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San Diego, Ca.

I made a new patch to grow in for next spring. Because the soil that was in this new area was so full of rocks and very dense clay I removed the top 12-14 inches of it and had new amended topsoil delivered. Now this is where things start taking a turn.
I live in San Diego, the very next day after the soil is put in we have this huge brushfire that most everyone has heard about. It rained down ashes for 3 days straight and there was quite a bit of ash all over the place. At this point I think I made a mistake. The next weekend after the fire I added 3" of manure to the topsoil and tilled it in 10-12inches. Then I took soil samples to send off for testing. I have not had a soil analysis done before so I didn't know that I should not put the manure in before taking samples (rookie mistake)...lesson learned. When the test results came back here is what it said:

OM 5.5%
N 204ppm
P 190(bray)
P 335 ppm
K 4513
Mg 640 ppm
Ca 1914 ppm
sodium 1803 ppm
S 566 ppm
Zn 9.8 ppm
Mn 22 ppm
Fe 39 ppm
Cu 1.4 ppm
B 4.5 ppm
Saturation % K 33.8 Mg15.4 Ca 27.9 sodium 22.9
ECe ds/m 27.8 -- Maybe I can grow seaweed! LOL
CEC 34.2
PH 8.5

continued...................

11/20/2003 8:53:56 PM

San Diego, Ca.

By the way, A&L labs did the test. The only recommendation they gave me was to add 70lbs. per 1000 sqft. of sulfer. That seems like a huge amount but what do I know...I'm just learning. I know it's normal to have alkaline soil out here in the southwest but jeeze, 8.5! I am wondering if that is an accurate reading or if it has been influenced by the manure. I heard the K is so high probably because of the manure and possibly all the ash that fell. I can understand the sodium levels being sky-high due to the manure.
Obviously, I need to add sulfer to get the PH down but I want to be cautious and not add to much of it especially if the PH has been influenced by the manure...is that possible?
I would like to raise the calcium level to at least 3000ppm but not sure how much gypsum to apply to get there.
I would love to hear your input on all this. Thanks, Vince

11/20/2003 8:54:39 PM

Deer Park WA

The pH is high probably due to the clay sub soil, the om is good probably due to the manure, the sulpher will reduce your pH as will the manure as it slowly breaks down. The new patch should be double dug into the sub soil mixing the manure, sulpher, and top soil together. Hay you could probably grow a cover crop in San Diego! I doubt the ashes from the fires had any effect on you soil analysis. Good Luck!

11/20/2003 11:07:10 PM

wood ash has lots of something in it...i don't remember if it's P or K?

11/21/2003 12:12:08 AM

Kuna, Id.

Does wood ash raise your pH, thought I saw that somewhere on this site.

11/21/2003 12:32:24 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Brigette,it has lots of K.
Gourdzilla how much ash is quite a bit?
I think high K can cause high pH but need further enlightenment on this.

11/21/2003 3:59:27 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Ashes will both raise soil pH & Potassium (potASH) levels, so too much is never good. But Potassium (or potash) doesn't cause the alkaline result you're seeing when it's applied in other forms.

70 pounds of sulfur is quite a bit. Please call the lab that performed the test & ask them to comment on that recommendation. You could apply apply a smaller amount now, wait for things to stablize some over winter, then retest in March.

Another trick is to have the same lab test a sample of unamended soil from very close to the patch as well as a sample of the same manure you used. Between the 3 sets of results a clearer picture will begin to develope.

Steve

11/21/2003 6:59:56 AM