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Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Hopefully this posting will help everyone who will be posting the samples and looking for answers as they prepare their soil for next year.

Instead of posting many samples and asking what should be done, perhaps we can establish a set of ranges for all the things that will be in our soil and that are considered optimal for AG growing.

Here is a list of what my tests cover (from A&L), lets have some input about what a good "low" and "high" range for each with respect to AG.

OTHER
Organi Matter (OM) - %
Potential for Hydrogen (pH)

MACRO (MOST IMPORTANT)
Phosphorous (P) - ppm (bray/bicarb)
Potassium (K) - ppm
Magnesium (Mg) - ppm
Calcium (Ca) - ppm
Sodium (Na) - ppm

MICRO (LESS IMPORTANT...NOT UNIMPORTANT)
Sulphur (S) - ppm
Zinc (Zn) - ppm
Manganese (Mn) - ppm
Iron (Fe) - ppm
Copper (Cu) - ppm
Boron (B) - ppm
Aluminum (Al) - ppm

Some labs make recommendations for veggie gardens, which require much different levels than AG.

If anyone wants to add some general rules such as 20lbs of 90% Sulphur over 1000sqft will bring the pH. down 0.3 then that would be a valueable thing too.

10/9/2007 1:18:00 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I will get things started.

I think an OM of 10-12 is optimal
pH. is best between 6.8 and 7.4

10/9/2007 1:19:22 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

What about

Ca 3000
Mg 300
K 150

Agree?

10/9/2007 1:36:42 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Optimal fungie growth Phosphorous (P) = < 100ppm

10/10/2007 7:45:57 PM

Dutch

I would check for this company. They are dutch and specialized in <a href="http://www.terricola.nl">soil analysis</a> (<a href="http:/www.terricola.nl">bodemverbetering</a>).

10/11/2007 8:32:31 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

If only I could speak dutch...lol.

10/11/2007 11:52:30 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Russ, here is a potentially dumb question. Is that the beneficial types of fungi....we want less that 100 or make sure to stay above that?

Im sure some fungi are bad. Ph promotes root growth, so what say you about that? LOL.

10/11/2007 11:55:08 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

JRO, I dont mean to sound harsh, but where are you pulling these numbers from?
Different soil types require different percentages:

The Albrecht Formula,
with adjustments for soil texture class

Light or sandy soils (CEC <5) - % Ca 60, % Mg 18-20, % K6-8, % Na<3, % H 10-15
Medium or loamy soils (CEC 5-10)-% Ca 65-70, % Mg 10-15, % K 3-6, % Na<3, %H 10-15
Heavy or clay soils (CEC >10)- % Ca 68-75, % Mg 10-12, % K 2-5, % Na<3, % H 10-15

There is no set perentages....

10/12/2007 7:31:07 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

You don't sound harsh. My wife sometimes sounds harsh, lol, but thats nothing. I am all about the proper info. My soil is probable med. I need to look more into the Albrecht, though much of what I hear says that they are only minimums.

10/13/2007 8:05:51 PM

Ohio

Tom, thanks for that formula!

10/18/2007 7:36:00 PM

Ontario, Canada.

Jordan, today's research articles indicate that P levels should be below 100 ppm. I have seen studies that suggest colonization begins to decrease above 50ppm.

Once your patch comes into good organic production the problems will slowly fade away. It is a myth that bad fungi and bacteria can thrive in a healthy organic patch. I have seen this written over and over again here on the message boards, it is simply not an issue in a healthy diverse aerobic patch.

The new trend will be to include rhizobacteria and mycorrhizal fungi inoculants to the soil in the coming years.

10/18/2007 8:19:45 PM

Hayward, CA

Hi, Im trying to make sense of my soils report but they sent me the results in lbs per acre and I'm afraid it does't look the same as what you show. How can you convert lbs per acre to parts per million or percentages? Is it different for each element? Or should I ask A&L Labs to send it in a different format? The om is 3.3% but what does the ENR 110 mean? I understand the pH as 6.9, but that is the only other thing on here I can understand.

10/18/2007 10:32:58 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Puter,
To convert Lbs/A to ppm, divide by 2.
Tom

10/19/2007 6:17:11 AM