Thank you all: The most extreme (by far) chlorosis I'm seeing is on the 9th leaf Freedom tree, the rest are 3rd - 4th leaf now. I'm such a dope for not getting pic.s of the chlorosis symptoms but here is what I (REMEMBER) seeing - the cluster leaves never show any, it begins following fruit set on the new shoots (only I think) and continues on the new growth up until about mid Summer then ceases on the new growth as it peters out, it starts up again around harvest time and remains until leaf fall. I realize this may have some scratching their heads, my observations and recollections have been sub par and may therefore not make much sense. The leaves on a shoot appear destined to remain chlorotic once they have formed and never recover. I'll do a very good job this year of observation and documentation if it kills me, this is embarrassing. Fruitnut: aint our soils just dandy! My math, for what it's worth. 2.8% = 0.028, an a.f.s. of soil = 2,000,000 lbs. therefore 0.028 x 2M = 56k lb. of lime in the a.f.s.. I was aiming for a foot deep so we'll go 56k x 2 = 112k lb., 112k / 2 = appx. 56 tons/A, one ft. deep. I haven't nailed down my S amt. yet to neutralize the lime but am re-thinking the 1 ft. depth to just 6 - 7" for the first year of additions. I've seen the same comments about hoplessness but some are colored by the economic costs associated with adding large amounts of S. I take your point about pH variability in different locations. I did look at a number of pics. and descriptions of apple Fe and Zn deficiency in leaves last year and couldn't separate the 2 looking at my tree(s) it was frustrating and I figured it wouldn't be all that hard to figure out, I was wrong! Well aware of chelated iron and may go that route, my first inclination has been to correct the soil pH and lime issues in that they can cause other problems as well. CSU (and others) recommend a green tip Zn SO4 spray for Zn deficiency, I may give that a whirl this Spring on one side of the tree and leave the rest alone, or do the whole darned tree. H-man: after further reflection over the past few days I agree that I'd best not go for altering the entire soil profile down to a foot this year, probably calculate and amend for the top 6" this Spring then sample 0 - 6" and 6 - 12" next late Fall to see what happened and go from there. If I recall, the wood chips and leaves release a fair amount of Ca when they break down too. I've gone back and forth over the foliar feeding but haven't tried it so far except a very small trial on the pear tree with Fe EDTA, it burned the leaf margins and the rate and drying conditions were correct. After that experience it soured me some. The N source for me is just a matter of getting the most pH lowering for my buck while adding the N, in retrospect, ammonium sulfate has the highest CaCO3 neutralizing effect of all the N ferts., DUH. I don't expect the miniscule amount of amm. sulfate added to my soil to get the N I need this year to pack much of a punch to the pH but it's a step in the right direction, S will have to do the real heavy lifting on neutralizing all that lime. My target pH is 6.5, no plans to go below that, no real reason to that I can think of, point taken. Man I'm starving, thanks again all. there was probably more to write but the stomach has my full attention now.

OK, well your pH is low, but that's easier to fix than high pH, and I would wait a month between lime applications, longer if you don't get much rain. Nitrogen is an easy fix with fertilizer, but I would definitely wait till early fall, when it is cooler, because adding a lot of nitrogen now can increase fungal disease incidence. I used the Scott's fungal control and I still got brown patch, but only on my spring seeded tall fescue. Don't do any seeding until late summer or early fall. I know Georgia is a lot hotter than CT, but you are in the mountains, so I assume your climate is cooler than say Atlanta. Regardless, seeding in the summer is a losing proposition, get your lawn in the best possible shape to seed in the early fall. When you do overseed, pick the cultivars that do the best in your area, check the ntep trials for this info.

