Soil test is the only place to start. Otherwise you could be adding what is abundant.

i agree that a soil test is the place to start. the easiest way to build soil is with cover crops but that takes up space for a season. otherwise if you've got a lot of compost to spread in your beds that should get you going good.

soil test and do not use the reagent tests you find at the garden centers that test for NPK and pH as the chemicals are usually old and most people do not test properly using distilled water. Not to mention you should be testing for a lot more than NPK, Ca, Su, Zn, Mg, etc., are also important and need to be included. You can get a good test for $20 to $25 a sample plus shipping at a variety of labs.

Around here a good soil will cost you about $10 per test. Get a probe and probe to about 8" in several areas, then combine the soil. the soil test people will give you a paper bag to put in, or just a small unused paper sandwich bag. By taking several probes and combining them will give you an average.

This is the way that our Soil Science and Soil Fertility class told us to do. The professional have specialized probe, but overall, they are just metal tubes that they stick into the ground and pull up, then dump the soil out. Sometimes you need to push a stick in the probe to get the soil out.

I'm willing to share what we learned in our Ag courses in college.

here a soil test is free (basic test) for commercial growers through the extension agent. he provides a box and and info sheet and questionnaire and you mail it to VA Tech soil labs. i don't know where you live but they may do the same there at the local ag school.
i get P,K, Ca,Mg,Zn,Mn,Cu,Fe,B, soil PH. you can provide the crop info and they give you recommendations for soil amendments. i paid extra ($2) for organic matter %.

Randy, if they give the CEC, you can figure your OM (organic matter%) without paying the extra.

Keep in mind that recommendations for one crop isn't the same for another crop. Each crop have their own percentages that they want.

My understanding is that clay soil will hold nutrients well. I agree that testing it is a good idea. Most test results will come back as deficient in NPK - thus the popularity of granular fertilizer. My grandpa always uses quite a bit to treat an initial plot, but then less than the recommended amount in the years after that.

I think of organic matter as a separate issue from nutritive requirements, although just as important. It increases oxygen in the soil by breaking up the clay. It also feeds the beneficial soil bacteria that the plant uses to uptake nutrients. Everything that is alive today (including us) is destined to become organic matter. That means it's everywhere, and a lot of it is free, like the many waste materials of agriculture and livestock. Cotton waste might be cheap in your area. Both the hulls and the seed are useful as soil amendments.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cottonseed Meal as Fertilizer

they give CEC! a soil test from last year shows Est.-CEC (meq/100g)19.1. how do i figure organic matter from that? i think the 19.1 is high. most of the other tests from then are in the 8-9 range.

Clay does hold, but then again, it doesn't release the nutrients when needed.

OM helps with tilth and the higher OM/CEC, the more nutrients are needed to change.

Randy, I'll have to look up with formula, but if your CEC is 19, it is good with OM. If your pH needs raising or lower, you will need more lime to change the pH mainly because of having such good OM/CEC. You can have more than 19. Some organic soils can had 30 or more, but those are not soils that we as gardeners want to work with. That almost TOO high. Around 20 is fantastic according to my agronomy teacher. If you want to email me a copy of the soil test, I'll tell you want I think you might need. They taught us for corn/beans/wheat/alfalfa, but I know enough to change to veggies. Give me an idea of what you are wanting to grow.

I'm glad I've taken these courses, because even if they don't help me immediately, I can help some of you. After all, that's what friends are for, right?

Marla

I agree with the soil test ideas that everyone suggests. When I break into new pasture I always have to put down a decent amount of lime to get the ph on its way. Without this, the plants are unable to access nutrients properly.
I also recommend you start looking for a good source for manure, lots of it. Be wary of importing weed seeds and avoid wet gloppy manure that could contain symphylins.

-Mark

Our extension office does soil tests. As for cotton waste that's a good idea but not a whole lot of cotton until you get over to Memphis. Lots of rice though and I'm thinking rice hulls might be a good amendment

here is a soil test i had done for soil in a hoophouse where i planted strawberries. this was in sept 2012. i didn't add any nitrogen but i did add lime as suggested.

Mark, I'm lucky enough not to need to lime. If your pH is right, you don't need lime, only if you need to raise your pH. Lots of soils are too low, that's why most people tell you to lime. Mine are between 6.8-7.0 and that just almost perfect, too close to be cost efficient to lime. As said before, pH need levels are different from one crop to another.

Randy, just looked at your soil test. Wow, your pH is really low, glad you added lime. What they recommended is probably lower than what I would have recommended, but then again, they probably will recommend that you add lime for the next few year to raise that pH up lowly. Don't add any Phosporus, Calcium or Potassium, those levels are fine for this year. Unless you are growing lots of beets, your Boron is fine, most plants need very little Boron. It looks like you will need some Sulfur, since it's low. Also DON'T add any Magnesium, it's also very high. Your Zinc, Managanese, Copper and Iron are all sufficient, so unless your growing crops needing high levels of those, leave them alone.

