Managing Your pH

posted on April 27th, 2011 by Steve Schug

As we mentioned earlier this month, understanding the type of soil you’re working with when planting your Zoysia lawn is the first step in achieving the best possible results. Once you’ve determined soil type, it’s time to test its pH level to help you figure out what, if any, extra nutrients your soil may require.

While your Zoysia lawn can grow in a variety of soil types and pH levels, ideally your soil’s pH should be between 6 and 7. Since the pH of your soil determines how well plants absorb nutrients, it’s important to test it prior to planting – You can do this easily with a handheld pH meter.

If your soil tests below the ideal level, it is considered acidic. Acidic soil contains more sulfur and aluminum sulfate than neutral soils – And while acidic soil does help plants absorb iron more easily, it can also hinder the ability to absorb molybdenum.

Soil that tests above the ideal lever is considered alkaline. Alkaline soils tend to contain an abundance of lime or wood ash and help plants absorb potassium. However, alkaline soils can cause difficulty in the absorption of manganese.

Overall, most plants, including your Zoysia lawn, will thrive in a neutral soil. You can alter the level of your soil’s pH by adding granulated lime to raise the pH level or adding small quantities of sulfur to lower the pH level.

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 11:16 am and is filed under Care & Maintenance, Zoysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Managing Your pH”

  1. Craif franz Says:

    May 29th, 2011 at 10:53 am

    I want to bring the Ph down in my soil before I order any more Plugs, my Ph level is slightly above 7. The plugs that I did plant are growing but very slowly, I used your fertilizer which seemed to help it green up quicker.
    I read that I need to use sulpher to bring my Ph level down, what kind of sulpher do I use and how much would I need to use in an area of about 400sqft? After I get it to a better level how often would I need to add the sulpher to maintain a good level?
    Thank you, Craig

  2. admin Says:

    June 9th, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Sulfur should be available from any garden center or home improvement store like Lowe’s. There will be directions and recommendations on the packaging to tell you how much to use based on your 400 sq. ft. The soil should be checked with a pH meter about every 3 months until it stabilizes. After that, you should check once a year to maintain the pH level.

  3. Elmer Says:

    December 18th, 2012 at 9:17 am

    Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Finding the time and actual effort to make a really good article…
    but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.

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