Checkon 99 soil test and posts
Greg, everyone....
Checkon season 99 soil test results are below along
with 2 other posts they sent out. Larry I hope you
don't mind i filled greg's request.
Note: the archives are found at:
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I have found a good way to search using the persons
email address.
Gordon Tanner
Maple Valley WA
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IAS Laboratory in PPM Penn State in
lbs./acre
1131 1190 1131 1190
N 26.6 64.2 ---- -----
P 62.0 202.0 509 1907
K 130 240 365 955
Ca 1800 2000 5880 6580
Mg 310 290 1003 1026
Fe 84 170
Zn 12 37
Mn 15 35
Cu 7.4 4.6
S 28 35
B .41 .55
Ph 7.1 6.1 7.3 6.0
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We now have our soil test results which were done at
Penn State and
IAS Laboratories in Phoenix. Both sides of the patch
were tested because
of the different soil types and will be refered to as
1131 and 1190.
Probably the strangest thing is the pH level which is
7.1 on the 1131
side and 6.0 on the 1190 side. K level is medium on
the 1131 side but
everything else is in the high to very high range
including N, P, Ca,
Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, and S. Boron was the only low
level.
I talked to Dr. Paul Eberhart at IAS today about the
results. He feels
that the high to very high nitrogen level probably
caused the seeds to
mature very slowly and also led to the 1190 splitting.
He also
recommended adding some lime to the pH 6.0 area but
didn't seem too
concerned about the level. He also felt that the
organic material
released an adequate amount of Boron through the
season.
It would appear that anyone who is overly concerned
about pH shouldn't
be and although 6.5 to 6.8 is considered the optimum
range, if your soil
is a little high or low don't sweat it and don't do
anything drastic to
change it quickly. Nutrient levels may need to be
higher for AG's
than other crops but care must be taken to not let
anything get too
excessive.
I can tell you that the soil in the patch was in very
poor condition
when we started it 2 years ago and it was more luck
than anything
to get it in good enough shape to grow 2 1100+
pumpkins with 2 different
seeds in the same year. Probably the most important
factors were a good
water supply, plenty of fresh cow manure and the
Ironite which we used
to get the nutrient levels up to where they are.
The only thing that really went wrong ( other than the
Letterman Show)
was the lack of mature seed, but maybe this is
something that must be
sacrificed in order to gain weight. Possibly we will
learn more about
this in the coming years.
Larry
-------------------------------------------------------
It will be a couple weeks until we get our soil test
results but here is
what we have until then. We grew 3 plants this year
but the 1131 and
1190 were grown in our main patch which is 75' x 36'.
Both plants were
33'x33' grown diagonally in Christmas tree shape.
Germinated 5/1 and
put out 5/15. Used water from a shallow well water
system. Put about
8 tons of fresh cow manure on last fall and about 7
tons this fall.
Also use lots of mulched oak and maple leaves. We used
some fish/seaweed
and a variety of foliar fertilizer but sparingly as
phosphate level in
the soil was already very high. We put on some 0-0-60
in the spring
and a little 10-10-10 on Gerry's side of the patch.
For the last 2 years, we have used the mineral and
micro-nutrient
supplement product, Ironite. We put it on just before
planting each
year. The soil in the patch is primarlly clay on the
1190 side
and a mixture of clay, cinders and coal ash on the
1131 side and was in
very poor condition when we started. More on this when
we get our test
results back.
Larry & Gerry
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