Solu Cal Vs. Pelletized Lime
As a new sales representative for Advanced Turf Solutions, I have spent some time shadowing one of my fellow employees, trying to be like a sponge and soak up all of his knowledge. An interesting story developed from a sales call we made together.
The sales call was a visit with the owner of a very successful lawn care company in Tennessee. The owner explained how a homeowner had called and didn’t know what to do with his lawn. The homeowner was frustrated with his results; he had been doing everything himself: fertilizer, weed and feed, etc. He hired this lawn care company and the first thing they did, being the professionals they are, was take a soil test.
The soil test showed the pH was off! To adjust the pH, they applied Solu-Cal, and it was amazing what happened after that. The home owner called the lawn care company owner and said, “What in the he** did you do to my yard?”
At first, of course, the owner was thinking, “Oh shoot what’s wrong?”
That’s when the homeowner said, “It has never looked better!”
Well to be honest, that conversation got my attention. Before coming to Advanced Turf Solutions, my wheelhouse was the landscape and agriculture side of the business. I was using more pelletized lime to adjust pH than other products because that was the standard. Now, being exposed to the knowledge of new products and technology, it has been very exciting to learn about a great product like Solu-Cal, a product immediately available for plant uptake and amending soil pH. It can take up to 6-8 months for pelletized lime to be available in the soil for plant uptake.
Not only is Solu-Cal a better product balancing pH in the soil in 6-8 weeks, but also it can reduce storage requirements and labor handling because it requires less product per square foot compared to pelletized lime. Solu-Cal even reduces dust during application, 80% less than traditional products. Solu-Cal products are university tested, industry proved, and backed by data.
Use rates are 6# Solu-Cal per 1,000 square foot vs. 25# pelletized lime per 1,000, according to suggested maintenance rates. As you can see, that would be the difference of handling 5.2 bags (50#) per acre of Sol-Cal vs. 27.2 bags (40#) per acre of pelletized lime. Corrective rates are 12# Solu-Cal per 1,000 sq ft. vs. 50# pelletized lime per 1,000 sq ft. That is a noteworthy difference in labor, time, and transportation, all significant as an owner of a lawn care company constantly looking for ways to reduce cost and expenses.
Analyzing cost is another important factor comparing Solu-Cal to pelletized lime. Up front, it appears that pelletized lime is cheaper by bag, but when you do the math and figure cost per acre or 1,000 sq ft, you will realize Solu-Cal is typically less expensive comparing a 50# bag of Solu-Cal vs. a 40# bag of pelletized lime, usually how lime is packaged.
This is a great time of year to apply Solu-Cal on fescue lawns. Correct protocol for determining what is going on with someone’s lawn is always to do a soil test first. Based on test results, there are many products made by Solu-Cal that can help resolve any problems that may show up. As always, contact your ATS rep for more product information.
Rhonda Morice
Sales Representative
