North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kathryn Mathews" <kathmath@charterinternet.com>]

I've got some fruit trees and shrubs planted in an area that used to be my vegetable garden.  I've taken a random approach to fertilizing in the past.  Composed manure one year, soybean meal the next, blood and bone meal, etc.  The only constant is that I've been adding a lot of compost for which my carbon source has been shredded oak and maple leaves.  I knew my soil was alkaline and was hoping that over time the leaves would lower the ph.  I finally got a soil test a couple of years ago that indicated the ph was still 7.5 and recommended a fertilizer ratio of 30-0-20 (for some reason my phosphorous levels are off the charts).  Apparently I need to be a bit more precise in my approach to soil amending.  I'm planning to add gypsum (calcium sulfate) to lower the ph.  How much should I add per 100 square feet for clay soil?  As for fertilizer, I would like to stay organic.  Alfalfa meal is listed at 2.6-0-2.3 and soybean meal is listed at 7.0-.5-2.3.  Would one of these be a good choice?  In a previous post someone mentioned soybean meal would lower ph.  Is there something else anyone would like to recommend that would approximate the 30-0-20 ratio I'm looking for and contribute to my goal of lowering ph?  How much  should I apply per 100 square feet?

Kathryn Mathews

southern MN

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