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  • From: "Ryan Albinger" <ryalbinger@earthlink.net>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Soil test results
  • Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:34:53 -0500

The test results tell what was done and what can be done different next
time and what needs fixing.
High salt content, high K content, high P content, and high organic matter
content show that steer manure could have been applied at too high of rate.
Next time, try with a little less.
Major imbalances- expect plant health problems
High nutrient levels- don't need to add much, just get to some balance
Low nitrogen figures- good amount of manure and high carbon- will it come
available as plants need it? Is too much carbon the problem? Plants need
or will possibly need some N.

Ryan


> [Original Message]
> From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>
> Just one question - what exactly will you be able to do with the
> information? How will it be useful? Then I'll respond further.
> paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
>
> On 6/22/2006 at 8:26 PM Greg Bell wrote:
>
> >Ok, here's what the soil testing service told me about these values:
> >
> >-----------
> >Electrical Conductivity dS/m 3.7
> >
> >This is a measure of salinity, and it should be < 0.15. Wow, I'm way
off.
>
> >I'm hoping the recent rains washed this out. They said excessive
> >fertilizer could be a reason, but my low N levels would seem to
> >contraindicate too much fertilizer use. Of course, the tap/hose water
I'm
>
> >using would be the other possible contributor. I'll water with saved
> >rainwater as much as I can, and make sure to water thoroughly with the
> >hose when I have to use that. Any other suggestions?
> >
> >
> >-----------
> >pH (CaCl2) pH 6.0
> >
> >They say 5-5.5 is preferred, but this recommendation surprised me a bit
> >when neutral is 7.0 and a few quick google searches (and the New Organic
> >Grower) say 6-6.5.
> >
> >
> >-----------
> >Bray Phosphorus mg/kg 310
> >
> >They say > 50 is good. Dunno if 310 is too much.
> >
> >
> >-----------
> >Total Organic Carbon % 11
> >
> >They say > 2% is good.
> >
> >
> >-----------
> >KCl extractable Ammonium (NH4-N) mg/kg 12
> >KCl extractable Nitrate (NO3-N) mg/kg 5.6
> >
> >These are totaled to get about 18 mg/kg. They say > 20 is recommended
for
>
> >growing veggies. This is a suprising result given all the compost I
used
> >in filling the bed. Not sure what accounts for this low N, especially
> >considering that the very-high Phosphorus level probably came from my
use
> >of Blood and Bone meal (so the high-N blood meal should've given me
enough
>
> >N).
> >
> >As Ryan indicated in a previous email, perhaps the N is being bound up
in
> >the decomposition of the high Carbon materials...
> >
> >
> >-----------
> >Calcium cmol(+)/kg 41
> >
> >should be > 5
> >
> >Potassium cmol(+)/kg 11
> >
> >should be > 0.5
> >
> >Magnesium cmol(+)/kg 9.2
> >
> >should be > 1.6
> >
> >Sodium cmol(+)/kg 1.7
> >
> >should be > 1
> >
> >
> >They say a Calcium/Magnesim ratio should be > 2 otherwise update of
> >potassium is hindered. Mine's about 4.
> >
> >
> >Thanks for reading this far, and for any comments. I hope this info was
> >interesting or useful to everyone.
> >
> >~gb
> >_______________________________________________
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> >http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
>
>
>
>
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