Soil Amendments??

[Jeff Sheltman]

So I had my soil tested a month or so ago and I'm having trouble with amending it properly.

Type- Sandy/Loamy
PH- 7.3
N- there were no results for this other than no lime was needed.
P- 201ppm
K-309ppm
Mg-661ppm
Ca- 3028
CEC-21.4
Organic Matter-7.7%

What I do understand is that there is an excess of N, P & Mg. calcium is fine and OM is good as well. PH could be alil lower.

This is a new garden that has never been dug. Will any of those values change after I till it? Would it be worth retesting after its tilled.

Thanks

 

[DirtMechanic]

No need to re-test for a few years. I wish I had numbers that good. You might use wettable sulphur in a spray or even fertilizer for acid loving plants to drop the ph but most plants will do well as you have it now.

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

thanks again. I get to caught up on small details. My wife tells me to just put the stuff in the ground and water it. I've just got a lot invested in this garden with the irrigation system and all. Want to make sure I do it right the first time. I've also redesigned my irrigation system to a much less difficult design. Can't wait!! Next week I'm breaking ground!

 

[DirtMechanic]

Welll- try not to use chlorine water. Its hard but they do need to provide sanitary water to us. And so not only chlorine is used. The soil will like you for the effort.

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

Unfortunately that's one detail I can't do much about. I was going to use a rain barrel but supply and demand would be a problem. At least the PH of my water is around 7.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Yes, they make it that way. Higher and the preservatives do not work while lower will eat metal like copper pipes. When running my lowly diy ph tests I have found tapwater best because it is nuetral but its useless for the NPK tests. Distilled water has a ph of about 6, which throws me off, yet for NPK the additives used here in tap water changes the test values compared to distilled water.

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

Please start your own thread. Thank you

 

[Sheal]

I've deleted my post. I thought perhaps the interaction on the same subject would be helpful but apparently not!

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

It wasn't the same subject. Delete that post as well. Thank you drive thru please.

 

[TomatoTango]

Tilling won’t require a retest but if you grow heavy feeding plants, especially monocrops, they can and will deplete the nutrients in a specific area. Usually this happens two months after it hits the soil, regardless of how much amending was done. Rotate beneficials and/or add organic material/fertilizer yearly.

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

Ok gotcha. Sometimes the more I read the more questions i get. I was reading that having certain nutrients in excess was a bad thing. But I wont argue with experience, If I'm being told its ok then its ok. Also I'll be building a compost bin so by the end of the summer I'll have plenty of organic matter ready to go for the next season.

 

[TomatoTango]

Here’s the thing. You can’t really overdo it with organic and natural amendments except for fresh manure and woodash. I don’t know what’s in your soil that’s giving those numbers but it won’t hurt anything to add some blood/bone meal and a little gypsum or something after you pull a plant from the soil or as a side dressing during the season. Put it in the spots you grow plants to help replenish depleted areas.

Compost is another thing that’s almost impossible to overdo. With synthetic nutrients you can over do it with both liquid and dry amendments to the point of burning foliage/roots. This is especially true with the higher numbers stuff like 0-50-35 or whatever.

If I were you I’d wing it the first month or two until you see the plants visibly fading in color, intensity, and vigor, then start side dressing stuff or consider liquid amendments. Maybe you don’t even get to that point, in which case just amend after you pull the plant. But the plants will definitely lower all of those numbers in the areas they inhabit.

 

[Jeff Sheltman]

Idk why I got those numbers but now i'm looking forward to seeing hoe things turn out. Thank you for taking the time to explain it.

 

[Sheal]

It wasn't the same subject. Delete that post as well. Thank you drive thru please.

You are rude and I won't be bullied! I have taken this further.

 

[MaryMary]

It wasn't the same subject. Delete that post as well. Thank you drive thru please.

In this forum we are polite to other. If you are joining this forum, you would do well to remember that. "Thank you drive thru please." ....What?!? Whether you started the thread or not, you can't tell someone to delete their post.