun using it at my golf course in […].

I put together a couple videos that discuss total organic material testing. First, this one, which shows some samples I’ve collected. From my office, to the post office, I discuss what is going to happen with them at the laboratory.

Thanks to everyone who completed the soil sampling procedures survey. These are the results from the 79 responses, and I include some commentary about how I would do it. 1. Do you take a composite sample?

I know how I do it. As I’ve been thinking about it, and as I’ve asked a few people, I realize there may be a lot of variation in how turfgrass managers are collecting and preparing samples.

I’ve been making estimates of N mineralization from soil organic matter for the past few years using the method described by Gilmour and Mauromoustakos in Nitrogen mineralization from soil organic matter: a sequential model.

You’ve probably listened to one of my seminars in which I explained why conventional nutrient guidelines for turfgrass are broken. Jackie Guevara’s thesis on “Effects of Different Soil Testing Philosophies on Creeping Bentgrass and Annual Bluegrass Putting Greens” is an excellent demonstration of this.

I’ve written a lot about OM246 testing for total organic material by depth in the soil, and why I think this test is so useful. Something I hadn’t written, until this week, is my own set of sampling instructions.