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Santa Cruz, CA

We tried to grow an AG in a new patch this past year with poor results.(small brown leaves, fruit aborted etc) We have recently had a soils test done (September) and would like advice as to how to amend the area. We only have @300 square feet of growing room. Here are the test results:
Thanks you for your help.

Organic Matter 5.4
Nitrogen 44.
Phosphorus WB 89.
Phosporus NaGCO3P No reading
Potassium 155.
Magnisium 190
Calcium 1739
Sodium 40
Zinc 67.2
Manganese 13
Iron 54
Copper 2.1
Boron 0.6
Cholorinde No reading

Percent Cation Saturation
Potassium 3.1
Magnesium 12.
Calcium 66.
Sodium 1.3


ECe 1.0
CEC 13.
PH 5.9

11/4/2006 10:37:52 AM

Abbotsford BC

Creekside, my advice is you will get a lot of suggestions on this forum--some good and some bad. Before you go adding soil amendments in large quantities (which can be very hard to correct) make sure you trust who is giving you suggestions.

11/4/2006 12:20:12 PM

Santa Cruz, CA

Thanks for the advice. We've gotten really good advice from "Tremor" on this site.

11/4/2006 2:01:47 PM

Follansbee, Wv

I'll give you a start and Steve can fill in the details. First off the pH is extremely low. Since your Mg levels are already at 190 I would be cautious about using Dolomitic Lime and instead would use calcitic lime. A rate of about 10 pounds per 100 square feet would be a starting point. Since raising the pH can take a long time, there is a quick fix to help you next season...the higher the OM content of the soil, the lower the pH can safely be. At 5.9, if you could dump a large amount of composted manure into the planting zone, the pH will be less critical. Remember that this is only a temporary fix and will not replace well balanced soil.

11/4/2006 4:17:35 PM

Bumping the PH a point and adding OM will help get the CEC working for you,,the basic balance appears good. I'll let the math wizards tell you how much for 300 sq ft,,,

If I remember corectly you were aborting fruit in some eccessive heat last summer. Of course I'm old and the memory has been known to fail,,,heh heh

11/4/2006 4:20:02 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Long term goals would include the pH, P, K, CA & Boron. However adding manures will start correcting a lot of these. I'm with Monty on the type of Lime. Lets NOT use dolomitic lime.

Can you get your hands on 4-5 inches of manure for this area?

For this fall I would also use (per 300 sf):

30 lbs Gypsum
30 lbs Pelletized Calcitic Limestone
1.5 lbs Sulphate of Potash
2 lbs 10-10-10

Not 1 ounce more. It is very easy to over apply amendments in a small area. You could skip the triple-10 but I have my reasons & this is a small amount.

Another soil test next spring would be nice if you have easy access to a soil test lab. But this will get the ship on course.

As with all new patches, PLEASE get some quality VAM Mycorrhizal & Bacterial inoculants out (as directed) at planting & repeat every 3 weeks for a while next summer until everything is vined.

11/4/2006 4:47:47 PM

Santa Cruz, CA

Thanks for the help. I went to our garden store today to get Calcitic limestone but they only cary the dolomitic. I've asked to see if they can order me some Calcitic. Sounds like lots of aged OM (Two Ford 250 truck loads? and about 30lbs of the calcitic limestone would really help.)
We had lots of problems with this site last year. The soil is pretty sandy too but small leaf size and aborts were the norm. Can low Ph do all that?

11/4/2006 4:50:39 PM

Follansbee, Wv

Yes, low pH can do all that and more. The soil is a complex constantly changing thing. All parts work together. A low pH will cause ammonium structures in the soil to become available. The molecules will inhabit excessive numbers of CEC sites restricting the available sites for things like calcium. This is what most growers call nutrient lock up.

11/4/2006 5:42:36 PM