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Edmonton, 53.5N, 113.6W

I've never had a soil test and now that I have one I know as little as I did before I got one. Can someone point me to what the optimal numbers are for growing AG's?

N 79
P >60
K >600
S 45
Ca 3550
Mg 483
pH 7.3
EC(dS/m) 1.16
OM 10.8%

10/14/2014 3:38:48 PM

Edmonton, 53.5N, 113.6W

I found this info on the PGPGA web site which gives me a few ranges which they say are ideal. I've also posted my entire soil test in my diary: http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=230687

Organic Matter (OM) 8-9%
Nitrogen (N) 30-35 ppm
Phosphorus (P) 160-170 ppm
Potassium (K) 540-550 ppm
Magnesium (Mg) 310-320 ppm
Calcium (Ca) 2540-2550 ppm
pH 6.9-7.0
CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) 16-17%
Potassium Base Saturation (K%) 8-9%
MagnesiumBase Saturation (Mg%) 20-21%
Calcium Base Saturation (Ca%) 66-67%
Sulfur (S) 49-50 ppm
Zinc (Z) 9-10 ppm
Manganese (Mn) 25-26 ppm
Iron (Fe) 46-47 ppm
Copper (Cu) 2-2.3 ppm
Boron (B) 1-1.4 ppm

So based on this I'm a little high in almost everything that was measured except Phosphorus which should be fairly easy to amend with some fertilizers in the spring. What I don't have a good feel of is how to reduce these numbers to get within the ideal range and what the effect of winter will be (surely some of this stuff will be leached out of the soil over the next 6 months). I will be adding some sulfur to reduce the pH. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

10/15/2014 10:55:22 AM

Stanwood, Washington

The ratio of nutrients compared to each other is just as important as the amount of nutrients. I use the Langley Soil Estimator.

http://team-pumpkin.org/downloads/soilamendmentestimator.xlsm

This not only shows you what your ratios need to be but you can plug and play with different fertilizers and figure out exactly what you need to add to get it there.

10/21/2014 2:12:32 PM