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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] soil testing
  • Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2007 13:45:23 -0500

I doubt it's pathogens, because most pathogens are somewhat selective, and will kill some plants, but not all plants. I've sen what you describe happen in two circumstances:

1) A friend had some patches of her yard where nothing would grow. After her son was diagnosed with lead poisoning, they got those patches tested and discovered they were phenominlly high in lead, due to a prior resident having sandblasted 100 years of lead paint off the house. They had the worst of it taken away (at exorbitant cost, since it was a hazardous waste) and covered the rest with 4-6 inches of mulch. Stuff grows fine in what they have left.

2) I have some patches in the backyard that die every year during the heat of the summer. Stuff (that I plant, or weeds if I don't) grows fine during the spring and fall, but when the weather gets die everything dies. I have bedrock not far beneath the soil, and I believe those are the patches where the rock comes closest to the soil and has the fewest fissures.

Ginda
zone 6, eastern Mass, where everything sits on granite if you go down far enough.


On Dec 8, 2007, at 10:18 PM, Stephen Sadler wrote:

I previously mentioned my lifeless soil, and it was kindly suggested to me
that I get a thorough soil test, to not just look for nutrients but possible
contaminants as well. There are areas here where not even weeds grow. My
suspicion is that the soil isn't lifeless, it's rich in pathogens; but
testing seems quite wise.

The thing is, I've never tested my soil. I've had big backyard gardens, an
acre or less, loaded them up with organic compost, corrected pH for
individual types of plants, and my past gardens have been thriving and
bountiful.

So where does one look for soil testing for a small backyard plot?

~ Stephen
Sacramento, CA, where we think 50 is cold...





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