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Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

I'm growing in a new patch this summer (just secured the spot a few months ago), and haven't had a chance to do anything to it. The soil test doesn't look to bad to me, altohugh I'm not even close to being an expert. I did notice that the zinc level is pretty high - can this be corrected now?

Any other advice would be appreciated as well.

Ph: 6.2
Buffer Ph: 5.9
OM: 11.4%
TEC: 23.5mg/100g

PPM:
N: 19
P: 60
K: 338
Sulphate: 8
Ca: 2280
Mg: 67
Fe: 105
Cu: 2.38
Zinc: 472 !
B: 0.5
Mn: 4.84

Base Saturation Levels:
Ca: 48.5%
Mg: 2.4%
Na: 0.3%
K: 3.7%

4/24/2006 8:38:14 PM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

The Zinc reading must be off - that's insanity?? What could cause a reading like that??

4/24/2006 8:42:32 PM

Long Island,New York

a new zinc coated scoop could do it

4/24/2006 8:50:30 PM

Chico, Ca

maybe a natural deposit of Zinc nearby?

4/24/2006 11:35:16 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

James, could it be 4.72? If you used Norwest Labs, they have always used decimal points in the PPM listing. Perhaps they goofed and left it out. Give them a call, there must be a logical answer.

If not, good luck with that!!

4/25/2006 11:42:03 AM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Must be some kind of anomaly, it definately says 472. Unless there's a zinc mine under the patch, it's gotta be a mistake.

Anyways, aside from that, any recommendations?

4/26/2006 12:18:06 AM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

You didn't accidentally use sunblock as a soil amendment, did you? :-)

4/26/2006 8:13:53 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Lawman,

Call the lab & ask them what they think happened. Something is very wrong here.

4/26/2006 8:59:46 PM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Well looks like you found a zinc mine, the repeat came back the same, you should be getting the report shortly. Did you take the sample from one spot or over an area? Is there a possibility you hit a contaminated spot?

This is the feedback I got, I must have hit a bad spot when I took the sample. So, anyways, aside from the zinc thing, any recommendations?

4/28/2006 6:38:29 PM

Norton, MA

Get a bucket of your soil, heat it in a bonfire, turn it over and over in an iron bowl or something. That much zinc should be visible when it melts to the bottom!
pH is low, raise it about .5-1 point with lime or wood ash, it will be O.K. by season's end at least. The base saturations are off I know, but not sure how off. Sorry, AleX Noel.

4/28/2006 9:16:41 PM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Thanks AleX Noel, I'll give it some lime and some nitrogen fertilizer and hope for the best...

5/1/2006 2:25:31 AM

Follansbee, Wv

I wouldn't get too wacky with the lime. 6.2 is fine with an OM content as high as yours. Remember, the higher the OM the lower your pH can safely be, to point of course.
As far as the zinc goes, I'm with G on this one. Looks like contamination from a tool or container. Try to use stainless steel tools and glass or stainless steel containers when taking samples. Plastic is also fine, but keep in mind that once the plastic becomes scratched up it is difficult to remove all contaminates from the scratches even by washing it out. A reading of 472 ppm could easily be a tiny flake from a zinc coated tool, nearly microscopic debris from zinc coated nuts and bolts kept in the container in the past, or even contamination from a nearby source such as an old zinc coated pipe.
The rest of the test looks OK. Mg could come up a bit. If you do lime the patch, use dolomitic lime, sparingly. That will take care of the Mg. It's not that big of a deal though, since it's not below acceptable levels.

5/1/2006 7:20:32 AM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Thanks a lot Monty... will do as you suggest. And, I agree, there's no way that zinc reading could be that high without some kind of contamination. We'll see at season's end when I have a 1200lb pumpkin that's the size of a basketball. People will be foliar feeding with zinc next year.

5/1/2006 1:19:40 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

OK, I had some time on my hands today:

Apparently the approximate volume of a basketball is 381.70351 inches^3. (http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/What_is_the_volume_of_a_basketball).

The density is about 7140 kg/m3. That would mean that a ball of zinc the size of a basketball would only weigh about 98 pounds. (http://www.allmeasures.com/Formulae/static/formulae/density/44.htm)

Incidentally, 98 pounds is probably about as big a pumpkin as I'll grow this year if I keep looking up useless facts instead of working on the patch. :-)

5/1/2006 1:40:22 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Hey crammmm...if ya aint doin nothin...LOL...my Boron rates are off the chart....is Boron worth any $...and what might have caused the toxic level readings???? 8.7 #/A ? All help appreciated. Peace, Wayne

5/1/2006 11:12:22 PM

Vancouver, White Rock, Canada

Nice calcifications. Maybe I'll work on the lead content of my soil then. :)

5/2/2006 12:20:39 AM

Montoursville, PA

Hey my soil is fine. It's the iron in my blood that keeps turning to lead in my ass that causes me problems.

11/1/2006 8:55:33 PM