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Message: [QUOTE="Meadowlark, post: 257082, member: 7117"] Match sticks? Really? LOL. The truth is that without a soil test everyone, especially those who recommend synthetic fertilizers, is simply guessing when recommending soil additions. The people, and many do this, that say for example "apply 13-13-13" or "12-24-12" or "33-0-0" without a soil test are simply guessing...and very well may be guessing wrong and doing more harm than good and yes, it is irresponsible, IMO. Soil tests are invaluable. I don't trust [B]anyone[/B] who speaks negatively of soil tests. Some will say they can determine everything you need to know about your soil by watching the plants and without soil tests. That is BS! I have been doing this for over 40 years and I still rely on soil tests. Now, that does not mean you have to run one every day, week, month, year etc. It is situational. Organics are less prone to be overdone and are very forgiving...but even organics especially when applied indiscriminately can cause problems. I noticed on your list "Rockdust, Garden lime, and eggshells." What if you are planting a veggie that needs a low ph reading and your soil is already reading high ph. Each of those listed will tend to RAISE ph, exactly the opposite of what you might need. Peppers for example like a neutral to slightly acidic ph of about 5.5 so if your soil ph is higher than that then caution should be used on amendments which raise ph. Ph is important and each veggie has its own preference requirements. The others listed "bonemeal, worm castings, cow manure, coffee grounds, fish heads, and banana peels".... all of which are generally forgiving except maybe cow manure if it is not composted. Cow manure applied raw can burn plants if too much is applied. Always compost it well first before applying to garden soil. Composting kills pathogens also which you do not want in your veggie garden. Epsom salts is an interesting one and somewhat mysterious to me. It works on my tomatoes and peppers even though the soils test out fine for calcium and other such elements. It works in my low ph soil and works for [USER=944]@Chuck[/USER] in his high ph soil. Somewhat of a mystery. I've never had a negative experience with Epsom salts...but not saying it isn't possible, especially when used to the extreme. The use of cover crops, chop and drop, green manure, compost and crop rotations are all positive techniques that almost 100% of the time enhance your soil regardless of the situation. There are always exceptions, but I have never heard of any of these steps being harmful and in fact have established their value myself through extensive soil testing. In addition, those practices have the added critical benefit of minimizing insect and disease problems. As you journey through the garden experience, you will learn that just about everything is situational. The phrase "it all depends" is often the best answer. Skepticism is a virtue. The more you learn, the better gardener you will become...and the need for learning never stops. [/QUOTE]

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