Soil Test Results ???

[Caro]

Yesterday, I decided to do a soil test as earlier in the year I was far too enthusiastic and in a rush to plant in my nice new greenhouse and raised beds when they were ready in May. However, slightly pathetic tomato results (planted in a greenhouse border) prompted me to post on here and someone suggested lack of nutrients in the soil. Results are:

PH: 6
N: Depleted
P: Depleted
K: Depleted


Is this likely to be correct or did I do the test wrong? Surely there should be some nutrients in there? Before we dug it over, the ground was just overgrown brambles and weeds, and they certainly seemed to thrive.

When I give up trying to grow veg this year (I'm enjoying the peas and courgettes at moment, and radish seemed to do fine and beetroot looks to be ready soon) should I just grow green manure over winter, or dig in lots of real manure?

All advice gratefully received,

Caro

[oldie]

I'd do a bit of both. No manure where the carrots are going but plenty elsewhere, although I've been told potatoes can do with less. You probably need to add Lime but again not where the potatoes will be, certainly where any Brassicas will be. I'd be tempted to get some seaweed meal as well to get some trace elements into the soil. You could grow some broad beans over winter and they will help the nitrogen, I don't see the point of field beans which are a recommended green manure but you can't eat them and freeze the surplus. Also bear in mind that tares and grazing rye which are often recommended do produce a lot of foliage to keep weeds down but are hard to dig in and you need to wait a few weeks after digging in before sowing any seed although plug plants or potatoes can go straight in.

[rana]

I don't know what method you used to determine your results but I have used those little kits that give you a colour comparisson system to get nutrient and pH levels having dissolved a bit of soil in water. I think they are highly unreliable and desperately inaccurate and find it hard to believe that they can cope adequately with different soil types.

[Snadger]

Apart from the PH which actually gives you a tangible figure to work with the other three results are meaningless!

How depleted and what is missing for various crops?

The powsh bit of kit I use lets you know what ammount of NPK per annum would be required to bring it up to spec for various crops.

What you need is an NPK reading as-is, an optimum NPK for the crop you're growing, and what you need to add to bring it up to this!

If you give the whole area a good mucking I'm sure this will enable you to grow some crops. After all, our forefathers managed for thousands of years without soil test kits just by having a 'feel' for what was required!

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi,

I did a soil test like this (I used the Tenax variety). First off mine all came out the same depleted, strange I thought my plants grow reasonably well.. So I repeated it again. Now on the tenax box it says leave it to settle for a little while.

Then my old chemistry training kicked in and I thought I wonder if it has dissolved enough of the soil. So I left it over night, ran the test again, and low and behold I had enough Potassium, but low Nitrogen and Phosphate (It has been abandonded for a number of years so leeched out), looking it up on the chart (It tells you what depleted is and what to do about it)

So being organic on our plot I bought some Hoof and Horn and some Rock Phosphate did a quick calculation, added the correct amount, and voila my plants grew better.



Dave

[Caro]

Dave,

I was more a languages girl

Thanks for your reply. I'll finish off the growing season then re-test the soil, leaving the sample overnight. That will then help me work out what I need to put into it (as organically as possible). Then I can put my feet up, read the seed catalogues and imagine a more thriving plot next year!

Thanks again

Caro