[Garden] soil test results

[Madeline Rosamond]

Hi, all:
So am I the only one who has no idea what those numbers mean? What
units are they in? (mg/g of soil, maybe?)  What numbers would we
expect for a "good" soil in an organic garden?

My understanding of nitrogen is pretty much all aquatic, but it's
possible we're not as N-depleted as those numbers imply. It could be
that the majority of the N in the soil is in the form of organic N
and/or ammonium (both of which we'd probably find in the compost in
high quantities). Plants prefer nitrate, generally, so maybe they're
limited by the rates at which ON or ammonium are converted to nitrate
by soil bacteria. These bacteria will probably start acting faster as
the soil warms up and dries out (they need dry, oxic conditions). Just
a thought. I'm all for planting more beans and peas, so long as people
promise to eat them!

Cheers,
Maddy, a confused earth scientist

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 4:10 PM, Candace Wormsbecker <candace at owr.ca> wrote:
> Awesome!  Thanks for doing the testing AliciaJ
>
>
>
> I would advise against adding chemical fertilizers and stick to organic
> principles if this is what you are referring to, this is very important to
> me and others I’m sure.
>
>
>
> Other potential options could include…
>
>
>
> We could get another load of compost if people are in agreement of using
> another $80 for this.  Remember we only have $400 and about $120 has been
> used thus far.  We could potentially get compost from the University, it is
> a lower quality but they have provided it for free in the past.
>
>
>
> We could plant more nitrogen fixing plants as well, particularly in beds
> that have lower nitrogen (if tests were done for each bed) and we want to
> plant on what the soils needs vs. what we would like to see growing.
>
>
>
> I would also suggest we continue with the green manuring that we did a
> couple years ago and sow all the beds with alfalfa or winter rye which can
> fix more nitrogen for next year.
>
>
>
> Great to finally have this done!!
>
>
>
> Best.
> Candace
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________
>
>
>
> Candace Wormsbecker
>
> Community Garden Capacity Builder
>
>
>
> Opportunities Waterloo Region
>
> 235  King St. E., Main Floor
>
> Kitchener, ON
>
> N2G 4N5
>
>
>
> Tel: 519-883-2353 ext. 5984
>
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>
> "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today".
>      ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: garden-bounces at lists.wpirg.org [mailto:garden-bounces at lists.wpirg.org]
> On Behalf Of Alicia Mah
> Sent: May-08-09 2:28 PM
> To: garden at lists.wpirg.org
> Subject: [Garden] soil test results
>
>
>
> HI everybody,
>
> You will find below the results of the soil testing that we did on Tuesday
> (thanks, Ludmila and Ashley!). I haven't interpreted them as yet, although
> we can see that nitrogen levels are extremely low. Hence, planting
> nitrogen-intensive plants like corn and roses might not be the best plan.
>
> We could potentially add nitrogen-rich fertilizer to some of the plots. It
> was suggested that we experiment and plant the same species in two different
> plots, one with nitrogen added and one without, to see if it will make a
> difference.
>
> Cheers,
> Alicia
>
> UW Community Garden Soil test results May 2009
>
> Humus over 5
> pH 7.6-7.8
> Nitrate very low, under 10
> Phosphorus high over 200
> Potassium
> Sample #    Location in garden    Potassium
> 1    Lower right    220
> 2    Upper right    200
> 3    middle    180
> 4    Lower left    220
> 5    Lower right    200
>
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