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Soil Test help

16 years ago

I received the results of my soil test and I need some help with the results. Can anyone help me with posting the results on here so I can get some help?

Comments (6)

  • 16 years ago

    You can just type the results into a post.

  • 16 years ago

    Do you have a cheap digital camera? Photograph the results sheet and post the photograph. According to rumor mills geeks on campus are now photographing library material rather than taking books to the copy machine.

  • 16 years ago

    Since I can't figure out how to post a picture, here goes.

    WPH 7.1
    OM% 2.6
    OM lbs/acre 53
    P lbs/acre 74
    K lbs/acre 151
    Ca lbs/acre 4567
    Mg lbs/acre 257
    CEC 13.3

    Percent Saturation

    h 3.0
    Ca 86.0
    Mg 8.1
    K 2.9

    Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

  • 16 years ago

    A soil pH of 7.1 is fairly good, it should be in the range of 6.2 to 6.8 for most of the plants you will grow.
    Your percent OM (Organic Matter) is low at 2.6%, that should be in the are of 5 tp 8 percent.The rest of it looks to me to be in balance and in a good range, what your soil needs is organic matter.
    Another series of simple tests you can do are,
    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.

    which can help you get the OM up in the optimal range.

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks for all of the excellent experience sharing here!

    If you have time, please consider helping out a newbie with a similar situation. You can check out my post here:

    http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ohioval/msg0920035213984.html

  • 16 years ago

    Just as a point of interest, their lbs. of organic per acre is off by a little, assuming it was transcribed correctly from the data sheet to the forum post. And by a little I mean a factor of about one thousand. Think of how much your own compost weighs or the bags of compost you might buy. Now think of spreading 53 lbs. by dry weight over an entire acre. (Or - roughly 90 lbs. with a typical moisture content of 40%). It would be a thimble full here, a thimble full there. No way would it be 2.6% of the soil by dry weight once your done.

    Just for kicks: An acre furrow slice of soil (which is what they base the lbs. per acre value on) is roughly two million pounds. 2.6% of 2000000 lbs. = .026 X 2000000 = 52000 lbs. organic per acre. Since the acre furrow slice of 2 million pounds is just an estimate, I think that multiplying their 53 pounds by 1000 to get an actual weight of 53000 lbs. per acre is probably right in there.