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Key West, FL

Ok, heres what my new patch came back with. I need some help from you soil gurus.

OM% 4.2

(the following is ppm)
Nitrogen 11
Phosphorus Weak Bray 61
Phosphorus 57
Potassium 170
Magnesium 186
Calcium 1426
sodium 38
zinc .7
manganese 1
iron 53
copper .6
boron .2

Cation Saturation %
potassium 4.2
Magnesium 14.8
Calcium 68.9
Sodium 1.6

ECe .1

CEC 10.3

pH of 6.3

I see that my calcium needs to come up, so does my potash and magnesium. pH needs to come up some too. They recommend 140 pounds of dolomite, 1.9 pounds of nitrogen, and 2.5 pounds of potash per 1000 sq ft. They also say my zinc, manganese, and boron need to come up. Thoughts?

11/1/2004 7:19:43 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hey Ben ,
It would figure that the Ph would be low as I recall the patch is cut into a pine forest...I would put in the lime asap since it takes so long to bring up your values...My boron was gone after two seasons of growing AG's so I have no doubt that they use quite a bit of it...Most of the micro-nutrients can be added with your Kelp/seaweed and fish emulsions..but I suspect youv'e already been doing that.think borax for that boron...Grow em Big!

11/2/2004 11:23:35 AM

Key West, FL

no, this is a different patch. 10 minutes from my house, on falt land, that gets full sun. :)

11/2/2004 12:40:00 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Ben,

I agree with the labs recommendations regarding the dolomitic lime. Make sure it is dolomitic since you'll get the Magnesium up.

Organic amendments will get those micros up a bit but you might want to get a little more agressive. Watch your email.

11/2/2004 4:16:25 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Ben, In addition to Steve's comments I believe your low OM is contributing to the low CEC. You can raise CEC quickly above 20% and get this patch up and running using vermiculite, perlite or profile soil conditioner. Kitty litter has been mentioned by a few growers here as a way to raise your soils cation holding ability by introducing clay into the soil. However this solution is generally short term and may not be the problem. But vermiculite will greatly improve your condition no matter what.
I suspect your starting on new soil which is most likely the normal background OM content for your area. Most areas in the USA fall between 3 and 5% OM. 10% OM is a good goal to shoot for. Start now by adding lots and lots of well balanced OM such as Manure, Leaves, Hay or whatever you can find mixed with plenty of green stuff too. Don't forget about Jersey Greensand as a way to lift ca and minor nutrients too. Mixed with Corn meal, Kelp meal and molasses to get it cooking good will also help tremendously.

11/2/2004 6:31:46 PM

Key West, FL

Well this is an old garden, the person has added truck loads of manure and compost in the past.

Steve, wont raising the magnesium without the same amount of calcium throw the balance off between magnesium and calcium though? Isn't the desired ratio 1:6 or around there?

11/2/2004 7:47:34 PM

Key West, FL

If I add a 140 pounds of dolomite per 1000 sq ft that will be around 14 or 15 pounds of Mg per thousand sq ft. What will that raise my Mg to? Shouldn't I add half dolomite and half calcitic? Or even more calcitic than dolomite? That way it will perserve my ratio of calcium to magnesium and even raise the percentage of calcium which would be better? What percentage of calcium is in gypsum typically?

11/2/2004 8:22:01 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I'm sending you a spreadsheet. You'll see in it that Gypsum is also required to keep the ratios in line. We need the Magnesium too. But we might also substitue some of the Dolomitic Lime for Calcitic Lime. Either method will yield the same result. Monster Calcium has been the trend, so Dolomitic plus Gypsum would be my first choice in this case.

I'm just trying to fill in the blanks of those Micros. Would you prefer liquid or granular Manganese? Liquid is easier to find.

11/2/2004 9:40:39 PM

Key West, FL

I don't know about the manganese, I know it's important though!

patiently waiting for the spreadsheet. :)

11/2/2004 10:15:34 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Ben, Did the info get there?

11/3/2004 11:47:13 AM