Soil Analysis help appreciated

[Egon]

Some forms of lime take longer to become effective.

 

[schmism]

I'll probably end up buying manure from a local small scale ranch. I don't know one way or anohter, but feel safe assuming that what I end up with should be safe for growing food plots to feed the deer and hogs.

Thank you for all your replies,
Eddie

never pay for manure! check craigslist or put a post up. stop by at the local horse stable that services rideing horses. they are usually all to happy to have you haul off there manure for free. (they will often load your truck)

If you have pig farms in the area (i do) they use a semi liquid injector and pull a huge tanker rig out in the feild and spred the manure that way. If you have one close (i do) you might be able to have him out. (but on second thought its a huge rig that may not like small area;s (anything under 5 acers)

 

[EddieWalker]

ML,

After moving another few hundred yards this weekend, I'm reconsidering my timeline. With your advice about the lime and giving it time to do it's thing, and how slow I am at moving the dirt that I want to move, I think that just getting the dirt to where I want it might be all that I get done until the fall.

I can spread the lime, disk it in and add manure over the summer when I come across it. Then I'll take some soil samples for wheat and go from there. That might be more realistic and maybe even better for my long term goals.

Thank you.

Randy,

My spreader is pretty small, so just throwing out the lime from my truck bed sounds like it would be faster and easier. My new goal is to get the lime out this spring/summer so that I'll be ready for fall planting of wheat. Then I can amend the soil in the fall so that I will be ready for cowpeas next spring.

Egon,

I think we only have the one type of lime to chose from. You either buy what they have, or you don't get any. I have no idea if it's what you are refering to or not, but I'll just deal with whatever it is.

schmism,

Thanks, that's good advice. It costs nothing to post on craigslist, so when I get the field ready and have my lime down, I'll get serious about finding a source of manure. In the meantiime, I'll pay attention to the ads for anybody offering it for free.

Here is the link to my progress on my food plot. As you can see, I still have allot of work to do.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1382478#post1382478

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[mrob2012003]

I would take the info up to a local fertilizer place there is one in lindale. Something to remember you took soil samples from the dead areas but what about the growth areas. I am sure that the entire field needs it. I am not sure about the amount of time you have but for me its more cost effective just to have them spread it for me. When you factor in the time it takes to pick up the lime, spread, it fuel used in a tractor etc and truck. You will find it equals out in the end. I like to do things myself too but I find I just dont have the time to do it all.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life. I've been thinking about it lately and wanting to get the rest of the pasture graded before spring. It's becoming top priority for me right now!!!

Are you refering to the fertilizer place north of Lindale on 69, to the left? I went there one time to see about lime, but they were out as I was too late in the year. When is the best time to go there?

I have five soil analyiss bags that I picked up last week and was going to get on that real soon. Maybe today before the storms hit.

I was going to just spread some lime over the entire field since it sounded like a good idea to me, but I'm not sure if I should disk or do something to the soil that the grass is currently growing on. Do you just spread lime over the grass and let it work it's way into the soil on it's own?

After grading and liming the soil, I was going to take the analysis to the fertalizer place, or the feed store on 69 in Lindale and see what they have. I was thinking of just buying what I needed and spreading it myself. I'll ask to see what it costs to have it mixed and have them spread it. Maybe having it all done at once will be cheaper. It should be faster, and that counts for something too!!!

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[tommu56]

Eddie see if they have a tow behind spreader our local fertilizer place has them for use if you by the material from them. some are self powered and some need a pto it will make your chore easier.

They can mix the lime and fertilizer all in the same cart at the same time and tell you how to set it to get the coverage you will need
tom

 

[MarkV]

Eddie, spreading AG lime yourself, unless you have the specialized equipment, is not a fun project. It does not go through a cone spreader very well unless very dry. It is also very dusty, not good for you, if you can get it dry enough to work. The tow behind spreaders are a great option if you have open property and an adequate tow vehicle. The ones here do not have brakes.

If you can get a spreader truck in it is by far the cheapest way to go. I have to use pelletized lime and it becomes very pricey for the volume I need.

The soil test would be a good idea. No reason to put more lime or the wrong mix of fertilizer down if you don't need it.

MarkV

 

[Stimw]

I bought a deluxe test kit at ACE Hardware for $16. that lets you do your own testing and tells how much to add to bring soil in line. It tests for ph , Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash.
It's really simple, you take the sample add distilled water and color coded capsules depending on what you are testing for and then you compare results to a color chart. I have a dehumidifier so I have all the distilled water I need. You can use bottled water too.

 

[KentT]

I was going to just spread some lime over the entire field since it sounded like a good idea to me, but I'm not sure if I should disk or do something to the soil that the grass is currently growing on. Do you just spread lime over the grass and let it work it's way into the soil on it's own?

Eddie,

Couple things:

1. You can put lime on top of the grass and it won't hurt a thing. In fact, since you have clay soil, I'd have the local coop/fertilizer store lime all of the cleared property that they can drive their big spreader-trucks over (just keep them off your septic system). You'll be amazed at how it make your grass greener and grow faster everywhere, because it allows the grass to process the other nutrients that are already there in the soil.

2. Lime WILL NOT burn plants, and will do NO harm unless you literally dump a pile of it somewhere. Don't be overly concerned with "fine-tuning" the lime application from one plot or area to another. It appears all your clay soil is fairly acidic. In comparison, nitrogen (especially) will burn plants and must be more carefully measured and accurately applied.

3. If you spread lime before you perform soil tests, you'll get an inaccurate reading on the PH (the "lime factor") for probably at least siz months. It takes that long for it to completely break down. I don't think it will effect any of the other measurements, however.

4. Unless you buy pelletized lime in bags (which has "glue" added to it to make granules), it has the consistency of something like baking flour or portland cement. It doesn't spread well in normal fertizer spreaders, and is a messy, messy job to spread by hand. Be sure to wear a mask if you try it, and be prepared to get covered from head to toe. If you have enough cleared property to warrant it (even your lawn) I have a truck deliver and spread it. You'd likely be both time and money ahead, buying it in bulk. The only caution would be run-off into Lake Marabou, if you had a downpour immediately after. You want gentle rains to dissolve it and let it soak into the ground.

 

[Ridgewalker]

For what it's worth...I recently found the site below and ordered a home soil PH testing kit. It came with a vial and enough testing material to do 50 tests. It was a little over $20.00 for the kit.

Forestry Suppliers, Inc. 800-647-5368

I haven't tried it yet, too wet.

They also have lots of other cool stuff on their site. Quick delivery on the order to boot.