Soil Test: Too Much Phosph, Zero Nitrogen (too much compost?)

12 years ago

Hello all,

I bought a little DIY soil test kit after having problems with one of my vegetable gardens. This one particular garden I tried to grow tomatoes, green beans, okra, and cucumbers. Cucumbers did well but everything else was stunted with gnarled leaves. The prior year this garden did awesome with peas, tomatoes, & okra.

The test results showed extremely high Phosphorous and non-existent nitrogen. Ph showed to be "Acceptable" and potash was "sufficient".

We raise rabbits and I compost all the rabbit manure and hay that falls through the cages. Then till it into the gardens. This particular garden is where I put the compost bins during the winter so needless to say it usually gets more compost than the other gardens. I'm wondering if maybe it received too much compost which I believe, from what I've read, would result in excessive phosphorous. I'm not sure why the nitrogen would show up as depleted? Maybe something is binding with the nitrogen making it unusable?

I would love to get this garden remedied for next year but am unsure how to approach this. Any help would be appreciated!

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Comments (3)

girlgroupgirl
12 years ago
Well rotted compost can be low in nitrogen. If you soil is great you can lay off the compost for a year or two and simply add some nitrogen in whatever form you like. If you need something quick, blood meal usually offers a very fast boost.
digdirt2
12 years ago
First, the DIY test kits are a waste of time and money. They are notorious for being inaccurate and mis-leading. So either get a pro test done from your local county AG office or don't do anything to your garden based on the DIY kit.

Second, most all garden soils will test normal to high in P as most all soils have plenty of it naturally - one reason why most new fertilizers are being sold P-free.

Third, most compost can't be your only source of nutrients, especially N, unless your soil also has a very active soil-food web, a good working micro-herd of bacteria to convert the compost to nutrients for the plants.

How much N your compost may have in it all depends on what the rabbits are fed and how long it is composted. N leaches and evaporates out of compost and soil very quickly - which is why it always tests low - so it may require regular additions of other N sources or at least of more quality compost several times during the season.

Too many who grow exclusively with compost make the mistake of assuming a 1x a year addition is sufficient for N. Unfortunately, given the fragile nature of N, it isn't.

But the place to start is with a REAL soil test.

Dave
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Well that certainly puts my tomatoes in a jam....or not, cause every day is over 85 here, so I shouldn't have any. So, it's off to the garden store for a bottle of blossom set. Now I know why my father in law (the guhru of all things tomato) always used it. If anyone thinks of any other cures, please feel free to post them!
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you want very soft water. because soft water will dissolve chemicals better. rain water is what i use. You want the water at warm temp. say 85 is good. not too hot but not real cold either. warmer water dissolves chemicals better. now run as much water as you can down through the soil and throw away the water that comes out. you can throw it on the lawn or use it diluted for the garden. it will be diluted but not back onto the same plants as they are in shock and the roots need to heal. the sooner you do this the better. the longer the more the roots are damaged. the drier the soil the higher the chemicals are concentrated in the less water. Try to use at least 4 times the volume of soil. so if you have a 1 gallon pot, run a good 4 to 5 gallons through the pot. I also like to run it and then leave the soil to dissolve more and run it a 2nd time after a rest. chemical ferts are salts. you need to dissolve the salts and wash them out. actually as the plant uses up some chemicals as fertilizer they leave salts behind that build up and cause problems. growing in pots some people recommend that you water with a little extra water so some runs out the bottom. this is to run some salts out. good luck. O Nut
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If you have plenty of nitrogen already in your soil and you add nitrogen fertilizer, you can get overly lush foliage growth at the expense of flowering and fruiting. Perhaps a soil test would be in order if you don't discover the cause quickly. How much coffee grounds did you use? They are a good nitrogen source, I've used em to fertilize container plants that were suffering nitrogen deficiency.
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I can't answer the question about picloran, but can tell you that growing tomatoes in too rich soil and/or using too much N fertilizer definitely can increase the chances of BER fruits. It's one of the many stresses, it causes the plants to grow too fast, that can induce BER. THe good new is that the more mature the plants are they can withstand the many stresses that can lead to BER, but I think you'd better address the issues of growing in too rich soil, as that isn't going to go away, as well as maybe doing some Googling to find out about picloran. I know that many herbicides can affect plants directly by what's called drift, via air, but I don't know about any herbicides that are already in the soil in terms of what effects they might have. Carolyn
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calliope
12 years ago
If you had problems with your crop this year, then do get your soil tested. Rabbit poo is quite high in nitrogen compared to some other manures. Yes, nitrogen can leach quickly, but manure based nitrogen is a slower release than non-organic sources and I don't understand why your soil should show depleted nitrogen, either. BTW, I use ONLY manure on my gardens from my chicken flock. I have not had to add any additional supplements other than compost. I do not have any problems with nutrient deficiencies.

You didn't elaborate when you spred manure in relation to when you plant your crops. Get a soil test done through your extension department. It's your first step and you really shouldn't do anything more to the soil until you find out the results.

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Soil Test: Too Much Phosph, Zero Nitrogen (too much compost?)

Comments (3)

girlgroupgirl

digdirt2

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calliope

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