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Interpreting Soil Test Lab Results & Plan of Action

Posted by emcd124 5 (My Page) on
Thu, Oct 4, 12 at 13:02

I had my soil tested and per the lab most things look decent. All the micronutrients are normal. Here are the rest of the results:

Soil pH 7.4

Phosphorus (12ppm) Medium
Potassium (19 ppm) Low
Calcium (1191ppm) high/very high
Magnesium (206ppm) very high

Cation Exchange: 7.7 Meq/100g
Percent Base Saturation:
K=0.7 Mg=22.0 Ca=77.5

Extractable Aluminum: 5ppm
Soluble Salts: 0.06 dS/M
_____________

The lab recommends 6lb potassium/1000 sq ft along with 1 lb of nitrogen.

Do I need to be worried that my calcium and magnesium is TOO high? Theres no information on how to interpret those "very high" ratings. I've tried googling but just came across a bunch of stuff about whether or not there is an "ideal" Ca:Mg ratio. Should I be looking to bring down the pH to be a bit more acid? scatter coffee? something else?


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Interpreting Soil Test Lab Results & Plan of Action

Your soil pH (7.4) indictes that your Ca and Mg are in balance even though they are "high to very high". Most all plants find a soil pH between 6.2 and 6.8 to be optimal because that is the range most all soil nutrients are most readily available, however, most of these plants will do fine at somewhat higher or lower soil pH levels.
So what is the level of organic matter in that soil?


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