I re-read your post, Sammy, and understand that you are looking for good soil. So do I, after the bagged EarthGro topsoil at HomeDepo killed my decade-old orange summer phlox, plus my peony, and put my Japanese Maple tree on life-support. Nastara, zone 5, informed me that this past summer's bagged soils were contaminated with Herbicide, resulting in complaints from farmers. I tested the pH of my soil, EarthGro's topsoil, and Menard's "American Countryside" brand. EarthGro's topsoil was the most alkaline (greenish blue in red cabbage juice), my pH of 7.7 native soil (professionally tested by EarthCo., turned blue in my red-cabbage juice test), and least alkaline is Menard's. I would place EarthGro's topsoil at pH of 8 and Menards pH of 7.5 or less. Moo Cow-manure is the worst, pH of 9, same color as baking soda in red cabbage juice. There was a post in the soil forum about the offensive odor of top soil from Lowe's. Actually stinky means good - because they haven't put lime in it to deodorize the soil, thus shooting up the pH to the 8 to 10 range. I'm buying Lowe's bagged soil this summer (I used it in the past and it didn't kill my plants). Menards' top soil is OK for pH, but it's loaded with weed seeds. My neighbor turned her lawn into a weed patch after using that stuff. The professional lawn company had to put lime plus other chemicals to kill her weeds. The best soil is what you make yourself with your own compost and you know what goes into it. Store-bought bagged soil often contain boiler-ash (#1 industrial waste) to make it pitch-black, plus biosolids (human waste)and lime to deodorize, thus raising the pH. Tapla, professor of horticulture, has a recipe of potting soil: 5-1-1 (5 parts ground composted pine mulch, 1 part perlite, and 1 part peat moss). Here's a clip of his recipe and below is the link to his website. It's the same ingredients recommended by Douglas Green, Ontario nursery - and the same ingredients listed in Ball's planting mix. Ball is the largest nursery here. My Basic Soils 5 parts pine bark fines 1 part sphagnum peat (not reed or sedge peat please) 1-2 parts perlite garden lime (or gypsum in some cases) controlled release fertilizer (if preferred) micro-nutrient powder, other continued source of micro-nutrients, or fertilizer with all nutrients - including minors Big batch: 2-3 cu ft pine bark fines 5 gallons peat 5 gallons perlite 2 cups dolomitic (garden) lime (or gypsum in some cases) 2 cups CRF (if preferred) 1/2 cup micro-nutrient powder (or other source of the minors) Small batch: 3 gallons pine bark 1/2 gallon peat 1/2 gallon perlite 4 tbsp lime (or gypsum in some cases) 1/4 cup CRF (if preferred) micro-nutrient powder (or other source of the minors) Here is a link that might be useful: Al's Tapla container soil mix

Marshall, most of what you stated is true - but is only a small part of the picture. I do send samples off for analysis as far from Texas as Oregon - because I know how to corelate the information resulting from my sample to my 'little piece of earth' (or compost). And I desire the highest quality results - be it nutrition, condition/texture or microbe population count - for the same dollar. Yes, different test methods produce different results (identified at the bottom of most test reports). Test results can still be correlated to a different type of test result. Still 'apples to apples'. Still only a matter of education based on a person's degree of interest. This thread subject is important, in my opinion, simply because education is important. We should never stop asking questions, to learn more about improving our own piece of earth, for which we have accepted responsibility. In the main, soil tests ARE 'sacred' to state-run soil laboratories and to the thousands of U.S. county agricultural extension agents who are continuously called upon to render professional services to the commercial harvest business community - based on such science-based tests. Your grocery store depends on them. See, it is still "all about the money". Most plant/soil related research is focused toward, and paid for by commercial agriculture and the companies that support that industry, which feeds our growing population. So I think that tests based on regional soil conditions is a good thing - but tests should be also be sufficiently complete to offer insight into specific planting needs in MY piece of earth - which anyone can easily learn to do by reading. Finding the best test is important to me. Unfortunately, most people who receive soil analysis reports are not also told that they can take that report to their county agricultural extension agent for interpretation to their specific needs. Agreed, the resulting written piece of paper is worthless without knowing how to apply the information. But the public service Ag.Agent is trained in how to do that (and local Master Gardeners). Anyone can research what the relationship of CA is to MG based on given factors. Education IS the Agent's primary focus (and the state land-grant university that supports them), even to the homeowner - which is why the Master Gardener program is supported. Granted, home-style agriculture/horticulture does not usually operate on commercial scale. But science-based soil information is not usually about 'scale'. Scale is a matter of applied mechanics based on time and money. As a soilmaker/nurseryman/landscaper in south central Florida many years ago, I learned (the hard way) to find out what the soil conditions were (in advance) and to ensure proper plant-specific moisture, before installing a variety of plants in someone's property - particularly gardens, shrubs and trees (soil test for nutrients/pH/salt is only part of that gamut). Some of my Florida client's soils received different amendments before certain plantings took place because different plants do have different needs - to thrive (not just survive). Replacing dead plants cost me money, and was bad for my business. Soil tests were simply one means by which I made decisions that SAVED me (and the property owner) time/money. Learning to decipher soil analysis results is not difficult, but is (unfortunately) one of the things many gardeners are reticent to investigate, even after problems are encountered. An ounce of prevention is STILL worth a 'pound of cure', and having a base of reference on which to make improvements to soil (and compost) - is important to me, in what I do. And agree that 'organics' still takes a 'back seat' to the chemical industry - regretably. But that 'world view' is changing...Slowly, but surely - because that's about human survival on this planet. Robert