Fertilizer question

[Mark Reynolds]

Great on the soil test. Right now, definitely don't do any fertilization. The "H-", "VH" and "H" results tells me you have more than enough. The VH is a bit concerning as you can have too much of a good thing which can result in pollutants and runoff. Going a year or 2 without fertilization should begin to or totally address this issue. Your pH is 6. I'd like to see a pH of 6.5, which is where the liming recommendation comes in. Getting the pH up a tad more will optimize the nutrient availability to the plants from the soil. At the same time, a pH of 6 is relatively good. Clovers (legumes) will do better with the pH being 6.5 instead of 6.

 

[Warren Allison]

The Nitrogen results are in the "comments". which do not show in this scan. What did it say about your N?

 

[ClinchValley86]

I'm no agronimist, but does it look like he'd be ok with just hitting it with N?

 

[Warren Allison]

Great on the soil test. Right now, definitely don't do any fertilization. The "H-", "VH" and "H" results tells me you have more than enough. The VH is a bit concerning as you can have too much of a good thing which can result in pollutants and runoff. Going a year or 2 without fertilization should begin to or totally address this issue. Your pH is 6. I'd like to see a pH of 6.5, which is where the liming recommendation comes in. Getting the pH up a tad more will optimize the nutrient availability to the plants from the soil. At the same time, a pH of 6 is relatively good. Clovers (legumes) will do better with the pH being 6.5 instead of 6.

Mark, the OP mentioned his/her dad was raising the fescue for hay. We always sow clover in fescue pastures for sure. But, in a hay filed that you spray for weeds with 24D, won't that also kill clover?

 

[Warren Allison]

What is the best liquid fertilizer to use in Central Virginia?

Looks like from your soil test, all you need is lime to raise the PH a little, and Nitrogen, both of which are available in liquid form. I use liquid N when I apply the broadleaf herbicides to my hay fields in Feb or March, but use granulated Ammonia Nitrate in the mix with P and K the rest of the time.

 

[CowboyRam]

I was watching a video a few days ago where the guy in the video had been putting phosphorus and Potassium on his no till fields. He later did a soil test where he tested the soil by the inch. He found that at the six or eight inch level (root zone) there was no P & K, it was all on the surface. I don't know how scientific his test were, but I did find it interesting. I would think that as you watered that would carry that fertilizer into the ground.

 

[kenny thomas]

Very good soil test. I actually have never seen one of mine that didnt need something.
In the Nitrogen column it says see comments and i think the comments will say add something like 50lb N according to crop and production goals. If you have a Co-op that has liquid N thats all you need for this spring.
As soon as you can add 1.75-2 ton of lime and it should be great.

 

[Louthelivestockguy]

I was watching a video a few days ago where the guy in the video had been putting phosphorus and Potassium on his no till fields. He later did a soil test where he tested the soil by the inch. He found that at the six or eight inch level (rood zone) there was no P & K, it was all on the surface. I don't know how scientific his test were, but I did find it interesting. I would think that as you watered that would carry that fertilizer into the ground.

It depends on soil composition as to how nutrients will move through them?
A lot depends on your soils cation exchange number which changes with soil profiles. If you have heavy clay soils with little top soil, nutrients could stay bound in the upper inches more easily. Hopes this helps?!

 

[cowman82]

with that test i'd be looking into planting alfalfa.

 

[CowboyRam]

It depends on soil composition as to how nutrients will move through them?
A lot depends on your soils cation exchange number which changes with soil profiles. If you have heavy clay soils with little top soil, nutrients could stay bound in the upper inches more easily. Hopes this helps?!

That does make sense.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Mark, the OP mentioned his/her dad was raising the fescue for hay. We always sow clover in fescue pastures for sure. But, in a hay filed that you spray for weeds with 24D, won't that also kill clover?

