erins327
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Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:21 am
Location: Houston, TX

Soil test results are in!

In general, my soil looks to be healthier than I thought it would be.

I wasn't too surprised that I have excess of phosphorus and calcium, seeing that I live in a very hard water, limestone area. But I was surprised to learn that my amount is excessive, which looks to be more harmful!

I guess I'll stick to more nitrogen dense and less phosphorus dense fertilizers from now on, like fish emulsion or blood meal?
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jal_ut
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Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

Interesting. I have gardened for many years, but never had a soil test done. You will likely do fine if you just add a bit of nitrogen and water well. Nitrogen is the nutrient most often lacking in soils.

CharlieBear
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Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:19 pm
Location: Pacific NW

phosphorus, laced soils are quite common is several parts of the country. What your test says is that you will not be likely to need phosphorus for many years to come. You should get good yields for many years just using 1/2-1" composted plant materials on top of the soil or just barely dug in or even small amounts of manure. Good news, mostly water and weeding required.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Many soils test excessive in phosphorus. Mine does. I think part of it was the years of high phosphorus fertilizers that were recommended over the years and the fact that I used high numbers and as long as the plants grew well, I never bothered to test the soil. Since, I started testing though, I have used pretty much sulfate of ammonia except in the pots which get citrus food and is a complete fertilizer. I have retested a couple of times and only in one plot that actually had the lowest phos 450 ppm did it cut in half. All I need for the plot is 37 ppm. I still have a few years to go before I need to add any more. The other plots are 1800 and 2000 ppm and haven't changed much in 4 years. I may never need to add phosphorus again. They are not getting true zero phosphorus since I have been adding compost and vermicast and they do contain phosphorus. They are making more zero phos fertilizers now.

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Your calcium is high that is probably why you are slightly alkaline. It is not uncommon in drier areas. It would probably be higher if your soil has a limestone base. The rest of the test looks really good. Your phos was 205. You can probably wait a couple of years before you need to add any. Your test measures nitrogen. Mine does not because it is so volatile.

erins327
Senior Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:21 am
Location: Houston, TX

This soil test was definitely worth the money. I've been spending much more money on the high phos fertilizers because all I read is fruiting plants like peppers and tomatoes need lots. Who know I already had plenty and could have been doing more harm than good?

And you are right imafan26- The calcium is definitely not surprising. Our geology in central Texas is limestone, which is essential calcium carbonate. Very alkaline water and soils!

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Most people only test the soil if they are having problems. I gardened for years and never tested and used a lot of fertilizer. When I became a master gardener, I learned that I could get a soil test done where I volunteer, so I have done a couple of tests a few years apart. The test results are about the same. Only the plot with the lowest phosphorus 450 went down to 250, the other plots are about the same even though I have primary only added sulfate of ammonia and only used citrus food mostly in pots and for the citrus trees. The citrus food contained micros and the numbers are 6-4-6 so the numbers are low. I used to use 10-20-20 plus and miracle grow every two weeks. I save a lot of money now since I use much less fertilizer and I have doubled the amount of compost I add when I prep to plant. The compost does contain some phosphorus it cannot be helped and it is alkaline which 2 of the plots don't need. To the plot that was the closest to ideal, I added peat moss as the organic component. It is a 10x12 ft plot and I have tomatoes growing and normally tomatoes don't do well there because of the amounts of compost and chicken manure that went in it over the years. The tomatoes are still relatively small plants but they only get watered a couple of times a week and when it rains but they still produce fruit. I did not plant them, they are volunteers. Cost wise, the peat moss was about the same price as the compost and it was a larger volume because 3 cu ft compressed peat moss is more than 3 cu ft of compost in volume.



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