soil test results show problems
kathleen
2 years ago
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Help with soil test results please
Comments (4)It kind of looks like you need more organic matter but you need to determine that with some more simple tests like these; 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. Your primary concern is the OM level and yours may be pretty good. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Depending on what you want to grow your soil pH is heading toward too high, the best soil pH ranges between 6.2 and 6.8 for most plants. The term immediately available nutrients means little but that is all they can measure and more compost may well change those numbers, but it is long term nutrient availability that you need concern yourself about and that comes with sufficient levels of organic matter in your soil so the soil bacteria can provide that, and the low nitrates could simply be because your soil was too cold. My soil is sand and it takes a ton of organic matter to fill in the pore spaces between the sand particles so enough moisture and nutrients are held in the plants root zone....See MoreQ#3 Soil test results--what would you do?
Comments (3)Nitrogen availability depends on soil temperature whihc governs the activity of the Soil Food Web, which is why most soil test labs no longer test for N. Most often when someone has a soil test done by a good soil tesing lab the recommendations come back to apply 2 pounds of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, which if you think about that is a pretty minimal amount. I have found the soil test kits sold from the garden centers to be very unreliable. In comparing two different manufacturers kits I got widely divergent results. If the water in your home was acidic enough to have any affect on your soil you would not be able to drink it. If you have finished compost available now spread it on your soil now and let the Soil Food Web slowly work it into the soil....See MoreSoil Test results from Exstension- teach me about P
Comments (15)When comparing soil analysis results across labs there is another issue that needs to be considered, and that is the nature of the analytical method employed, even when extractions solutions (e.g., Mehlcih, Bray-1, etc) are the same. In the recent past the method widely used in soil analysis was a colorimetric method. A soil extraction solution, after filtration, would be reacted with a series of standard reagent solution, a color would develop based upon the amount of orthophosphate in the extraction solution, and based upon the color the amount of P would be determined. In recent years many labs have converted from the colorimetric method to the use of inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP). In this method the filtered extraction solution (same as the one used for colorimetric determination) is analyzed directly. ICP shows the not only the orthophosphate that colorimetery shows, but also any other form of extraction soluble P, such as some of the organic-based P (e.g., phytin, phospholipids, etc.) that may be present in a soil. Hence ICP methods typically report higher levels of soil P than does colorimtery. In soils with high amounts of organic matter the difference can be substantial (more than 50% difference). What that leads to is different levels of what constitutes high or low levels of P in a soil is based upon the method. This leads to different crop response calibration curves for different methods. I just looked this morning and found out, to my surprise, than MN still uses the colorimetric method for determination of P in soils. Hence MN's levels of P that correspond to low vs. high will be noticeably lower than those used in TX, for example, that uses ICP. Converting from colorimetery to ICP, and developing new crops response curves is not a trivial matter as explained in the paper linked below. While challenging, many soil labs have made the change. MN has not. Here is a link that might be useful: SERA-17 P in Soils by ICP vs. Colorimetry This post was edited by TXEB on Sat, Sep 14, 13 at 12:55...See MoreSoil test results
Comments (20)"Application at this rate, which is equivalent to approximately 800 cubic yards/acre or 20 tons/acre of dry matter, will increase soil organic matter content, and improve soil tilth and water holding capacity. A chemical analysis of 100 municipal leaf samples collected from across New Jersey shows that leaves are a valuable source of all crop nutrients (Table 1). Although nutrient concentration values vary considerably, the application of 20 ton/acre of leaves would add on average 400 pounds of nitrogen, 40 pounds of phosphorus, and 152 pounds of potassium. Assuming values of $.30/pound N, $.23/pound P, and $.18/pound K, the nutrients from this example are worth $156.56. Application of leaves at 20 ton/acre would also add on average 656 pounds of calcium, 96 pounds of magnesium, 44 pounds of sulfur, 1.5 pounds of boron, 58 pounds of iron, 22 pounds of manganese, 50 pounds of chloride, 4 pounds of sodium, 0.3 pounds of copper, and 3 pounds of zinc." ..... from Rutgers link......... Help me analyze this.... because this link is talking about leaves... 800CY = 20 ton ---The several year old compacted leaves I am getting weigh 10-12 tons per 20CY load. These have started composting and are in the later innings of finishing but are not there yet. After getting air and moisture with tumbling and wetting I get new heat and have yet to screen out a pile with no heat. Wondering where this (my stuff) falls in the nutrient and mineral catagory since the age, compaction, and composting are quite different from the article......See Morekathleen
2 years agokathleen
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agokathleen
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