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Baker City Oregon

I have been poring over my soil test results and have had many questions. I have found a few enlightening answers on this very forum. I had my tests done at Western Laboratories. For anyone who has their tests done there they have several good tutorial links. As I was trying to figure out what all the numbers and percentages meant I stumbled across this sight that was a tremendous help to me. Some of you might find it helpful and interesting. After I read it I figured I'm not in as bad a shape as I thought I was:

http://noble.org/Ag/Soils/SoilTestResults/Index.htm

3/9/2012 8:11:07 PM

Salem, Oregon

On the other side of the Cascade Mountains! You have a different soil structure than I do, but over the winter I really made an effort to bring up the OM% and let the heavy rain leach out the ferts that were too high.

I can say that soil pH from what I have read, seen happen in my patch, and was told by Thad Starr....That it tends to drop off as the season progresses. Starting a little on the high side (7.3 last fall) is ok.....I'm now at 7.0 this spring. The Macro/Micro are important to get them in balance.

3/21/2012 2:06:00 PM

Baker City Oregon

You are right. a big problem we have here is lime. My N-P-K is fabulous. Trace minerals are almost to the point of toxicity. My lime is 3.1(potential sealing). You go out in my garden and patches and the tilled ground looks like a dry riverbed. Cracked all over. There is about a 1/2 inch. crust where the lime and the clay particles have bonded. According to a friend who workes for Simplot the lime is tying up the trace minerals. He recommended 5 lbs. per 1,000 square ft. of Elemental Sulfur to help resolve this problem. No quick fix but over time it will bring the high levels down. My ph was 7.3 and he said that was no concern. It will come down. My organic matter is adequate do to the constant adding of compost over the years.

Good growing NW Rain this season. I envy your weather(I love the rain) and climate. Coldest place in Eastern Oregon is my back yard

3/21/2012 3:29:20 PM