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Sioux Falls SD

Where can I get a list of the ideal figures that the soil needs (index). for gaint pumpkins.

10/26/2011 10:40:12 PM

Stanwood, Washington

I found this PDF from Western Labs helpful. You need to be careful with this though because my understanding is that the ratios of nutrients are actually more important than the actual levels.

http://24.119.119.119:8000/2-Atlantic%20Giant%20Pumpkins/Giant%20Pumpkin%20Nutrient%20Levels.pdf

10/27/2011 12:43:31 PM

Stanwood, Washington

Western Labs also has a sample Soils test on their tutorial that gives the ideal ratios for Atlantic Giants and compares it with your soil.

http://24.119.119.119:8000/2-Atlantic%20Giant%20Pumpkins/Soil%20Test%20%2375%20for%20GP%20Example.pdf

10/27/2011 12:48:49 PM

Sioux Falls SD

No results found for http://24.119.119.119:8000/2-Atlantic%20Giant%20Pumpkins/Soil%20Test%20%2375%20for%20GP%20Example.pdf.

Thanks Captain 97, for your answer----the answer I get is as you can see NO RESULTS--- please check to see if it is correct

10/27/2011 3:31:07 PM

Stanwood, Washington

Must be an issue with the log in.
got to this site

http://www.westernlaboratories.com/tutorial.htm

Click on "tutorial" at the botom of the page. It will take you to a login page.

Type in "tutorial" for user name and leave the password blank.

You should see 3 folders the second one is called Atlantic Giant Pumpkins. Both of the files I tried to attach are in that folder. The first one is called "Giant Pumpkin nutrient Levels" and the second is called "Soil Test #75 for GP Example".

10/27/2011 6:57:10 PM

Sioux Falls SD

Thank you Captain 97
That got me to the information

10/28/2011 1:45:01 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

EG,
If you email me your soil test results, I will read them and make recommendations to balance your soil.
I apologize for the delay in my reply, I had surgery on a hand and it is a bit of a challenge to type these past few days.
Although there are figures that can tell you what the ideal numbers should be for a basic garden, Giant Pumpkins utilize resources faster, and to be honest, different geographical areas and different crops have diverse nutrient and ph requirements as well.
The hardest part about getting a hold of these numbers is really understanding the balance between the nutrients and how to adjust the necessary nutrients, for instance if you compare the "ideal" numbers to your soil test results and you notice that your phosphorous level is much higher than the "ideal" number how do you lower it?, you don’t you need to adjust other levels to maintain a balance, Or, something that I've seen numerous times, soil test results that indicate that a certain nutrient is "high", when in fact, the level is actually really low for giant pumpkins, but since other levels are extremely low as well, this particular level appears high, and normally a grower new to reading soil tests wouldn't adjust any levels. Having levels that are not balanced can result in certain nutrients being locked up and unavailable, this can be just as bad if not worse than having levels that are extremely low, some of the results can be plants that under perform, flowers do not develop, fruit aborting, low gains, gains that aren’t sustained, and on and on.
-continued

10/29/2011 9:27:18 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Understanding and balancing your soil is really interesting, but it isn’t as easy as dumping a few products on your soil based on a template, there are so many variables to consider. Even something as "simple" as organic matter is critical, in the north, we can raise our OM higher than in areas that experience higher humidity and heat, high OM in southern climates where high heat and humidity are common for the majority of the growing season result in an environment that is perfect for breeding disease, in certain areas of Alabama PH is naturally extremely low (4.9 on average), I have helped growers with soils so sandy that they drained and leeched unbelievably fast that they had to amend heavy and fertilize very "crafty" during the season. So to try to keep this reply from getting any longer, ideal figures and your actual needs are going to be two different numbers, and what you may need to do to balance your soil and fertilize during the season can be very much different than what I may need to do. You are already doing your soil a great justice by getting a soil test, email me your soil test results, I’ll make recommendations and I'll be happy to help you understand the recommendations.
Please include your patch size in square feet.
Tom
tprivitera@optonline.net
www.extremepumpkinstore.com

10/29/2011 9:27:53 AM