Because Nitrogen is so dependent on soil temperature for availability most soil test labs do not test for it. What is the humus (residual organic matter) level in your soil? With a soil pH that low your Calcium or Magnesium, or both, cannot be fine.
Most all Georgia I have seen are very low in organic matter.

kimmsr, This is what I have.

These are my results:

{{gwi:134809}}

How do I find out my humus (residual organic matter) level in the soil?

Peaceful: It's not too bad. I would be happier with pH 6.5. This means add lime, which is calcium and magnesium. The numbers you show don't help us to say how much to add (that needs numbers called "percent of base saturation") but you might experiment by adding half a pound for every 100 square foot, which is equivalent to 220 lbs per acre. The crucial thing is to add it along with compost, never add minerals without some organic matter. Now this will reduce your potash, so add a handful of wood ash along with your lime. By the way, the nutrient-holding capacity of your soil is very low. You need a program of adding organic matter every year: at least half an inch of compost if you can make enough, cover crops in winter, and a mulch of shredded leaves in summer. Regards, Peter.

Peter - This is my 1st year of gardening. My former flower/shrub bed is my new garden. I'd like to start planting at the beginning of April. I have 2 compost piles out back & I'm hoping to get them heated up enough to be ready by my planting date.

I will then add 1 inch of compost (if I have enough). When should I apply the lime? Now or wait?

I've always heard that lime needs to be applied several months before the next cropping season to be ready to help that next year. Also it needs stirred into the soil to be of much immediate use.
I notice that the chart shows enough calcium, but doesn't spell out what calcium compounds you have. If much of the calcium is calcium silicate rather than calcium carbonate, the soil could be very short of useful calcium.

Wayne - are you saying my soil is stuck at a pH of 5.5 for this season?

These simple soil tests can help.
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Since an optimum soil pH for most plants would be in the 6.0 to 7.0 range I am surprised there is no recommendation to add some lime. Whether that should be Calcitic or Dolomitic, given that your Calcium and Magnesium are in balance, is difficult to suggest as well as just how much you should add per area. It might be that all you need to add is some organic matter, depending on how much is in the soil now.

Peaceful. If some was added now and stirred in with rainfall, some benefit would result this season.

As for organic matter, soil tests often show that. Organic matter usually shows up as a darkening of the soil.

Many of the soil testing labs are no longer looking at, or reporting, the amount of organic matter in soils.
Whether a soils color will change when Organic Matter is added depends on the color of that soil. I have seen soils that are very black with no organic matter in them (that is the color of the native rock) and adding oM does not change the color enough to be seen.
If the lime is mixed into the soil, not just spread around and left on top, there will be some reaction but to make a significant change the lime needs several months in the soil. Organic matter is known to act as a buffer in soils allowing plants to grow in soils outside the optimal pH range for those plants.

kimmsr-

In response to your earlier post, here are your answers.

1) I have let this sit for more than 24 hours & it still has a clay cloud in the water. Do I wait as long as it takes for the "red muddy water" to settle? Also, I see no distinct difference between the sand & silt layers, but I can see the clay layer forming with a distinct line. The sand/silt line blends.

2) Drainage is good.

3) Tilth is good.

4) Earthy smell.

5) Not a single worm.

People will not necessarily get two or three, or more, divisions because they only have one soil particle type. If you don't have different soil particles that test cannot make them appear. If there is any organic matter in the soil it will float. If it does not there is none. Apparently you have no sand or silt, just as I have no clay or silt.

A few ideas --
Sounds like you're in need of a good amount of organic matter -- whether manures or worm compost & plant matter.

If opposed to manures you might consider using it initially to build the bulk you need. I used to be opposed to horse manure and bringing anything in from outside just wanting to be sustainable with our own backyard flocks & rabbits providing manures; however, once I gave the partially composted horse manure + bedding a chance the results were amazing! No weed problem that I had feared, flies, or much smell at all. Plus if it is pre-loaded with red worms your soil gets a big jump start.

