soil test results high potassium

Finally! My soil test is back, I haven't had time to do the "Solomon Sheets" so far. I have a huge overhang in potassium. Logan labs test 1 desired 320 vs 894, test 2 310 vs 1077, and test 3 409 vs 728. That probably has something to do with me trying to build the non existing soil with woodchips. But what else can I do? The total exchange capacity are 20.53, 19.92 and 26.98. The organic matter content: 9.21, 7.95 and 11.32. I attached the whole test.

I have three soil tests, one with a ph of 6.9 and two with 7.1. Solomon has a different worksheet for the samples over ph7, but since it's the same garden, would you to the same worksheet?

You are going to need gypsum to add to your Ca and remove some of the K from the base CEC sites. Also, your P is in need of almost triple of where it is. I would use bone meal and Calphos/soft rock phosphate to build those levels.

Somewhere to the tune of 6,000 lbs gypsum and 3,000 lbs P per acre... Divide that into your square footage.

Hey Angelika-

Having just glanced at your soil test results, I would not be concerned with using the high pH worksheets, since all three samples are essentially neutral. I would do the standard worksheets. I think the organic matter content is superb, and the CEC's have a nice value able to hold onto plenty of cations.

So here's the thing with those high values. Just because there's a lot of potassium in the soil, doesn't mean it's all biologically available for a plant to use. Soil test extraction methods tend to show all quantities of an element in a soil. What will come into play here are all the fungi and microbes living in the soil, as plants with their symbiotic relationship with the soil biota can "signal" that it wants potassium and the microbes will hand it over. Excesses in elements are only a problem when they are in a biologically available form that can burn plants, think chemical fertilizers.

Having only peeked at your soil test results, I would suggest some sulphur to bring the pH down to 6.5ish, some boron with a target of 2ppm, don't go over 4ppm, and maybe a little copper if you're so inclined to want to raise that to 5ppm and perhaps some gypsum if you want to add a little more calcium.

Really, I think you have quite a decent soil to work with. Now I think it's all about nurturing the soil microbial life, and with all that organic matter already present, shouldn't be too hard to do. Maybe some compost teas for that.

I actually was pleasantly surprised by the test since I had no soil to begin with and build it up with whatever I could find (not very scientific).
James, I think the potassium IS available to the plants here because 1.) I grow the most awesome dandelions the size I would like my cabbages 2.) potatoes grow litteraly like weeds (they ARE weedy) but that is typical here.
I was already thinking of using the 'normal' worksheet so yes I'll do that especially since I want to have the three results in a comparable manner. And the ph result showed me that these usual manutec ph tests work well enough for me.
What does high potassium do to the soil/to us when we eat it?
The high potassium probably comes from all these woodchips, they are so convenient for pathways - should I stop phoning around for truckloads of chips??

Good suggestions James, what a team we would make.  

Angelika to help reduce the potassium you can use fungi (mushroom slurry) in your wood chip walkways and your garden beds, the hyphae will do a nice job of sucking up the potassium, it is a lot like putting food in the freezer for use later, when you need it.
Your soil is ready for compost teas and extracts that are brewed with lots of air and about a cup of molasses per 5 gal. I'd start with 2 lbs. of bagged up compost that was nearly finished, that provides a good quantity of the microorganisms we are looking for in soil.
This method will grow the bacteria rapidly so you would only need to use a 48 hour brewing time per batch.

high soil potassium doesn't mean you are going to get "extra" K in the foods you grow, it just means the plants might show some leaf edge burn.
One way to reduce just about any mineral "overage" is to use sulfur (creates mineral sulfates and sulfites which can increase acidity over time which is why we like to use the gypsum amendment in conjunction with the sulfur).

and that is about all I can add to James' suggested methods. As he said, your soil is chemically looking pretty darn good.

Redhawk

Redhawk, I think we'd make a great team!