Help with amendments

What would I do to address phosphorus or potassium deficiencies?  Calcium is fine, but pH is low on one plot (5.4, I think).  I had a basic soil analysis done.  I may ask for a fancy in-depth one in the future, but I'm starting small and basic.  I plan on a minimal till (mainly to break ground in clay soil), so I'd like something that only needs to be mixed into the top few inches or can be watered in.  The analysis of course suggests 10-10-10.

Since your soil pH is low, I would add lots of wood ash (potash) as one component of your amendment strategy. It will help raise the pH and add potassium.

Bone meal will add phosphorus.

The bone meal may be purchased, though if you would like to make it this will help:

https://permies.com/t/160397/Bone-Meal

You might indeed be better informed with a more comprehensive soil test. If Calcium really is O.K., at 65-75% of the soil colloid, and pH is that low, it sounds like you need dolomitic (high Magnesium) limestone. Wood ashes, unless they come from the burning of small softwood twigs/prunings, is very low in Potassium and high in supposedly adequte Calcium. Phosphorus that's not also high in Calcium typically comes from animal manures, which are also a good Potassium source. Sulfur, which I suppose didn't get tested, needs to be balanced to the Phosphorus level or fungi dominate bacteria, which can lead to fungal blights, etc. Soils can be modified for crops or you can experiment with which crop/"weed"/tree/shrub grows best on a soil as it is.

Hi Emily,

There is some good information so far.  If your ph is in the 5’s, I think that ph is going to be a bigger issue than phosphorus or potassium.

Wood ash is a great place to start though because it will raise the Ph and give a nice dose of potassium.  Ash acts quickly but doesn’t last forever.  Lime will really help with the Ph.  For long acting potassium, consider greensand which is pretty amazing stuff.

If you can get the Ph under control then we can address the phosphorus issue.  I once had soil (I call it soil but really it was leftover tailings from an open pit coal mine) terribly deficient in phosphorus and my tomatoes grew sickly and purple.  Bone meal fixed this right away.  I like bone meal because it is pretty quick acting and lasts fairly long.  You could also add rock phosphate which is slow but very long acting.  And of course you could use a 50:50 mixture.

If you can get the initial conditions under control, biological methods will really help bring out existing nutrients that are presently locked up and unavailable.  This can be a useful direction to work towards but that’s an issue for tomorrow.

I could go on, but hopefully this helps here.

Eric

I just responded to a post about low pH. ...here
https://permies.com/t/174898/pH-amend-acid-soil

But I'll address phosphorus (P). Below pH 5.5, P becomes not plant available (recalcitrant) (and you can also start having toxicity issues, aluminum for one). There are many different P tests, based off pH of soil and if you're looking at "plant available" or "total". I suggest work on getting that pH above 6 and you might find you don't have a P problem at all, I suspect it's just currently not plant available. Also, potassium (K) is highly soluble. Increase the organic matter dramatically (5%+++) and your soil world may change dramatically.

For most soil issues... organic matter, Organic Matter, ORGANIC MATTER!!!
Have fun and good skills!

Patrick made a very good point about Ph.  Everything he said was spot-on, especially the parts about low Ph making nutrients unavailable and organic material doing wonders.

Eric

Thank you for the advice!!  What if I went with dolomitic lime, and then equal parts peat moss and compost (2" each)?  Would that be a sufficient jolt for the one plot?  It would be a bit spendy, but theoretically, I wouldn't need to do that every single year, correct?  

If you want to go the lime route... check out this application rate calculator from Clemson
https://precisionag.sites.clemson.edu/Calculators/Fertility/LimeRec/

Emily,

Great idea about including compost in your initial set of amendments.  Are you planning on going no-till after this initial soil prep?  If so I have a suggestion for radically improving the soil fertility one spot at a time.

Years ago I mowed my lawn after too much rain had fallen and had LOTS of clippings that needed removal.  So I raked but didn’t know where to put them so I hauled them off to my orchard several hundred feet from my lawn.  I made a pile at least 5’ tall and wide.  This was only grass clippings and it turned white quickly from decomposition and got HOT!!  It was so hot I nearly burned my hand when I stuck it into the pile to check for heat.  

Over the course of a few weeks that pile reduced to about 2” tall at which point I scraped what was left and put it on my garden.  And that would be the end of the story had it not been for the placement (accidental) ever so slightly uphill from a peach tree, one of 6 in 2 rows.  Eventually a dark green ring formed around the remains of the pile and then a dark green oval worked its way downhill ending right where I planted a baby peach tree.  That oval stayed dark for 3 years and the peach tree grew twice as fast, tall and generally big as all of its neighbors. People for years would want to know what type of tree THAT tree was and I told them of my accidental experiment.

