Soil Report

[widefat]

The local co-op did a soil analysis, and here are the results. What do you folks think? What should I do to improve the soil?
This is for a vegetable Garden....
TIA!

 

[mjw357]

You don't state what you are going to do with the land, but the pH is low. I'd start by tilling in some lime.

 

[widefat]

You don't state what you are going to do with the land, but the pH is low. I'd start by tilling in some lime.

oops....edited the post....

 

[smstonypoint]

The co-op (Southern States?) should be able to provide you with recommendations regarding liming, fertilization, micro-nutrients, etc.

Steve

 

[widefat]

The co-op (Southern States?) should be able to provide you with recommendations regarding liming, fertilization, micro-nutrients, etc.

Steve

Yeah, I got the report through Southern States. I am also interested in what other folks have to say - just from a what can I learn perspective.

 

[kthompson]

I have always used our County Agent system which is Clemson University for mine and they come back with the recommendations for the crop(s) you stated you would growing there but with ranges for the needed application. I suspect there is a chart to help with your need there. kt

 

[brown40]

Some lime for sure to get your pH near 7 and get some Ca, more if you want to use elemental sulfur. Epsom salts would bump up the Mg with the S, but make the SO4 available immediately without dropping the pH. Seaweed would be a great amendment to add micronutrients, organic matter and feed the soil if you are near the coast. Compost, EM-1, beneficial MO's can be added to get life back in if you've burned it with chemical fertilizer... what problems were you seeing?

 

[sixdogs]

Surprisingly low PH so add some lime this year for it to be effective next year. Probably poor soil. If you can get it, pelleted lime is easier to spread. The high potash is great and looks like this might be an old garden where someone just added fertilizer without checking. Good thing that you did. You could maybe work on the trace minerals but they are hard to add.

Other than the lime, I would probably relax the first year and just add a balanced (equal N-P-K) to your garden and you should be fine. I band fertilizer 4" from the plant and buried 4" deep and it works great. Soil test every few years. If possible, I am very careful adding P--phosphorus--because it runs off easily and is a pollutant to water.

I also bury lots of organic matter and usually plant rows of flowers that just get tilled in. It is said that roots tilled in provide more organic matter than above ground crops. Also, tilling kills worms, which you want so I try to avoid the rototiller. Just my free advice here.

 

[MossRoad]

Horse turds and some 10-10-10.... well, that's what grandpa always said. :laughing:

 

[Complete Turf Care]

This soil analysis is from Waypoint Analytical, formerly known as A&L Labs. I've looked at thousands of reports from these guys over the past 35 years.

Looks to me that you have a fairly good soil. pH is a little low, but the buffer pH is good, so thats a good thing. You could add a little pelletized lime to bring it up a little.

Phosphorus and Potassium are high, which is good too. Cation exchange capacity is medium, which is.....well......medium. CEC is measure of how easily the nutrients can move in the soil and therefore be taken up by plants.

Your organic matter is pretty high too.....which is also good.

I can't tell you how much fertilizer to use without knowing what your crop is. I usually have the lab recommend what fertilizer I need based on the crop. In my case now, it's almost always bermuda grass athletic fields.

I bet if you call the lab with the report number on that sheet, they could give you a recommendation.

Without a recommendation, I would probably just add a little nitrogen to your crop.