I did post it right! Cool! Anyway, there are 3 seperate sample results on this test. I understand the Ph numbers. It's the P-I and K-I numbers that I have no idea what is considered a good range. I hunted around on the internet and didn't find out too much information. Also, are my zinc numbers okay?

Your humus numbers are really low. Adding organic matter will help lots. All the others are in the all right range, with the available phosphorus in the vegetable garden a bit high.

Looks like that I see recommendations of 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 sqiare feet om a couple of places. That is probably talking about chemical fertilizer, but you might be able to achieve the same results organically. I do not know how much alfalfa pellets, blood meal or such it would take to equal one pound per 1,000 square foot.
Bill P.

Gonefishin>I've been trying to add coffee grounds to increase my nitrogen levels and this spring will probably use alfalfa too.

Kimmsr> do you know of a website that describes a desirable range for all the other nutrients listed in the soil test? I did a search but didn't come up with anything. Finding information on Ph ranges was easy but I was coming up empty for all the other things. Also, what can one do if they are a little high on a particular nutrient such as the phosphorus? Not worry about it?

And last but not least, 2 of those samples came from boxes that I created from store bought soil, leaves, coffee grounds, horse manure and a bit of compost. I think I started them in the 2004. How much Organic material can they take??? I've covered them each fall with leaves and coffee grounds. I'm starting to think all my soil is just this insatiable organic eater whose needs I'll never ever be able to meet in order to get the plant results I desire. In other words, is it even possible for me to overdo the organic materials for my property???

Thanks everyone,
Michelle

You do need to keep adding other material on a regular basis. This is a never ending process, unless you just add an outrageous amount at one time. I have been mowing and mulching knee high greens around this time of the year, plus adding a layer of horse manure, shredded oak leaves and my good home made compost to my garden and turning it under every winter for a number of years. It works, I continue to be surprised with just about every passing season with how well something is growing in my garden. Many pictures available upon request ":^)

Overall I think that your soil test indicates a better than average soil, keep on doing what you have been doing and try to get a little more nitrogen and other material in there. If you want to go chemical a pound of Ammonium Sulfate or Aluminum Sulfate per 1,000 square foot would not be enough to make a drastic change in anything. Or perhaps you could find some urea to add to the garden if necessary.

One excample of the wisdom of getting your soil test done is the fact that is shows that no lime is needed. That is the first thing that some people automatically recommend, add lime. If I were to add lime to my garden, I would turn a very slight problem into a big problem.
There will probably be some experts along shortly to further critique the results.
Bill P.

First and foremost, I am not an expert by any measure. Although I will tell you what I know so far from what I have learned. vegetables suck a lot of nitrogen from the soil and depending on your personal needs, I would say that if it is possible to let an area go fallow for a season. Do a search on green manures, cover crops and legumes. legumes for some reason add a lot of nitrogen back into the soil and may be able to ammend the nitrogen deficiency. as for the organic matter you can mow/till the green pasture in before they go to seed. Just one suggestion, if you are going all organic. As for the phosphorus issue, there are so many things that can keep phosphorus levels up, such as bone meal and chemical fertilizers. I commend you on getting your soil tested, it can save you time money and heartache in the end. One last thing, I think flower bulbs love phosphorus.

Here is a link that might be useful: green manure

Your soil test appears to have been done by NCDA&CS. See the link below for info on their reporting methods.

After reviewing your test, I doubt that any gardening problems are due to a lack of nutrients. The newbed could benefit from a higher CEC. If these soils failed to have good crops from something other than a plant pathogen, then the problem is more likely one of water, oxygen, or sunlight.

Here is a link that might be useful: NCDA&CS, Understanding the Soil Test Report

Thanks everyone for your input. So apparently my soil is doing okay then? Am I understanding that right? We did have an extremely wet summer this past year. It started about mid June and went thru into August where we were getting at the very least 3-5 inches of rain per week.

It the areas I have ammended, the soil visually looks very good. There are worms, weeds pull out easily, even tough ones like bermuda grass pull up fairly easy.

