From

Location

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Date Posted

DeWitt, Iowa

soil ph: 6.5
Buffer ph: 6.9
organic matter: 4.1
phosphorus weak bray: 5ppm
strong bray: 10ppm
hydrogen: 7.6% base saturation 1meq
potassium: 1.9% base saturation 102 ppm
magnesium: 30% base saturation 490 ppm
calcium 60.5% base saturation 1645 ppm
sulfur 12 ppm

12/23/2009 12:36:25 PM

Vernal, Utah

ph fine, organic matter could be improved, K and Phosphorus needs help,calcium low, magnesium is okay, sulfur low........needs some work to build up your soil

12/23/2009 9:20:13 PM

DeWitt, Iowa

what do you suggest adding and how much?
am i missing anything in this soil report?

12/23/2009 9:21:22 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

30 LBS Calcitic lime.
50 lbs Gypsum.
all per 1000 sq tilled.

12/24/2009 10:10:46 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

15 lbs 0-0-50 SOP.

12/24/2009 10:11:31 AM

Colorado Springs, CO

You have not described the standard attributes of the soil you work with in this garden. Sands, clays, silts, loams ? O.k., it's glacial debris, what kind ?

I would first add kelp meal, alfaflfa meal, plenty of well-aged manure and any local compost you made right there on that land. Work that into the top 6 to 8".....and re-test as soon as the spring thaw lets you get down 6".

12/24/2009 10:22:51 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Grant, is that the patch over by Calamus? That area tends to be a little sandy. It is hard to keep the OM up on sands due to all of the pore spaces and oxygen helps the soil bacterial break it down. You will need to add lots of organic material every year. If you can get some better silty topsoil to add to the patch you might be able to improve the soil texture some.

If you go to websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov, you can pull up a soil map of your patch. It will give you some more information on how your soil was formed, what the subsoil and parent material is,what the drainage class is, and lots of other good soil info.

12/24/2009 1:14:55 PM

DeWitt, Iowa

THanks everyone and yes it is Mark. thanks

12/24/2009 1:43:21 PM

Cedar Lake, IN.

Iowegian, thanks for the web site. It's very interesting.
It turns out I have "Blount silt loam" what ever that is!!!
Anyhow thanks, that was a great discovery for me. Now we'll see what it can do for me.

Tomato Man can you give me any adviced?

12/24/2009 4:17:57 PM

Cedar Lake, IN.

correction my garden is partly "mub"(morley silt loam)east side.
and the other part of the garden(west side) is "mvb3" (morley silt loam) severely eroded.

What in the world is this?

Tremor and /or Tomato man any insite to this?

12/24/2009 10:50:32 PM

Cedar Lake, IN.

sorry, I shouldn't have post this here.

12/24/2009 10:53:15 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Kurty, USDA names soils by the town closest to where it was discovered. Your soil survey must be fairly old if they are using letters for the soil name: they have been using numbers the last 40 years or so. The mu or mv is for Morley. The B is the slope range: b is 2 to 5% slope. The 3 is the erosion phase, with 3 being severely eroded. Silt loam means that the predominant partical size is silt, smaller than sand, bigger than clay. Loam means it has a mix of sand, silt, clay and organic matter.

You can find lots of soils tables on the soil survey site. You can also get more county specific information by going to in.nrcs.usda.gov, pick the technicl resources tab and go to the electronic field office technical guide. It will direct you to a map where you pick your county and then you can get a lot of information on the soil resources.

12/25/2009 9:13:11 AM

DeWitt, Iowa

hey tremor waht is SOP? Those the only three things i need?

12/29/2009 11:11:24 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

SOP = Sulfate of Potash (k2S04) 0-0-50.
as opposed to Muriate of Potash which is aka potassium chloride (kCL) 0-0-60.

We sell tons of KCL 0-0-60 this time of year for deicing.

12/29/2009 9:34:51 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Chemically this is all that is needed. Physical attributes were not defined by the report though all soils benefit from the addition of aged compost/manure. If you secure aged organic matter, post the source here soon so we can calculate adjustments.

12/29/2009 9:45:52 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Percent OM is 4.1% so add 4-6" before tilling.

12/29/2009 9:56:44 PM

DeWitt, Iowa

thanks

12/29/2009 10:20:52 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

All are good comments and recommendations above, but i am also concerned about Nitrogen. With a 4.2% OM the soil will provide only limited N. If you have, or are going to apply significant composted manure (4-6 yards per 1000 ft2), you will likely be ok, otherwise consider applying some ammonium sulfate or calcium nitrate in mid to late may, 8-10 lbs per 1000ft2.

Also, be aware your phosphorous is very low. Manure is the easiest fix.

John

1/5/2010 6:59:46 AM