It would kill the clover, with the exception if you were spraying when the clover was dormant, but there might not be a point in spraying then as I suspect the weeds may be dormant as well. . If the stand of yay is thick enough (and I don't know enough about GA and SC yet) the weeds could potentially be outcompeted and spray may not be necessary, so the clover would be safe from that angle. There is the problem of the hay being too thick for the clover to establish as well.

 

[Silver]

One of the really nice things about that soils report is the K/Mg ratio at .33. That is bang on what you want.

 

[Warren Allison]

It would kill the clover, with the exception if you were spraying when the clover was dormant, but there might not be a point in spraying then as I suspect the weeds may be dormant as well. . If the stand of yay is thick enough (and I don't know enough about GA and SC yet) the weeds could potentially be outcompeted and spray may not be necessary, so the clover would be safe from that angle. There is the problem of the hay being too thick for the clover to establish as well.

I never see clover in my hay fields...the bermuda or the fescue ones...because I do 24D the h*ll out of them. But you do see it in the bermuda, fescue, and bermuda-fescue mix pastures. We will fertilize and lime them,. but don't herbicide them.

 

[coachg]

Mark, the OP mentioned his/her dad was raising the fescue for hay. We always sow clover in fescue pastures for sure. But, in a hay filed that you spray for weeds with 24D, won't that also kill clover?

Warren we have found that 24D doesn't kill the clover like Grazon does . We only use Grazon if the weeds are really bad . 24D for light weeds .

 

[Brute 23]

I was watching a video a few days ago where the guy in the video had been putting phosphorus and Potassium on his no till fields. He later did a soil test where he tested the soil by the inch. He found that at the six or eight inch level (root zone) there was no P & K, it was all on the surface. I don't know how scientific his test were, but I did find it interesting. I would think that as you watered that would carry that fertilizer into the ground.

That's interesting. In college I worked for a guy that ran a hay king pasture renovator with a fert tank on it. It had stainless lines that ran down the shanks and injected fert in the cuts. I didn't think much about it at the time. I wish I would have looked at his set up better, now. He would always say it worked better because it put the fert where it needed to be.

This was in central Texas, pretty heavy soils. These were little pastures between farm land. I wonder if that was his reason for doing that.

 

[Warren Allison]

Warren we have found that 24D doesn't kill the clover like Grazon does . We only use Grazon if the weeds are really bad . 24D for light weeds .

If it is pasture, why do you want to kill the clover? I don't set out to kill it in my hayfields, the 24D and other broadleaf herbicides just do.

 

[SDM]

That's a VT test. You indicated pasture so the lab would recommend very little if any P at H- and no K at VH. If it's hay they would recommend some P. Except for pasture, VT will have a recommendation for everything below VH. It may be so little it's not economical, but they expect a crop response. The local extension office should be able to help you interpret the result. If not you can call the lab. I agree with the other comments. Put down the lime and some N and you're good. I'll add this. Depending on where you are in Central VA, if you want to encourage fescue. I'd put at least the N on in fall. The results won't be as dramatic, but I think over time you have less volunteer crab and bermuda and a stronger fescue stand. It was 93 here yesterday. Cool season grasses will start slowing down if it keeps up. Then the warm season stuff gets the nutrients.

A normal soil test won't include nitrogen as a parameter. The concentration will just be too variable to make decisions on. If you read the procedure for a pre-sidedress nitrate test for corn, you see the window for the sample and the application is narrow. The further out from when the sample is taken, the less applicable any recommendation will be.

 

[coachg]

If it is pasture, why do you want to kill the clover? I don't set out to kill it in my hayfields, the 24D and other broadleaf herbicides just do.

Like I said when we get new pasture or hay land we sometimes use one or the other . We may lose the clover for a year or two with the Grazon but it always comes back without us having to reseed . Our farm was owned by a fellow that got hit hard two different times by tornadoes. He pretty much quit doing anything with it . We inherited a whole lot of thistle, summer cedar , and yellow top . So we've had to spray ! Now I'm dealing with horse nettle Don't want to kill the clover but don't know of anything else that will kill the weeds .