I really appreciate the link to the soil test report pls8xx. I went back to the NC Extension Agency website today and was rooting around. I still wasn't finding exactly what I was looking for. I guess I'm looking for explanations where one does not need a degree in Math or Chemistry! I am really looking for "soils with a phosphorus range of blah to blah are good." Why it can't be that simple!

I'm still bugged about the low humus numbers. BAGS of leaves, coffee grounds, alfalfa meal are about the only ammendments I used in the past so humus SHOULD be there. Oh and of course the mulch on top.

The optimal level of humus (organic matter) in the soil is around 5 percent and it takes a lot of organic matter to get there, much more than most people think. To keep about that in my sand here I need to add around 6 to 8 inches of shredded leaves each year as mulch and the soil bacteria munch on them during the growing season and move some of that into the soil to replace that which they digested in the soil.
That "1 pound of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet" is a common recomendation, added to just about every soil test I have seen. Note on the soil test report there is no number for Nitrogen.

Wow, 6-8 inches of leaves every year! Now I do feel a bit better about my humus numbers:) See? That's the kind of information I was looking for Kimmsr. 5% is a good number for the humus range. I haven't been able to find any numbers on the matter.

Happy New Year,
Michelle

Just as a point of interest about legumes, there are many good ones. Some that can be grown during the winter to be mowed and tilled in a few weeks prior to planting, and some edible ones that can be grown along with the rest of the garden. For example, {{gwi:318054}} of {{gwi:318056}} produced lots of delicious peas before I thought that they were about thru producing and mowed most of the {{gwi:318059}}, leaving the roots in the ground. Being a legume, they fix nitrogen taken from the air into nodules on their {{gwi:318062}} which is then in the soil and made available to the plants.
That is my first hand observation.
Bill P.

Bill, you have a veggie garden that I have only been able to dream about! Maybe this next growing season:) I am planning on growing some snow peas here soon. I tried growing green beans last season but they didn't do anything. They only mananged to get sickly looking. I can grow flowers but this whole growing food thing has escaped me thus far. Feel free to post more pics. Gives me something to hope for! lol

Michelle

Thanks Michelle, just have confidence and keep on trying. You will learn a lot here and a lot more in your garden by doing and observing. Snow Peas. They should be relatively easy, they are relatively cool tolerant and go in early. I do not know how much of a frost or freeze they could stand, I have not grown them all that much. Mine have been in the ground in sub freezing temps, but had not come up at that time. You will need some kind of a {{gwi:265145}}, more than likely. I use some mesh wire strung between some metal T posts driven into the ground. It is strong, easy to put up and take down. You can see some of mine here, I use it for climbing things like this and cukes.

The {{gwi:34507}} that I had grew taller than my trellis however, but it worked out pretty well.
Bill P.

A good loam soil is composed of 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay, and about 5 percent humus and that is where the soil scientists get that 5 percent number from. If you can get the humus level in your soil to 8 or 10 percent that would be even better, although you may find many people that wil tell you that is immpossible to do and unnecesary. It is difficult and plants in my garden do much better with more than 5 percent humus.

I know Rome wasn't built in a day and I realize none of us start out with soil exactly like anyone else but how long did it take you to get your humus levels up there Kimmsr?

I know the question was for Kimmsr but I am going to add my 2 cents, for what it is worth. While it will take years to get the humus levels up there it will take less time for it to go back down. So for me I try to add OM/compost year round to my gardens. I do see it gets digested almost as fast as it can be added.
Sandy

When we first moved here I tilled and the humus levels in the soil never increased even though I tilled in a lot of organic matter. Then I noticed that the humus levels in the perennial beds, that never got tilled, was increasing or stabilizing at around 6 percent and I thought hmmmm maybe tilling was the problem so I stopped tilling. After 3 years of heavy mulching the humus levels in the soil stabilized at 6 percent, but it took about that long for the Soil Food Web to really start to work and digest the mulches and work them into the soil. Now the mulches last during the winter and through the growing season until about the middle of August when I can start to see soil, but the humus levels will be around 6 percent in the soil.
There are some clay soils that will need an initial tilling to get organic matter mixed in, but after that initial tilling it should not be necessary and the Soil Food Web should be active enough to work that organic matter into the soil where the residual becomes your humus.