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hoganjr

Soil test.... PH looks low

10 years ago

Help!!

Comments (4)

  • 10 years ago

    It's not that bad! You already know the drill on a lot of this, so I'm going to short-cut the analysis a bit. Ask if I gloss over something I shouldn't've.

    ME 6.3: Sandy.

    OM 5.2%: Good, but with sandier soil, I'd like this to keep rising if possible. You know how to do that. :-)

    pH 5.8: At or a bit below the lower end of acceptable, and there's more data under calcium.

    Sulfur 9: A touch low, but nothing severe. Rising OM will also raise your sulfur levels and they're not a problem anyway.

    Phosphorus 466: Target was 200, so we're high. Which is fine, but you don't need any and I don't recommend adding any phosphorus.

    Calcium 47.3%: Low, with the target in your soil around 65% or higher. We use Mag-I-Cal, Pennington Fast Lime, or Encap to raise this as we only want the calcium and not magnesium. Recommendations below.

    Magnesium 16.0%: Perfect! None required or desired.

    Potassium 8.1%: It looks high, but that's an artifact of low calcium. It'll drop into the 5-6% range when calcium comes up where it should be. No changes required.

    Minor Elements: Iron's actually fine, as is everything else except boron.

    Boron 0.31: We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 10 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax.

    Recommendations:

    April 1: Apply 6 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime per thousand square feet.

    April 15: Apply 4 tablespoons per thousand square feet of 20 Mule Team Borax in Milorganite carrier.

    October 1: Apply 6 pounds per thousand square feet of Encap, Mag-I-Cal, or Pennington Fast Lime per thousand square feet.

  • 10 years ago

    (cough) I've used it. However...it's not a fast lime, and the calcium release will be very slow, and weaker than the ones listed. All things considered, Encap or Pennington Fast Lime are better bets, faster, and more economical per pound of usage.

    (cough) if you must use it? Raise the 6 pounds per thousand to 10 pounds per thousand for the calcitic lime.

    hoganjr thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Ok yeah it's cheaper n easier to find but like you said price comes at a cost. I'll stick with ones u recommended