This is a long way of me suggesting that you try building a compost pile in the bed each year.  Don’t use the whole bed, just maybe dedicate a section for a compost pile.  The leachate will work it’s way down into the soil and will do long-term good for your soil.  My experiment was not a true pile (no browns) and a real one would work even better.  When the pile is done, you can spread the compost wherever you want, but the soil beneath becomes magically fertile.

All of this is just a suggestion and take or leave it as you see fit.

Good luck!

Eric

Emily Smith wrote:Thank you for the advice!!  What if I went with dolomitic lime, and then equal parts peat moss and compost (2" each)?  Would that be a sufficient jolt for the one plot?  It would be a bit spendy, but theoretically, I wouldn't need to do that every single year, correct?  

Peat, few points: 1) peat moss is acidic, 2) it is essentially mined in primarily canada, so think about the transportation and other potential env. issues. 3) I see you are in Georgia (?). peat is going to break down almost as fast as you can put it down.

Think about other sources of organic matter (OM). Be creative. compost manures are good, but also hay. Not sure what you have down there, but you probably have sorgum or sudan grass, alfalfa as a mulch also appears to be awesome.

Also, look at intense cover cropping for green manure (chop and incorporate usually before plants go to seed). you can probably get a few rotations in during a summer. Seed sources. Do you have a bulk food section at any of your local grocery stores. You'd be amazed how many of those whole seed will sprout. Pick a blend of warm weather stuff and plant the heck out of your spot, super dense, you're looking to just grow a lot of stuff and not worrying about harvest.

Note on Lime: if you do choose to use lime, do not add anything heavy in nitrogen at the same time. The N will essentially "boil" off (de-nitrification)

Edit: how much land are you dealing with? a backyard plot or a huge field? what are you goals? these few questions can help with what to do and how to do it.

Have fun, be creative

Patrick Rahilly wrote:Edit: how much land are you dealing with? a backyard plot or a huge field? what are you goals? these few questions can help with what to do and how to do it.

This is a backyard.  I have two separate plots in it, but still a relatively small area.  I might end up with 1/10 acre cultivated this year.

Emily,

1/10 acre is about 4000 sqft.  That’s like a garden 20x200’!  That’s a lot of garden.  Kudos for you for being ambitious.

As a thought, maybe focus on really amending a smaller section this year while growing some cover crop on the rest.  Each year expand a bit.

The reason I say is that that much bone meal could add up quickly and do you even have that much ash (or access to it)?  That’s a lot of lime but actually getting the lime down now it could work for a time before actually needing it.

Just a thought.

Eric

Emily Smith wrote: This is a backyard.  I have two separate plots in it, but still a relatively small area.  I might end up with 1/10 acre cultivated this year.

In that case, a bag of lime from your local nursery wouldn't be bad. $20 (?). be sure to incorporate it (follow the directions on the package). Then get some bulk Whole seeds from your grocery and plant a dense cover crop... I'd look at doing this now in GA. Pick some cool weather plants and help get life back into the soil. Some cool weather plants; mustards, maybe radish, some peas (or sweet peas), brown lentils, wheat, barley, oats... see what is available. You can test germination rate of the seeds you buy in wet paper towels and put them in a jar, check them in a week.  Plant dense and expect to turn it all in in about 2-3 months which should be good timing for your summer transplant crops (which you should probably be starting now).
Hope this helps.
P.

Eric Hanson wrote:Emily,
1/10 acre is about 4000 sqft.  That’s like a garden 20x200’!  That’s a lot of garden.  Kudos for you for being ambitious.
Eric

I feel crazy rather than ambitious, but I like the positive spin!  That area includes paths, for what it's worth.  My backyard is 1/2 acre fenced, but between a strip that washes out with hard rains (it's like a mini river that floods my neighbor's yard), the chicken run, the drain field, and leaving grass for our dogs to run around on, 1/10 is about all I can easily do.  There's a little hill I could terrace at some point.  And maybe my front yard...  The idea is to sell at least some of what I grow at a local market.  But starting gradually might be a good idea.

Patrick Rahilly wrote:
In that case, a bag of lime from your local nursery wouldn't be bad. $20 (?). be sure to incorporate it (follow the directions on the package). Then get some bulk Whole seeds from your grocery and plant a dense cover crop... I'd look at doing this now in GA. Pick some cool weather plants and help get life back into the soil. Some cool weather plants; mustards, maybe radish, some peas (or sweet peas), brown lentils, wheat, barley, oats... see what is available. You can test germination rate of the seeds you buy in wet paper towels and put them in a jar, check them in a week.  Plant dense and expect to turn it all in in about 2-3 months which should be good timing for your summer transplant crops (which you should probably be starting now).
Hope this helps.
P.

I can get 40 lb. from the feed store for $5.50 and would need 3 of those; I have two plots, one's about 1,000 sq.ft. and doesn't need the lime.  The other is about 3,000 sq.ft.  I'm happy to save money on amendments, so I'll try just the lime and cover cropping.  We'll see what happens after that!