Macky
04-30-2011, 11:36 AM
I went into town yesterday and had an awesome chat with the owner of the local greenhouse. I've heard people say he's a little strange, but really, I think he's just not a people person...just a plant geek. Get the guy talking soil chemistry and he just comes alive! :giggle
The reason I went in was because of the results of two home soil tests I did the other day. I knew I'd been neglecting our soil since the girls were born (DD1 is spirited and DD2 was colicky for a long time, neither sleep through the night yet at 5 and nearly 2 :sigh), but I didn't know it had gotten this bad. :blush
We're in desperate need of organic matter in the soil... and I've got lots of it from composting, grass cuttings and a handy dandy horse and donkey... but finding the time to actually collect (the boys are on pasture, not in a barn) and haul it by the wheelbarrow load over to the 3,000 square foot garden is impossible these days. We're going to have to just make it happen somehow this year. So, nitrogen I can take care of easily.
Saskatchewan's prairie soil is naturally high in potassium (potash), so that's something I don't have to add either. In fact, something I just learned... too much potassium in the soil actually induces magnesium deficiency, so I have to be careful NOT to add anything at all via fertilizers. It's harder to avoid than you might think.
The phosphorous levels were surprising. The water was nearly clear... like, no colour at all to compare to the chart. :blush I'm not sure, and neither is P and the greenhouse, if the severe deficiency is due to a lack of the nutrient or the high soil and water pH. I would have to have a proper soil test done to find out and I don't have time for that in the spring (my soil's not dry enough for a sample yet). P said if I still wanted to, the university will do it, but if I want timely results, I have to pester them by phone every day. :giggle He said he used to be involved in plant research and that's what they always did to get quick results. :giggle
Anyway, the biggie that the test confirmed was that our soil is severely alkaline... as in, the colour of the water was darker than the 8.0 level on the chart. We knew that already because we used to have hard well water (the term water is used loosely here, it was more like liquid rock) and now hard river water from the pipeline. There are alkali flats all over the countryside, too. It's normal where we live and normal for any area where evaporation wins over rainfall.
What I didn't realize until now, though, was how many nutrients are tied up by soil and/or water that's that far from neutral. This is where P at the greenhouse was so awesome. Most gardening books and websites out there are written by and for gardeners who live in climates where rainfall is higher and salts don't accumulate in the soil like they do here. The standard recommendations just don't work here, in fact, they could be harmful (lime recommendations especially). P said he wished more people would hit on this. Instead of coming to him with the same problems every year and wanting some magic solution to treat the symptoms, gardeners here could prevent most of them by lowering the pH of the soil. Sulfur is usually how it's done, but there are so many different vehicles by which to apply it that it gets really confusing. That's where the chemistry lesson came in. I was sooo not good at chemistry in school :doh, so P had a challenge. :giggle I knew enough, though, that we were able to have an intelligent conversation and I didn't come off as a complete idiot. :) We ended up deciding on a product and I promptly forgot everything I learned upon walking out of the greenhouse. :roll
Let me tell you, though... this year, that soil won't know what hit it. ;)
Anyway, the whole point I'm trying to make here is that while it's great to learn from books and website, sometimes you really REALLY need local expertise. :tu
The reason I went in was because of the results of two home soil tests I did the other day. I knew I'd been neglecting our soil since the girls were born (DD1 is spirited and DD2 was colicky for a long time, neither sleep through the night yet at 5 and nearly 2 :sigh), but I didn't know it had gotten this bad. :blush
We're in desperate need of organic matter in the soil... and I've got lots of it from composting, grass cuttings and a handy dandy horse and donkey... but finding the time to actually collect (the boys are on pasture, not in a barn) and haul it by the wheelbarrow load over to the 3,000 square foot garden is impossible these days. We're going to have to just make it happen somehow this year. So, nitrogen I can take care of easily.
Saskatchewan's prairie soil is naturally high in potassium (potash), so that's something I don't have to add either. In fact, something I just learned... too much potassium in the soil actually induces magnesium deficiency, so I have to be careful NOT to add anything at all via fertilizers. It's harder to avoid than you might think.
The phosphorous levels were surprising. The water was nearly clear... like, no colour at all to compare to the chart. :blush I'm not sure, and neither is P and the greenhouse, if the severe deficiency is due to a lack of the nutrient or the high soil and water pH. I would have to have a proper soil test done to find out and I don't have time for that in the spring (my soil's not dry enough for a sample yet). P said if I still wanted to, the university will do it, but if I want timely results, I have to pester them by phone every day. :giggle He said he used to be involved in plant research and that's what they always did to get quick results. :giggle
Anyway, the biggie that the test confirmed was that our soil is severely alkaline... as in, the colour of the water was darker than the 8.0 level on the chart. We knew that already because we used to have hard well water (the term water is used loosely here, it was more like liquid rock) and now hard river water from the pipeline. There are alkali flats all over the countryside, too. It's normal where we live and normal for any area where evaporation wins over rainfall.
What I didn't realize until now, though, was how many nutrients are tied up by soil and/or water that's that far from neutral. This is where P at the greenhouse was so awesome. Most gardening books and websites out there are written by and for gardeners who live in climates where rainfall is higher and salts don't accumulate in the soil like they do here. The standard recommendations just don't work here, in fact, they could be harmful (lime recommendations especially). P said he wished more people would hit on this. Instead of coming to him with the same problems every year and wanting some magic solution to treat the symptoms, gardeners here could prevent most of them by lowering the pH of the soil. Sulfur is usually how it's done, but there are so many different vehicles by which to apply it that it gets really confusing. That's where the chemistry lesson came in. I was sooo not good at chemistry in school :doh, so P had a challenge. :giggle I knew enough, though, that we were able to have an intelligent conversation and I didn't come off as a complete idiot. :) We ended up deciding on a product and I promptly forgot everything I learned upon walking out of the greenhouse. :roll
Let me tell you, though... this year, that soil won't know what hit it. ;)
Anyway, the whole point I'm trying to make here is that while it's great to learn from books and website, sometimes you really REALLY need local expertise. :tu