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Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Soil Testing
Hello all,
We recently took soil samples from the garden, and the results are in from the Rutgers Soil Testing Lab. To obtain accurate recommendations, we divided the garden into four regions: Butler 1 (plots 1, 7, 13, and 19), Butler 2 (plots 2, 3, 8, 9, 14, 15, 20, and 21), Butler 3 (plots 4, 5, 10, 11, 16, 17, 22, and 23), and Butler 4 (plots 6, 12, 18, and 24). Over a dozen root-depth subsamples were taken from each region and combined for each analyzed sample.
You are welcome to read the full reports from the lab (click the links above), but here are the main findings and some general recommendations.
1) No nutrient deficiencies were measured. In fact, our soil may be overly rich! This is likely due to excess compost usage. Too much of a good thing is not always best for plant growth.
2) Our soil pH is slightly alkaline (7.25 - 7.40). This is out of the ideal range for most plants but does not pose a serious problem.
3) Avoid using organic fertilizers that contain significant quantities of phosphorus and potassium. These include manure, compost (and compost tea), and commercial "all-purpose" fertilizer.
4) Our soil has good organic matter that slowly releases nitrogen. However, Rutgers generally recommends nitrogen supplementation since this nutrient is short-lived in the soil. If you would like to give your plants a head start or if you notice signs of nitrogen deficiency, use an organic fertilizer such as blood meal or cottonseed meal.
5) To meet the Rutgers fertilizer recommendations, uniformly distribute 3.75 lb of blood meal over a full plot (15' x 30'), and work it into the top few inches of the soil. Approximately one month into the season, an additional ~2 lb of blood meal can be sidedressed in a full plot. Blood meal is readily available at home and garden stores like Lowe's or Home Depot.
--Chase
We recently took soil samples from the garden, and the results are in from the Rutgers Soil Testing Lab. To obtain accurate recommendations, we divided the garden into four regions: Butler 1 (plots 1, 7, 13, and 19), Butler 2 (plots 2, 3, 8, 9, 14, 15, 20, and 21), Butler 3 (plots 4, 5, 10, 11, 16, 17, 22, and 23), and Butler 4 (plots 6, 12, 18, and 24). Over a dozen root-depth subsamples were taken from each region and combined for each analyzed sample.
You are welcome to read the full reports from the lab (click the links above), but here are the main findings and some general recommendations.
1) No nutrient deficiencies were measured. In fact, our soil may be overly rich! This is likely due to excess compost usage. Too much of a good thing is not always best for plant growth.
2) Our soil pH is slightly alkaline (7.25 - 7.40). This is out of the ideal range for most plants but does not pose a serious problem.
3) Avoid using organic fertilizers that contain significant quantities of phosphorus and potassium. These include manure, compost (and compost tea), and commercial "all-purpose" fertilizer.
4) Our soil has good organic matter that slowly releases nitrogen. However, Rutgers generally recommends nitrogen supplementation since this nutrient is short-lived in the soil. If you would like to give your plants a head start or if you notice signs of nitrogen deficiency, use an organic fertilizer such as blood meal or cottonseed meal.
5) To meet the Rutgers fertilizer recommendations, uniformly distribute 3.75 lb of blood meal over a full plot (15' x 30'), and work it into the top few inches of the soil. Approximately one month into the season, an additional ~2 lb of blood meal can be sidedressed in a full plot. Blood meal is readily available at home and garden stores like Lowe's or Home Depot.
--Chase
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