There are good & bad manure sources, so be careful. I have found a two in my area that I can contact on a regular basis for 2x a year pick up where they feed less grain than others (just oats, beet pulp, or sunflower seeds) & no hay only alfalfa. There are some that I will no longer use because of rocks, garbage in pile, nearby weeds to pile, difficult access, uncovered manure, etc.
I learned to ask some basic questions: pile covered, what feed is given, weed free hay (warning: persistent herbicide in manure), what bedding is used, etc.

Rabbit manure might be easiest to handle in buckets & readily available from a hobby breeder in your area. There are lots of rabbit raisers everywhere, but not too visible. I've seen it on Craigslist for $5 a feed bag or 5 gal bucket, but I'm sure you could get cheaper. That seems steep to me for the quantity a food garden would need.

non-manure source ideas:
-used coffee grounds are free at St*rbucks.
-hay, straw, alfalfa sweepings at a local feed store (ours has a dumpster you can pull it back out of - wear a mask & gloves)
-spoiled hay from a horse farm as they can't feed it to horses (cows or goats could)
-cafeteria produce, bread, rice or noodle waste - public school, restaurant, grocery store, food bank, etc. *Food banks often have spoiled produce on a regular basis & would love for someone to come take it away.
-grass clippings from herbicide free lawns - be careful with this one!

browns:
-hay/straw from above (alfalfa seems like a green to me really heating up that pile)
-leaves (public park, shopping center landscaped areas etc. It's not all picked up in our area. Have a pair of gloves, bucket or bag in your car to pick up when you see it.)
-shredded paper - offices, schools, household paper waste (napkins, paper towels, tissues, toilet paper rolls, cereal boxes, etc.) Cardboard boxes shred okay in electric paper shredders & are easy to get from grocery, hardware, & warehouse stores. Pull off plastic tapes & remove staples 1st.

Build bigger, hotter compost, turn often = ready to use in 2 months.

Sheet mulch with organic matter now right on top of the lime. If soil is not saturated or so packed that you can't dig in the lime you may need to just spread lime + sheet mulch & dig in later. Cover sheet mulch with burlap bags to keep moist & shade out light for optimal worms. Look for a coffee roaster in your area to request the bags for free. Other covering ideas: freecycle or thrift store sheets, towels, old clothes if natural fibers.

Photo from 2010 of what a few years of improving the soil will do. This is between gravel driveway & forest layered up on top of pit run for improved drainage & loose soil. It's quite a menagerie in just one part of the garden - burlap bags on ground as weed control & covering in middle of strawberry bed with compost materials underneath. A wonderful harvest that year from strawberries fed & watered from that pit of compost. The green buckets in the back weren't successful. The plan I had didn't include drainage holes & late blight devastated the tomatoes. The inground plantings of anything always surpasses my containers probably due to better drainage & nutrients. I just don't fuss with the eclectic pots of culinary herbs & they make for easy harvesting. I've cut back to only a few of those pots now & using larger metal colanders instead of clay pots that dry out too much. The colorful clutter includes chairs, small table, blanket, insulated red cup of tea, compost containers, leftover graduation balloon to scare deer away...

{{gwi:134811}}

I hope that helps you,
Corrine

Peaceful: certainly, don't add compost until it's ready. But compost isn't the only way to add organic matter. The other two are mulches and cover crops. If you have access to dead leaves and a shredder, place them as a mulch all around your plants. They will be part of the soil in a year. If you have no leaves right now, collect them in the fall and do it next year. If I were you I would put half my garden under a summer cover, say buckwheat and any of the clovers, then do the same with winter covers for the other half, like hairy vetch and annual rye. The idea is to bury the cover when it's mature. The point about doing lime in the fall is a good one. If you can get a bit of hi-cal lime, a fine powdwer, it would work if applied now. As for growing vegetables, start whatever the state of the soil, because there is no bad soil. And if they don't crop well, their roots will have pumped organic matter into the soil, and the finer roots will stay there, so you can't lose. Regards, Peter.

Ok wow. This is great information everyone. I'm going to get some high calcium lime & apply it now. I do have 2 big compost heaps that I'm working now. So, I guess I will work with what I have & see what grows!

Thanks for all the information & encouragement.