SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
matx_gw

Help with Soil Test Please

matx
14 years ago

Hi All -

I've been vegetable gardening for a few seasons now, but just recently decided to have my soil tested. I could use some input on moving forward with building my soil.

The soil tests show that phosphorus is highly elevated (193 ppm), Nitrogen is low (19ppm) and the PH is a slightly alkaline (7.6). High PH is typical in this area. Some of my plants (currently some strawberries and in the past a few varieties of tomatoes) have shown some yellowing/chlorosis.

Before I started growing in the garden, I added 1/2 inch of manure and have been using a homemade fertilizer formula based on this mother earth news article: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-06-01/A-Better-Way-to-Fertilize-Your-Garden.aspx. I'll stop using that immediately until I reformulate as it does contain some rock phosphate.

The recommendations are that I avoid organic composts and manures. I have a large amount of clay in my soil though, and had planned to keep adding manure to improve the tilth of the soil (I've seen big improvements with the compost). It's also my understanding that if I keep adding manures, that over a period of time, my PH will get better.

Here are my questions:

1. Should I really stop adding compost to the soil completely?

2. What is a good source of Nitrogen for an organic gardener? I've seen Blood Meal recommended, but my family and I are vegetarians, so that doesn't sit so well.

3. It looks like my strawberries are yellowing from iron and/or zinc deficiency as a side effect of my alkalinity and phosphorus problem. The fact sheet that came with my soil test recommends a foliar feed for this. Any product suggestions?

Thanks much for any input or thoughts.

Comments (11)

Sponsored
Trish Takacs Design
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars36 Reviews
Award Winning & Highly Skilled Kitchen & Bath Designer in Columbus