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Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Hey folks. I just got the results for my second ever soil test. I sure could use some help interpreting it. I'm a long way from learning all of this organic chemistry. Thanks in advance.

If you want to compare it to my test last year at about the same time, you can find it in my 2005 diary here: http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=31877 . Most results are up a bit. But, I don't know enough to determine if that's good or not.

Here are the results from this year:

Organic Matter 8.8
Phosphorus - P ppm
- Bicarb 48 VH
- Bray-P1 103 VH
Potassium - K ppm 240 H
Magnesium - Mg ppm 260 L
Calcium - Ca ppm 4800 VH
Sodium - Na ppm 17 VL
pH 7.7
CEC - meq/100g 26.9
Percent Base Saturations
% K 2.3
% Mg 8.1
% Ca 89.4
% Na 0.3

Sulfur - S ppm 14 H
Zinc - Zn ppm 9.3 H
Manganese - Mn ppm 23 M
Iron - Fe ppm 84 VH
Copper - Cu ppm 2.2 H
Boron - B ppm 1.5 H
Saturation - P % 100 VH
Aluminum - Al ppm 71
K/Mg Ratio 0.28
ENR 101

VL = VERY LOW
L = LOW
M = MEDIUM
H = HIGH
VH = VERY HIGH

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Recommendations
N 5
P2O5 2
K2O 3
Mg 2
S 5
Mn 5

Fertilizer and/or lime recommendations are given as pounds per 1,000 square feet.

4/26/2006 8:21:05 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

5 lbs/N/M?????? Maybe for a lawn but we're not growing salad greens.

Grow well & ignore those fertility recommendations. I believe the lab really thought you were looking to grow grass.

Some nice balanced organic granular material with a bio-inoculant package would be nice.

Check this out:

http://www.naturesafe.com/content/products/pdffiles/8-5-5agspec.pdf

4/26/2006 9:12:38 PM

Deer Park WA

We hate soil test reports, none for us this year as we are in a rotated patch with huge volumes of OM and stuff added... Will take our chances using good old farming intutition and common sence!

4/27/2006 1:31:29 AM

Syracuse, NY

i will echo that statement, per my "soil ignorant status".

that fertilizer denoted above looks like something i should get ahold of in the spring of '07, before i add a ton of
things to my dirt and mess it up! ha ha ha i think i am in good shape for '06, here....let's see what the plants
think in a few weeks! hope i didn't over do it....eric

4/28/2006 6:21:09 PM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

I' mno expert, but looks like good dirt to me. Maybe some sulfur to bring down the pH, otherwise call it good and grow 'em big!
Frank

5/1/2006 7:31:52 AM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Thanks everybody.

I'll be putting some Epsom salts in for the magnesium. So, will the sulfate part of the "magnesium sulfate)" be enough? I also have some manure coming. That should help with pH, right? If I'm going to be planting in a week or so, is it too late to put in a lot of sulfur?

Thanks again

5/1/2006 8:26:24 AM