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western PA

I got my soil test results for my back yard today:

Soil is sandy loam.

Nutient levels lb/A:

Phosphate (P2O5) 1548
Potash (K2O) 1109
Magnesium (MgO) 1265
Calcium (CaO) 7958

pH 6.2
P lb/A 676

Exchangeable Cations (meq/100 gms):
Acidity 3.9
K 1.2
Mg 3.2
Ca 14.3
CEC 22.6

% Saturation of the CEC:
K 5.2
Mg 14.1
Ca 63.4


Recommendation is:

Calcitic lime 3000 lb/A (would hydrated lime be better in light of the already high calcium?)
Nitrogen 75 lb/A

Some background on this patch:

We used to have a big swimming pool here. When we took it down, hubby decided to put a putting green in. He left the sand in place, and we covered it with bunny manure containing (besides the obvious bunny poop & pee) wood shavings, hay, volcanic minerals (used to suppress odor), diatomaceous earth, and feed pellets. We also used bags of composted cow manure, and bagged topsoil. He used a lot of Miracle Grow to get the creeping bluegrass established. However, due to our dogs peeing and digging, he gave up on the idea after a couple of years and told me I could grow pumpkins on it.

It looks to me like he over-fertilized. So, what is the best thing I can do here? Should I just try to grow pumpkins without fertilization in order to bring the nutrient levels down? I'm reluctant to add anything at this point, other than lime.

Thanks for your help!

Janet

11/24/2007 1:36:31 PM

Williamsport, Pa.

looking at my soil report and comparing it to yours id say your close ... maybe to as far as saying your numbers are lower than mine.. get ahold of jorden rivington on here he gave me some suggestions..im no expert just comparing, good luck janet

11/24/2007 2:48:04 PM

Sheridan . NY

mix in any thing that does not have the above in it in your test sand--peatmoss--clay test it before you put it in--at this point you need to thin the cake mix or make your pot soup less saltie---craig

11/24/2007 3:11:10 PM

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

Its similar in some respects to a test result I had back in the autumn of 2003 which had been a good year for me.Like you I thought I had over fertilised and didn't add any more.It didn't work for me at all,plants lacked power I recall Tom B saying something similar after doing the same.So now I use a base dressing and liquid feed regularly with the numbers tilted in whatever direction I want them to go.In your case I would choose ones that are lowish in phosphates.a cover crop should also help recycle the nutrients that are already there.
Thats just what I would do based on practical experience.

Mark

11/24/2007 3:47:33 PM

western PA

Thanks for the advice! Creeping bluegrass is currently growing on it, it's supposed to be a pretty heavy feeder. It's supposed to rain today, I'm going to apply hydrated lime right before the dogs and I leave for hunting camp (wish me luck!), and I'll just let it sit over the winter for now. In the Spring I'll apply the nitrogen and till the grass under and test it again and see if anything improved. I'll also look into getting some kind of OM with very little nutrients. I'll probably have to feed like you said, Mark.

Thanks again everyone!

Janet

11/25/2007 8:41:21 AM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Short of removing all of the soil (which may not be the most beneficial idea), there is not much you can do other than let nature take its course. Go with what Craig said about not adding anything with too much of what you are really high in (technically all of it, but you should add Ca for balance).

I didnt see anything about your salt levels, but I imagine they are pretty high. The only thing you could do about that is to water it alot, and then runoff becomes a potential issue.

If you are planning to grow that cover crop to suck up a bunch of nutrients, perhaps just cut and harvest it, instead of tilling the nutrients it sucked up right back into the soil.

In the grand scheme of things, your saturation levels are not too bad. I would shoot for (with a cec of 22):

Ca 75-85, % Mg 8-10, % K 2-3, % Na<3

Ca:Mg should be 10-12 (yours is 6.29)
Ca:K should be 8-10 (yours is 7.18)

If you add enough calcium to bring the Ca ppm level up to 12,000 ppm (which will take alot of gypsum) but in theory that would make your ratios

Ca:Mg = 9.5
Ca:K = 10.8

This will be much better for nutrient uptake. I wont guess at how much granular gypsum you would have to add to bring your Ca up from 8000 to 12,000, but it would likely be somewhere around 500lbs per square 1000 square feet.

Definitely wait for others to chime in about the gypsum, because I have never had to bring Ca up by so much at once. There are other factors to consider when adding this much of anything. What are your Sulfur levels like?

Tremor/Monty any input?

11/26/2007 6:46:49 PM