Question about soil test recommendations

[Elizabeth C]

Hi, I have a question! I got the results back from a soil test I sent in for some ground I will be transplanting strawberries to, and the only thing it recommends is 0.75 lb/100 sq ft of 10-10-10.
Do you have an idea of what is a good organic substitute for that? I could get cow manure I think, but I don’t know if that would be enough?
FYI, the Ph results are 7.5.

 

[YumYum]

Can you post a picture of your test results? You could black out sensitive information. I'm always interested in seeing test results.

What size area are you working on?

 

[Meadowlark]

Strawberries like a ph of 5.5 to 6.5. Your reading of 7.5 is high for them.

Sulphur is a good soil amendment to lower the ph. A rule of thumb is 1/2 pound of sulphur per sq. yard will lower ph 1 point in heavy soils. Less is required in loamy, sandy soils. It is more effective in soil temps above about 55 deg F so waiting on warmer conditions before treating would be wise.

 

[redback]

You can lower pH with pine needle mulch. The 10;10;10 N;P;K recommendation transcribes to medium high mineral content. Don't forget seaweed which is a foliar spray that strawberries love.
I will assume you start with medium sandy loam type soil of reasonable N: K of 5:5:5.
You should be safe adding 2" of quality compost and then a bag of blood and bone plus a light scattering of wood ash or (or a bag of sulphate of potash). Fork it all into your soil and form mounds about 1'0" wide by 8" high.
Let it sit for 2 weeks before planting.
People use black plastic covering for weed control and enhanced solar gains.
The organic quantities are not described in lbs/sq.ft because all the manures and composts are highly aerated to ensure rain absorbance and ground insulation. If your soil has other difficulties - impenetrable clay, steep slopes etc. - you should let us know.

 

[redback]

Also, you haven't told us how many plants, how big an area and the varieties you are thinking of.
I'm in South Australia (warm temperate climate) and I'm about to order my strawberry runners for a June (winter planting). We also must have irrigation, so that complicates the use of plastic mulching. Most varieties are good for three years. You will need to use seaweed and other organic liquid feeds.

 

[Elizabeth C]

Can you post a picture of your test results? You could black out sensitive information. I'm always interested in seeing test results.

What size area are you working on?

Sure!
I think it’s about 500 sq ft.

 

[YumYum]

If that were mine and wanted to go organic, I would use blood meal. It mainly contains nitrogen and iron but also has a tiny amount of everything else.

Since your pH is a shade high the extra iron blood meal contains will help curb your strawberries from getting iron chlorosis until the pH is lowered. I would use sulfur as Meadowlark suggested. The exact amount of sulfur needed can vary from the composition of the soil so an exact amount is hard to calculate. When the pH is lowered, that bottom row of things will change too. Blood meal is highly acidic too but I'm not sure how much it will lower the pH of the soil so I would at least figure in a tiny drop in pH.

Nitrogen was not tested. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Nitrogen is the first thing to leave the soil so it is usually "low" anyways if you haven't added anything to build it up. 2.5 lbs of blood meal in 500 ft2 will raise the nitrogen level 30 lbs/acre, which converts over to about the same amount of N from what they recommended to add.

For strawberries, I think you will have to add that same amount again in mid to late August.

Since your calcium is way up there and you have optimum magnesium, I wouldn't use any bone meal as that will interfere in lowering your pH.

 

[YumYum]

On a side note, if you've been watering the soil with city or well water that is why your calcium is through the roof and the pH is elevated a bit.

 

[Meadowlark]

Nitrogen was not tested. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

I've never understood that myself.

If I'm paying for a soil test, I always insist Nitrogen be tested. That is the one thing that varies most from season to season. Over the years, I get very little change in everything else, but Nitrogen is highly variable, highly critical, and super important to test.

Maybe some folks are just blessed with ample Nitrogen; otherwise, I don't understand not testing for it.

 

[YumYum]

I've never understood that myself.

If I'm paying for a soil test, I always insist Nitrogen be tested. That is the one thing that varies most from season to season. Over the years, I get very little change in everything else, but Nitrogen is highly variable, highly critical, and super important to test.

Maybe some folks are just blessed with ample Nitrogen; otherwise, I don't understand not testing for it.

At the local CO-OP they want the soil sample to be dry so you have to dry it out before they will accept it. I'm not sure if the lab wants it dry or because of shipping weight or both. The basic test is free from them if you buy their fertilizer so that is a caveat.

