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Cummington, MA

Ok, so the results came back from UMass today. I don't pretend to understand anything about it other than the pH being way low. Let me know what you think stands out and what you would do about it. (This is a 20x30 patch.) It will be much appreciated!

pH 5.5
P 9.7
K 290
Ca 1146
Mg 202
S 33.8

Boron 0.2
Mn 2.6
Cu 0.4
Fe 23.7
Al 129
Pb 1.4

Cation Exch. Capacity 16.4
Exch. Acidity 8.3
Calcium Base Saturation 35
Magnesium Base Saturation 10
Potassium Base Saturation 5

Ok, that's it. I don't know what's relevant or not, but there it is...all from soiltest.umass.edu for only $10! Thanks a bunch.

8/15/2013 9:58:55 PM

Germany

Looks good as far as the planning of amendments goes. The worst parameters I can spot are:
- low Ca
- low pH
- somewhat low P
- low B

Download the Langley soil estimator

http://greatpumpkincommonwealth.com/index.php/resources

and have an idea of how much limestone powder (calcium carbonate) you have to apply to double your calcium level. The carbonate will take care of your pH (which should automatically go up closer to 7)

Some borax cannot hurt. Again, use the above mentioned calculator to figure out how much borax you need to add to raise your boron level at least above 0.5 ppm (maybe to 0.8 or 1 ppm), but be careful with boron, too much isn´t good either.

Some bone meal will raise your P level a bit further.

If possible, add the calcium carbonate and the bone meal as soon as possible (with the next tilling), so that these goodies can start to work (they work slowly, and it will give them some time to improve your soil until next spring), whereas you maybe just add half the amount of borax and then add the next shot of borax next spring, because boron can get washed out of your soil much easier than Ca and P, but is readily available to the soil if you add borax, which is nicely soluble.

8/16/2013 1:16:55 AM

Minnesota

You could ask extreme pumpkin store to recomend amendments, .they also have programs you can follow

8/16/2013 7:50:07 AM

Cummington, MA

Thank you! This will keep us busy for a while. :)

8/16/2013 11:12:59 AM