From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Springfield, Missouri

Any advice is appreciated. Organic Matter (OM) 11.1%, pH 7.2, Cation exchange capacity (CEC) 16.6, mmhos/cm 0.5.

Base Saturation: K=4.2%, Mg=14.4%, Ca=80.6%, Na=0.8%

All values are PPM. P(weak)=190 P(strong)=191, K 270, Mg 286, Ca 2618, Na 32, N 50, S 30, Zn 5.9, Mn 4, Fe 32, Cu 1.2, B 0.8

Midwest Labs recommends (pounds per acre): N 60, Potash 50, Mn 4, Boron 0.8.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=270138

3/25/2017 9:46:58 AM

Springfield, Missouri

Soil is silty loam to medium loam (We are in a historic floodplain, then horse pasture before being developed), parent layer is limestone or clay, Soil forms deep cracks when dry, drainage is very good (perlite has been added).

3/25/2017 9:55:51 AM

Colorado

Split the nitrogen into fractions-two to four applis is better than all at once.

3/25/2017 10:15:18 PM

Grittyville, WA

Looks good maybe...? Btw Mike S. posted his soil results in his diary last year. You can't go wrong by being near where he was at last year. If nitrogen/potash is low you could just feed extra heavily with manure tea?


I wonder how the recommendations were developed. Testing the soil of winning pumpkin patches?

Here's a non expert comment:
If the milkweeds or dandelions in the patch are huge maybe you have got it right.

3/29/2017 7:06:48 AM

Utah

If you think growers don't understand genetics ... well things are even worse when it comes to soil test results.

For one if you took the same soil and sent it to 5 different labs you would get 5 different results for everything.
Then if you did the same thing a month later you would get 5 more different results.

- but hopefully, they would all paint a similar picture.
the main thing I have found with soil tests is they tell you if something is really out of whack- really low or really high. Then you can address it. good for you nothing is really out of whack.

Most labs are geared to farming - so the recommendations are more like "this is what you need to get a decent crop" not this is what you can do to make it the absolute best for maximizing giant pumpkin growth.

Western Labs in Idaho does have recommendation for giant pumpkins- and they have been working giant pumpkins for years- so I think that they are better than most labs. This is where Ron Wallace and lots of other growers go.
https://www.westernlaboratories.com/
A&L Western Agricultural Lab in Cal also has giant pumpkin recommendations. (this is where most all the Cal growers go)

Now to you test specifically.
OM is good - adding more is always a good thing to do. (this is one thing that can vary widely from lab to lab)
pH is good. you could add elemental sulfur if you wanted to bring it down some.
CEC - the norm that growers typically shoot for (and it has bee this way for years) is K 5%, Mg 15% and Ca 75%
they say your K is very high ... but it is low according to the 5,15,75 guild line. So that is why they would be having your add more

3/29/2017 5:15:12 PM

Utah

If it were my soil- I would add N like cojoe said.
add Mn & K like they suggest- and also add them as a foliar during the year.

also they don't recommend adding any Copper - but is low compared to everything else in the Medium category. So I would add copper too. Cu at 4.0 ppm is high but 1.2 is on the low side. I would shoot for 3 to 4 ppm.
I aim for everything good that we need to be in the high or very high category. they key is to keep thing balanced -and like I said before not have anything really low or really high.

Many to growers fertilize every time they water- in low doses to continually add what the plant needs. Soil tests tell us what elements are need but what really delivers them to the plant are the microbes. That is why Mycorrhizae fungi was a such a big deal. have the elements there- but feed microbes - that's why you see more growers going toward fertilizing with tea ( in general Compost, Fish, Kelp, Humic acid, Fulvic acid, Worm castings, and also specific element that they know the plant needs from how it looks or from a tissue test) every time they water.

Ron Wallace does tissue test during to year to see what that plant actually needs.

Hope this helps.

3/29/2017 5:15:16 PM

Utah

https://www.westernlaboratories.com/soil-atlantic-giant-pumpkin.html

https://www.extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/sites/default/files/soil_test_interpretation_ec1478.pdf

3/29/2017 5:44:35 PM

Springfield, Missouri

I want to thank everyone for their posts, they've been helpful! I've been looking at a lot of soil studies to figure this stuff out, but most of the articles aren't specific. One interesting article said Phosphorus ties up most micro nutrients if

3/29/2017 7:17:00 PM

Springfield, Missouri

Ppm is too high or if pH is off. Ron has said in his diary he always has to foliar feed manganese, sulfate, boron, and maybe iron? High phosphorus could be a contributing factor? That being said, I'm no expert on soil chemistry.

3/29/2017 7:22:39 PM

Utah

Ron's soil is sandy - so it does not hold nutrients well. So he foliar feeds pretty much daily.
are you on facebook?
if so join the Utah Giant Pumpmkin Growers group and scroll down to find Ron's fine 1hour+ seminar discussion with our group. I'm sure you will find some useful info there.

3/30/2017 3:48:24 PM

Deer Park, WI

Send me an email...i've developed a spreadsheet that takes soil data, patch size, and targeted levels for various nutrients. I can run your numbers thru my spreadsheet and spit out what you need to add.

joeailts@gmail.com

4/11/2017 3:39:04 PM