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  • From: edforest55@hotmail.com
  • To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: [nafex] Re: soil testing
  • Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 22:19:17 -0000

Donna and Don,
Thanks for that soil explanations. My garden beds are about 70
percent organic material, decomposed leaves mostly, very high in
minerals (I believe because a tree draws them up from deep in the
soil.) I had poor growth for the first couple years (I figured it
could be that either the N was tied up or I just had too high a pH)
until I applied sulphur, not knowing that there was a manganese
problem but just wanting to lower the pH. I was told that I would
need to have my soil tested by a specialty tester knowledgeable in
high organic soil testing. Just never bothered since now I am now
getting fantastic health.
Still, horse manure never fails me and I use as much of it as I can,
it doesn't hurt the apple seedlings at all if placed above the roots.
(Best to mulch new manure to keep it from drying out).
Kevin B
zones 3 and 5


> There's an A&L labs in Memphis that does CEC soil testing.
Actually I
> think A&L has several labs listed on the Net. I was quite
impressed by the
> one test we had done, the results plus Kinsey's book helped
understand why
> we had yellow stripes in our corn every year, which didn't respond
to
> magnesium. When summer came again and the yellow stripes appeared,
our pH
> was 6.4, our organic matter was 3.4%, and it was raining like hell.
High pH,
> high organic matter and high moisture add up to a prescription for
manganese
> deficiency. I couldn't do much about the rain or organic matter,
and the
> coop didn't stock manganese. So I threw some sulfur around to
reduce the
> pH, and the corn greened right up. Other problems we might have
suspected,
> like low boron, and high magnesium, were confirmed by the test. I
thought
> it was great value for money, especially when I looked at the tests
our
> friend had paid the county $100 for. They were really useless, no
way could
> I figure out how much lime or what kind was needed, or whether
there was
> sufficient NKP, much less trace elements. As you read, Neal Kinsey
says
> that some counties just use a formula to recommend fertilazer and
lime, and
> don't actually read the test. Like the guy who got soil tests and
was told
> to lime, then got them again the next year and was told to lime
again, and
> screwed up his pH, because they had a blanket recommendation to
lime. Let
> us all know A&L's web address if you find it. Donna H






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