Of course, if you have too much of any nutrient it can cause problems. Each of those nutrients on your soil test should be in the sufficient/medium level. By having sufficient of all, then the nutrients will work better to help each other out.

Since you're working inside of a covering, you will not have the benefit of rain depleting some of the higher nutrients. Also inside of the greenhouse, sodiums will grow higher since you won't get the rain to dilute the salts.

I don't see sodium as being tested. I just don't see Na being listed. You probably will need to watch that carefully, too much sodium is toxic to plants.

Marla, That's great that you have such a balanced ph. I certainly wasn't suggesting anyone add lime without first determining if it's necessary.
Here in Western Oregon new ground is always acidic. It's mostly due to the high rainfall that leaches out calcium and other minerals.

they tested soluble salts (not sure if that's sodium).

on a different test, there is a note that states:
Optimum soil pH for crops grown in organic soils (>15% organic matter) is 5.2. While this pH level is dangerously low for mineral soils, crops grow well at this level on organic soils.

that is NOT sodium. 5.2 is terribly low, if you were growing corn, it should be no lower than 6.5, alfalfa is 7.0. 7.0 is the neutral. I would watch it carefully.

I'd bet you can grow some GREAT root crops, they seem to grow better with the lower pH levels.

I will never lime my soil again as 50+ years of getting dolomitic limestone put on the soil every year has spiked the magnesium in my soil which is locking up the calcium badly. Adding sulfur is helping lower the Mg but makes for hot onions.

Balancing the soil is not easy task and I can see clearly it will take another 6 to 10 years to get close.

5.2 pH is way too low for Organic soils, unless you are growing blueberries, than you are perfect (and it is a very profitable crop in most of the USA). Like conventionally managed soils you want a Ph in the 6.0 to 7.5 range for most food crops and pastures

Randy, if you keep liming your soil start using the more expensive non dolomitic lime as I see your Mg is too high which means your plants are not getting the Ca they need, even though you have plenty of of it. That Mg is locking up other nutrients as well. And I'll bet your soil is hard and not very fluffy and likes to get a nice hard layer after a good rain. That is all due to too much Mg which is most likely caused by all the cheap dolomitic lime that has been applied.

i will take your good advice marla and lucy. the thing with the pH that i wrote was directly copied from a soil test report.
i find that these days for established beds i add an inch or so of compost every year and i don't test. for new growing areas i test.
what do you folks think about wood ashes instead of lime? the extension agent told us to be careful with wood ashes because they pack a big pH boost thats hard to regulate.

Randy, the non-dolomitic lime is called calcitic lime, which is lime with calcium in it. Only certain pits will have dolomitic versus calcitic lime.

Wood ashes will not work for lime, wood ashes is potash. Potash is K.

Aglime is the easiest obtainable source of lime.

Lucy, I'm so glad my grandmother did not allow lime to be added or I would be in the same spot as you. Yes, balancing the soil is a long and time consuming job.

Lucy, are you added bone meal? It will give you enough mg an ca and help balance you.

Vikki, seems like we've hijacked your post, sorry about that, but as you see, a simple answer usually doesn't answer without those soil tests. Soil test won't answer the questions unless you know what you want to grow.

Marla, I think your statement on wood ash may be inaccurate. Though it does contain high levels of potash, calcium makes up the largest portion of wood ash and so it does work similarly to lime. I heat my home entirely with wood and so produce a lot of ash. While I don't use it as a substitute for lime, its certainly works as a supplement.
Keep in mind that as different types of wood are burned, the resulting ash varies.

Quoted from wikipedia "Much wood ash contains calcium carbonate as its major component, representing 25 or even 45 percent. Less than 10 percent is potash, and less than 1 percent phosphate; there are trace elements of iron, manganese, zinc, copper and some heavy metals. However these numbers vary as combustion temperature is an important variable in determining wood ash composition."

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood ash comparison to Lime

your wood ash may be different than others, since we may burn different wood. I thought woodash would be a good replacement until I took this class and found that adding woodash will add alot of other nutrients that might not be needed. If you have too high of any nutrient, it will tie up other nutrients.

Gypsum will add calcium but it's not a liming material, that's just one thing that I found out from the professor and others that helped to wrote the books that we used. I did pass the exam that we had to take to be able to give nutrient recommendations.

I expect to fly thru the class without learning much, but after being thru the class, I found that I did learn alot about the individual nutrients.

Also different areas of the US have different soils, having much different base nutrients and soils. What I can tell you about the soil in Western Indiana is not exactly the same as Lucy's location in Western Ohio. Her soil is a bit different than my soil, but we have some areas in my area that are similar to hers. She has a heavier river influence than other parts of Ohio, as do I. Both of us live near rivers in the Midwest. Jay's ground is totally different than either of us. Oregon/Washington is another type.

sorry I could get carried away, especially after a year of studing soils.

I would never use wood ashes for any garden bed I planned on eating the produce. Everything the tree has collected is concentrated in the ashes. If you are in an acid rain area the results will make u sick or kill you. This really happened in upstate New York not so long ago. I took the doctors a while to figure it out.