Got nutrition analysis from soil back.
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last modified: 9 years ago
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Help me with my soil analysis please
Comments (2)You certainly didn't receive a very complete analysis. I would be tempted to have it repeated, making sure you know exactly what the analysis will include and how to read it. My niece had problems with excess potassium due to over fertilizing. She was part of the "more is better" mind set, until her plants started dying. She called me in a panic. I talked her into a soil analysis. Her potassium was too high, and I did a bit of extra research on the problem. (She is a chemist as well - so don't feel badly about this error. We all mess up with our gardens at some time or another.) The problem with this analysis is that it doesn't tell us whether the potassium is in a form available to the plant, or if it is "bound potassium" and thus not available to the plant. So that high number is meaningless, unless your plants are obviously suffering. Then you know a lot of it is available and affecting the plant by the way the plants are growing. If you have some clay in your soil, it will bind potassium. Not much binding goes on in loam or sand. The level of calcium is responsible for your high pH. I deal with that a lot in Nevada, where the soil is quite alkaline (high pH). You can use sulfur to bring that down. Go slow, use less, and watch how the plants respond. You'll probably want to check your iron levels in the soil. Calcium binds to iron (Fe) and makes it unavailable to the plant. However, the solution for that is Epson Salts, which is potassium, so you may not have a problem at all -- unless the potassium is bound to another ion, like clay, and thus is unavailable to bind to calcium. If your plants are pale, it may be because they can't get enough iron from the soil, which is why you need to know the iron content. I have a lot of calcium in my soil, and it binds to iron (Fe) so I have to use Epson salts to fix it, and sometimes have to add iron as well. Absolutely check your nitrogen. In the above chemical mess, it probably wasn't measured correctly. If it turns out you need some nitrogen, use Blood meal, not more compost. Blood meal is pure nitrogen that you have to scatter and water in, or work into the soil and water in. You want to avoid adding anything that might contain potassium or calcium. I have read where people use gypsum to lower potassium levels in an emergency. You'll need to do more research on this before using it, as I don't remember exactly the form of the gypsum to use, or how much per 500 square feet, etc. I hope I've been a little bit helpful here. I can say that "rinsing" the soil and turning it solved my niece's problem (see link). But she had a relatively small garden. She also lives in Tennessee, so may have soil similar to yours. Good Luck! MacThayer Here is a link that might be useful: How to lower soil Potassium....See MoreHelp me with my soil analysis please
Comments (14)Sure, you could say it looks pretty good. the major and macro nutrients look like they're in good supply. They aren't high enough to cause any real problems at the moment, but no reason to add more of what you don't need. The test didn't check for micronutrients so..(shrug). But the compost should provide some micros. You're pH looks good so the micros that you do have should be pretty available. Boron and salinity weren't checked so......(shrug again). According to the estimated cation saturation data, sodium is a non-issue in regards to its effect on soil structure and drainage. (Since K, Ca and Mg make up 100% of the exchangeable cations, your ESP is 0. That's good). I think if you mix in some green waste compost and add some nitrogen at or right before the time of planting, things should work out pretty well....See MoreI Got My Soil Test Results Back. What Do the Numbers Mean?
Comments (12)"just me 6" ... I agree with Kimmsr that you want to get the lime in there to start working, BUT I don't know that I think doing so before the builder levels things out makes sense. I just picture you distributing the lime well across the top of the soil, and the bulldozer coming and scraping the top 3 inches away here and filling in a dip there ... resulting in a really uneven distribution of the lime. If I were you I'd wait. If I read you right, we're just talking about waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday; I think waiting a few days is worthwhile to increase the chances you get your lime distributed pretty evenly. As to improving your "nasty sticky clay soil" ... lime will fix the pH, but I don't think it will affect the texture. You want better "tilth" ... not sure if a search on that word here will bring up articles that will help. Adding lots of organic material is the single best way to improve your tilth, for a variety of reasons. First, just mechanically, having lots of bits of organic stuff in between the sticky bits separates them and lets air and water in. Next, the soil beasties that are going to eat that organic stuff will, in the process, glue some of the clay particles together into aggregates (bigger bits), which tend to permit air and water to penetrate around/between them. Do you have a source of free municipal mulch? By that, I mean ground up leaves that a nearby city collected in the fall, let sit over the winter, and puts out for you to take the following year? That can be good stuff or it can be garbage-y. I have a couple of cities around me to choose from, and have a clear preference for one over another.... Alternately, if you're willing and able to spend, get a truckload of compost from a local nursery. Go there first to see what they'll sell you. My nursery sells it for $35/yard, and they're selling pretty nice stuff (ground a lot finer than the municipal free stuff, looks more decomposed, maybe is in a more managed pile over the winter?). Till it in to your soil after the builder and before you first plant. Then add more to the perennial beds. And keep adding more to any plants that can be mulched (nearly everything except grass) forever more. (Wood and bark mulches last longer, but ground up leaves feed the soil better.) By the way, don't let anyone sell you topsoil. You have plenty of the mineral component of soil already. You want more of the organic component, and that's the only part it makes any sense to pay anyone to haul to you. Don't let them talk you into a mix of compost and topsoil either ... that would be better for their profit, but not better for you. (UNLESS you have a shallow area you want to fill ... but then, the builder should fix that, right?) I know, I'm not giving a lot of advice on the soil test. But you asked how to make sticky clay better, and in my flower beds, compost and leaf mulch are what does it. - LCPW p.s. On the "posey power" ... hard to say without knowing what it is, and some facts about what KIND of clay you have. I have learned here that one kind of clay actually can be broken up well by a chemical additive that nurseries sell. But many many folks have asked about it and knowledgeable folks here have said, "you're in a part of the country with clay that won't be helped by that in the least". I'd say don't do it until you know more....See MoreTaking soil samples for lab. analysis. Get your money's worth.
Comments (14)I wasn't disagreeing, I just wanted to get the information on record :-). I actually think excluding the top inch is a good idea for the reasons you mentioned, but also because it will skew your OM measurement, especially if you're applying a lot of organic fertilizers. There is high concentration of organic matter on the surface from organic amendments, clippings, thatch etc, but your typical grass plant with 6" roots has probably 85% of the root mass below that top inch. Also, the organic matter sitting on top is actively decomposing and most of it will be lost in the form of CO2. You average the OM in that top inch across the other 3 inches and you're going to get some inflated OM numbers. I think when we're measuring OM we're looking not for a measurement of the alfalfa or milorganite we just put down a couple months ago but of the stable organic matter a little further down that will be there for 50-100 years....See MoreElse
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