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On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Sulfur (S) is the last of the six major nutrients (Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and finally Sulfur.. The target level for sulfur is set by some at one-third of phosphorus. Or one-half the target level of magnesium. Or one-third of potassium. Confusing? Other opinions according to different experts range upwards from 60 PPA. Raw sulfur is converted to sulfates by bacteria. There are lots of choices for sulfur. Agricultural sulfur is probably the best. It contains 32% sulfur and 2% magnesium. Joe relates that sulfur is highly mobile and quickly disappears from the soil but that you will have enough if there is more than 6% organic matter is your soil since OM contains significant sulfur which is released as it is broken down. If you are concerned that you still need more, Joe recommends adding 3 pounds of powdered gypsum at pre-plant to get you up and running. If you added gypsum as part of your routine earlier for calcium, you are probably good to go. Ian P is running, on his last soil test, around 180 PPA. After looking at all these recommendations I will be aiming toward sulfur being equal to 1/2 of the potassium target level. Correct my errors in quoting you Joe. The rest of you can chime in with agreement, criticisms etc. Let it all hang out. Nothing is written in stone.

5/5/2019 12:22:31 PM

Pittsburgh, PA

Nothing to add Marv other than I can not stand the smell of powdered sulfur. It gets stuck on my clothes and then contaminates the rest of the laundry and literally takes weeks to get rid of. My wife yells at me to not use it ever again. Haha

5/5/2019 3:18:15 PM

Grittyville, WA

Same experience here Jay. I guess I do need a mentor. Or just live & learn!

5/6/2019 4:12:07 AM

Grittyville, WA

I am trying gypsum this year. Not sure if gypsum/sulfate can burn plants as easily or less easily than other fertilizers. Lots of criticism directed towards me for not getting a soil test and balancing my soil. I want to learn how to read my plants visually. I wish this did not frustrate anyone. Magnesium sulfate seems like a relatively safe choice it has been for me, but yeah you do want to know what your soil lacks (and the ph) or you'll apply the wrong thing.

5/6/2019 4:27:05 AM

Oak Grove, Mn

When I first started growing, I talked with Cecil alot. He told me not to worry so much about Sulfur. I have used sulfur much to try to keep my ph down. Checking my last years soil report...there is no way to be at those ratios on everything. On my test...i was good on S/K...way over S/P and way under S/M. With my addition of more sulfur after the test, I would have started the year over, over, under. I am guessing that I started (soil test + amendments) at 90 ppm-180 ppa.

Gkins- I like gypsum. It does not change the ph, it added both sulfur and calcium which I needed. I added 500 pounds in 2000 sq ft. Plants did not suffer.

5/6/2019 5:37:04 AM

Deer Park, WI

Well summarized once again, Marv. To add another ratio to the list you provided, in commercial grain production, sulfur application rates are suggested to be at a 1:12 ratio with nitrogen.

150lbs/acre N would then equate to 12.5lbs/acre of sulfur.

As mentioned above, gypsum is the most cost-effective, readily available form. I strongly caution against the use of epsom salt unless you know with certainty that your soil magnesium level is low. Of the hundreds of soil tests i've looked at over the winter, only a handful showed low magnesium. Using epsom salt as a sulfur source adds unnecessary magnesium, throwing off base saturation percentages. As most growers are aiming to boost potassium, the magnesium in epsom salt crowds out the potassium. As such, you can use potassium sulfate to cover both bases...

5/13/2019 7:28:41 AM

Germany

I guess horn meal isn´t bad with its naturally inherent S:N ratio of 1:7 (already pretty close to 1:10, and with some additional nitrogen from low-sulfur organic matter horn meal should be a good supplement), and its sulfur will be released slowly as its nitrogen will be, because they both have to be released from the organic matter (long term S,N fertilizer which releases similar ratio S:N in the course of its decomposition), whereas other fertilizers (nitrates, sulphates) get washed out of the soil at different rates.

5/13/2019 9:05:59 AM