When you dig it up and dry it out like that, the ammonia can evaporate so you won't get an accurate count of nitrogen anyways. Nitrate can be tested. That is why it always says nitrate nitrogen and not ammonia or urea. Urea converts to ammonia but I'm not sure if they can test that or not.

Most folks can safely assume their nitrogen is ballpark low or maybe towards the medium side but hardly on the high side unless you are putting nitrogen back in the soil consistantly with fertilizer or as you know you do with cover crops.

I do alot of fertilizing along with my crops and then grow crimson clover every Winter and when I test with one of those home nitrogen tests (if you can believe those or not), it always tests low nitrogen in the Spring. I've been growing the same vegetables for years and I pretty much know how much nitrogen they use by now so I really don't need to test for it.

 

[redback]

Do you have an idea of what is a good organic substitute for that? I could get cow manure I think, but I don’t know if that would be enough?

The soil test shows you need to lower pH and get rid of that calcium overload. Basically, though the soil needs nothing.
You could just plant your runners and top dress with that cow manure and some pine needles. Keep the crowns above the top dressing. During the season use liquid seaweed to add micronutrients and encourage flowering, and a liquid nitrogen fertilizer as well.
500 sq. ft. is a large patch. You will get at least 150 plants in there.

 

[Elizabeth C]

If that were mine and wanted to go organic, I would use blood meal. It mainly contains nitrogen and iron but also has a tiny amount of everything else.

Since your pH is a shade high the extra iron blood meal contains will help curb your strawberries from getting iron chlorosis until the pH is lowered. I would use sulfur as Meadowlark suggested. The exact amount of sulfur needed can vary from the composition of the soil so an exact amount is hard to calculate. When the pH is lowered, that bottom row of things will change too. Blood meal is highly acidic too but I'm not sure how much it will lower the pH of the soil so I would at least figure in a tiny drop in pH.

Nitrogen was not tested. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Nitrogen is the first thing to leave the soil so it is usually "low" anyways if you haven't added anything to build it up. 2.5 lbs of blood meal in 500 ft2 will raise the nitrogen level 30 lbs/acre, which converts over to about the same amount of N from what they recommended to add.

For strawberries, I think you will have to add that same amount again in mid to late August.

Since your calcium is way up there and you have optimum magnesium, I wouldn't use any bone meal as that will interfere in lowering your pH.

Thank you!! I will get blood meal then, and sulfur. Should I use any manure as well? It won’t burn the strawberries if I do?
For my nitrogen, not sure how high it is, though I did grow green beans and peas in half that patch last year.

 

[Elizabeth C]

The soil test shows you need to lower pH and get rid of that calcium overload. Basically, though the soil needs nothing.
You could just plant your runners and top dress with that cow manure and some pine needles. Keep the crowns above the top dressing. During the season use liquid seaweed to add micronutrients and encourage flowering, and a liquid nitrogen fertilizer as well.
500 sq. ft. is a large patch. You will get at least 150 plants in there.

Would manure tea be a good liquid nitrogen fertilizer? Could that also sub for the seaweed, or do I need to get seaweed too?

 

[Meadowlark]

...Most folks can safely assume their nitrogen is ballpark low or maybe towards the medium side but hardly on the high side unless you are putting nitrogen back in the soil consistantly with fertilizer or as you know you do with cover crops.

The lab I use routinely tests for Total Nitrogen, Nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4). I key on ppm of Total Nitrogen. Total Nitrogen measures all sources of nitrogen including inorganic and organic. I know from experience that a reading at or above 32 ppm is optimal for growing veggies in my garden soil.

I also know reasonably well what it takes to get my garden soil to those levels at the start of the growing season organically without any artificial synthetic fertilizers. That knowledge doesn't come from books, rather from hands on experience over years.

It's interesting that they want a dry sample not wet, but some moisture is almost unavoidable.

 

[Meadowlark]

...For my nitrogen, not sure how high it is, though I did grow green beans and peas in half that patch last year.

If you harvested the beans and peas, then it is likely that the soil is at whatever nitrogen level it started or lower. If you want to significantly raise nitrogen levels with beans or peas, multiple crops of them need to be returned to the soil without harvesting via chop and drop or some means.

Once I get to a good starting point on nitrogen, I normally don't add more during the growing season...but two exceptions to that are onions and corn. Onions require about 180 days here to get those big bulbs and that duration means added nitrogen is needed.

I use fish emulsion for that purpose on onions. Corn, on the other hand, isn't so much a long duration but a heavy heavy user of nitrogen. I always do the three siters companion planting with my corn using some kind of legume bean/pea and vining plant along with the corn.