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Eugene, OR

Hi All, I'm sure you're tired of giving soil suggestions but all the numbers look like Chinese to me so your suggestions would be appreciated. After my fall test, I added over 300 pounds of gypsum to the 1600+ sq. ft. patch to try and get the Ca:Mg ratio in line and despite doing so, my calcium levels went down over the winter. What's up with that?

The two things that catch my inexperienced eye right away are the low nitrogen and possibly a need for some micronutrients. The only recommendation made by the lab was to add 1.6 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. What do you all think? Here are the numbers:

OM:12.5%
Nitrogen: 7 ppm
Phosphorus(weak bray): 147
Phosphorus(Olsen): 188
Potassium: 1298
Magnesium: 886
Calcium: 4512
Sodium: 66
pH: 7.2
CEC: 43.4
Sulfur: 835
Zinc: 7.6
Manganese: 6
Iron: 11
Copper: 0.9
Boron: 1.9
Percent cation saturations:
K: 9.9%
Mg: 21.8%
Ca: 67.4%
Na: 0.9%

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

4/18/2005 9:10:57 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

The labs recommendation for Nitrogen seems high considering the %OM. I'd use .5-.75 lbs/N/M.

Is this lab reporting in PPM or Pounds per Acre?

4/18/2005 10:43:49 PM

Eugene, OR

Thanks for the reply Steve. All the values are in parts per million. Could it be that the OM is actually responsible for the lack of nitrogen, thus the need to add more for early season growth? I added a ton of maple leaves this fall so a lot of the nitrogen must be tied up at the moment.

What do you think of the test overall? 5-6 pounds of blood meal per 1000 sq. ft. should put me in the middle of your recommendation and also boost my micros a bit huh?

Thanks again,
Brian

4/18/2005 11:09:54 PM

Key West, FL

damn, it looks good to me brian, you mag is high but your calcium is really high too. It's not bad.

4/19/2005 2:05:18 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Blood Meal is a little slow to start & depending on the soil temperature in your patch this spring, could release later whhile you're trying to set fruit.

Because it doesn't last very long, I would use Urea (at ONE POUND per 1000 sq ft.) so that the N rush is over before fruit set.

If you have an aversion to the quicker releasing synthetics then Blood is the most soluble of the natural organics & is thus a good second choice.

4/19/2005 5:06:23 AM

Appalachian Mtns.

Looks good

4/19/2005 5:07:50 AM

Montoursville, PA

I would not change much. I would only put blood in the nursery. Your OM will be cooking good by the middle of June.
Therefor you get your own nitrogen back in perfect time. There is nothing growing there now and will not be for some time. That blood will likely leach out or be wasted to a large degree.

Your foliar, if applied, will supply any missing goodies. Fish, kelp and molasses is a dandy opening program right from second true leaf on. A bit of run off will serve as a minor drench for the soil.

Fast growth forced, by any management, is creating a weaker plant than those growing, on the natural elements, of the patch. Your plant needs total growth and solid growth not a lush softened cold season start.

4/19/2005 10:45:28 AM

Eugene, OR

Thanks for all the informative replies guys, you're all really helping me learn a lot! Living at an elevation of over 4000 ft, the soil definitely stays cool until late June when the nightly temps usually stay above 50 degrees. Based on your replies, I shouldn't use a fertilizer like blood meal because it could "kick in" later as opposed to sooner when I need it for vegetative growth and possibly cause nitrogen related aborts.

How fast does urea leach from the soil? I've pretty much been an "organic" guy and tended to shy away from high number ferts like urea but I think I can see why it would be a good idea in this case, considering the %OM and cold temps we have here. Isn't urea technically an "organic" source of nitrogen anyway?

I also fertigate with fish+seaweed, kelp, and calcium via t-tape once the plant gets large enough to warrant the use of the t-tape system so I guess that could help the plant deal with the nitrogen shortage once the urea has leached from the patch?

How about using calcium nitrate instead of urea? Could we kill two birds with one stone by supplying the plant the nitrogen it needs while also helping to get the Ca:Mg ratio closer to balanced?

Thanks again!
Brian

4/20/2005 12:31:51 AM