Soil test

[DirtMechanic]

LOL why did I make it complicated? Natural tendencies I guess. Looks like your town was named after the dirt! If it has a name it sure is easier to look up what others suggest as amendments.

COZAD SERIES

The Cozad series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in silty alluvium on stream terraces along the Platte River system in Nebraska. Slope is typically 0 to 5 percent, but ranges up to 11 percent on the terrace riser. Mean annual precipitation is 58 centimeters (23 inches) at the type location. Mean annual temperature is 11 degrees C (51 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Cozad silt loam on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field. When described, the soil was moist throughout. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 20 centimeters (0 to 8 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary.

A--20 to 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches); gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizon ranges from 7 to 20 inches.)

Bw--30 to 46 centimeters (12 to 18 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)

C1--46 to 122 centimeters (18 to 48 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; thin stratification; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.

C2--122 to 203 centimeters (48 to 80 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; thin stratification; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Buffalo County, Nebraska; one mile north and one mile west of Odessa, Nebraska; 30 meters (100 feet) west and 64 meters (210 feet) north of the southeast corner, sec. 29, T. 9 N., R. 17 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is moist in some part from April to September;
Moisture regime: ustic
Depth to secondary carbonates: 25 to 122 centimeters (10 to 48 inches)
Thickness of mollic epipedon: 18 to 51 centimeters (7 to 20 inches)
Thickness of solum: 36 to 81 centimeters (14 to 32 inches)
Comment: buried soils are common

Particle size control section (weighted average)
Clay: 10 to 18 percent

A horizon:
Hue; 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: typically is silt loam, but range from loam, fine sandy loam, silty clay loam, or very fine sandy loam
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

Bw horizon: (BC horizon if present)
Hue of 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam, loam, or very fine sandy loam
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline

C horizon:
Hue of 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam or very fine sandy loam stratified with coarser and finer textured material. Some pedons have layers of stratified clayey to sandy material below a depth of 40 inches
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kenesaw and Lowry soils.
Kenesaw and Lowry soils are on uplands and formed in loess.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: alluvium
Landform: stream terraces typically along streams or drains which have received recent sediments. Slopes: 0 to 5 percent, but the extreme range is 0 to 11 percent.
Mean annual precipitation: 48 to 74 centimeters (19 to 29 inches).
Mean annual temperature: 10 to 13 degrees C (49 degrees to 56 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gosper, Hall, Hobbs, Hord, and Wood River soils.
Gosper soils have a fine-loamy control section and an argillic horizon.
Hall and Hord soils have a thicker mollic epipedon.
Gosper, Hall, and Hord soils occur at a higher elevation.
Hobbs soils are stratified above a depth of 10 inches and occur at a lower elevation.
Wood River soils have a fine control section and an argillic horizon and occur at a lower elevation.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage: well
Runoff: low or moderate
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: moderately high

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cultivated and much of it is irrigated.
The main crops are corn, alfalfa, and sorghums.
The native grasses are big bluestem, switchgrass, little bluestem, and western wheatgrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Nebraska and north central Kansas. The series is moderately extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Buffalo County, Nebraska, June 1970.

REMARKS:
The diagnostic horizons and characteristics recognized in this soil are:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) (Ap and A horizons).
Cambic horizon: 30 to 46 centimeters (12 to 18 inches) (Bw horizon).
Organic carbon: irregular decrease in content.
OSD Modification: C horizon some pedons have layers of stratified clayey to sandy material below 102 centimeters (40 inches).

Phases of this series that have been correlated include saline-alkali and wet substratum.
Cozad was in the fine-silty family, but laboratory data showed it to be coarse-silty.

10/3/02 PRF
Modified the classification to "Typic". This soil formed on stable stream terraces and no evidence of stratification is identified. Lab data supports a "regular" decrease in organic matter.

10/21/05 JCR
Changed permeability to KSAT

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.

 

[DirtMechanic]

So I found this pdf from the Nebraska extension system. Really interesting talk on Nebraska specific techniques for organic gardening. Eye opening talk on how cow manure compost might not be your best bet as it has a liming effect whereas other manure composts have an acidifying effect, even the use of acidifying mulches like pinestraw. Talks about mycorrizal strains specifically aimed at acidifying the soil naturally. Big file covering the whole state with different soil sub types but it does specifically go into details about your type of soil.

It looks like its a good soil generally and needs an inch per 6 inches down of the right kind (net acidifying) organic matter (maybe chicken manure?), an iron manganese zinc blend and boric acid. A little boron goes a long way. @headfullofbees was right on it, but the quantities on that inititial adjustment might weigh quite a bit based on the soil test numbers. An extract of seaweed might be best used in maintaining the soil where the actual seaweed or other source might get tilled in at first then you can go from there.

The parts per million is a standardizing ratio, which when calculated out can then be applied to cubic feet or mass of soil like 12x12x6deep weighs "X" grams, so use the number from "Y" grams of the targeted amendment range ppm minus what "Y" you have in the soil already.

Good read. I learned some things. Thanks!

 

[headfullofbees]

Hey I am gonna stop y'all here on the seaweed. There is a common sales pitch that needs a little more understanding.

The most powerful and compelling reason to use seaweed is not the micronutrients. The dopeheads that really brought seaweed extracts to the market for their hydroponic operations appreciate the micros but that was not the real driver.

Some seaweeds contain all-All-ALL the phytohormones. Did I say all?

Whilst in my youth I did try some mild recreational substances, really, I am. and have always been, a beer man, and decades passed between my use of these substances and my discovery of the horticultural benefits of seaweed.
Whilst what Dirt Mechanic states regarding phyto-hormones is undoubtedly true, it is also the case that seaweed picks up the minerals from the sea.
If anyone feels averse, for whatever reason, to using seaweed, nutrient miners, like comfrey, will both boost nitrogen and micronutrients, without adding much in the way of phosphate.
Bloodmeal will not just give you nitrogen, it will give you iron.

 

[Brian1985]

Would horse manure be bad also? I was going to try putting a add on fb and craigslist to get a load of it in bulk

 

[headfullofbees]

Horse manure will lower your pH as it rots down if you broadcast it, but, because it is high in ureic nitrogen, it can be quite hot when fresh.
You could perhaps best use it next year.

 

[Brian1985]

I was hoping to get already composted manure.

 

[headfullofbees]

I was hoping to get already composted manure.

Good idea.

 

[Brian1985]

I'm sure this garden would benefit greatly from a winter cover crop correct? They are high in nitrogen correct? Should I atleast be mulching this garden in the winter? Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[headfullofbees]

I'm sure this garden would benefit greatly from a winter cover crop correct? They are high in nitrogen correct? Should I atleast be mulching this garden in the winter? Thanks for all your help so far.

It may be too late to plant a cover crop this year, but you are correct.
When mulch begins to break down, it actually sequesters nitrogen from a thin layer of soil.
My thinking is that if you do add high nitrogen sources, then even if hot, if you dig/rotovate them in now, then the "heat" will be mostly gone by planting time.

 

[Brian1985]

Thanks for your help. I was thinking of doing a cover crop next fall. I was going to last fall and never got around to it.