[Garden] soil test results

[Alicia Mah]

Hi everybody,

I don't have the units written down currently but I can hunt them up in the
literature I was given (I just haven't had the chance to do this yet - I'll
bring the books to the garden at this weeks' meeting).

Also, the answer Candace's question, 5 different beds were tested, and
nitrate levels were very similar in all of them.

Cheers,
Alicia

On Sat, May 9, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Madeline Rosamond <m.rosamond at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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
> >
> > Fax: 519-568-8587
> >
> >
> >
> > "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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> >
>
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