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Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

O.K. everyone. I just got soil test results for my 'remote' patch which I am renting from a local farmer. I did not have the land last fall to make amendments, though the farmer has been tilling in maple leaves. Start of May I put in 500 lbs of gypsum, 50 lbs of sulfur on 5,000 sq ft. Start of June I took this sample and the results are in: pH 7.7
P= 168 ppm
K=110
Mg=196 ppm
Ca=2134ppm
CEC=12.6
% exchang bases:
k=2.2
Mg=13.0
Ca=84.8

Mn=55.1
Zn=20.1

OM= 4.6%

Should I do anything to bring down pH or bring up K in season? Don't want to burn the plants...
Any thoughts appreciated...
Frank

6/21/2004 11:55:21 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Frank,

I hesitate to respond since it's not my soil. Yet I am in a constant battle to keep my soil Potash levels up. Calcium too. I try to sppon feed sulfate of potash to the plants based on need. You can too.

Sulfur in season is hard on plants. The rate should be at least cut in half, so say 1.5 lbs per 1000. Perhaps every 3 weeks. You won't have a profound impact on soil pH. But it will be moving in the right direction.

6/23/2004 12:05:50 AM