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SOIL TEST RESULTS ARE IN. DID I PASS?

April 1, 2015

The results of the soil tests of the skinny bed next to the house and what I call the main garden just off the patio came were not what I would call earth-shattering, but ironically the one thing I thought I knew is probably what I was most wrong about.

One of the reasons I wanted to test the skinny garden alongside the house is because I feel like plants just aren’t flourishing there like they should be. I plan to renovate that whole bed this spring, pulling out almost everything and starting mostly from scratch, but before I invest the time and money in doing that I wanted to make sure there’s nothing odd going on there, like something leaching from the foundation into the soil.

Here are the results from that bed.

So what does it all mean? Let’s break it down.

The levels of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium are not a big surprise. You can’t really accurately measure nitrogen levels outside of the growing season and since nitrogen levels change constantly as it is being used by plants or becomes tied up in organic matter, it can be difficult to really know what’s going on with nitrogen. Most gardens can use some supplemental nitrogen at the right time of the year. It’s not a good idea to add nitrogen early in the year when you need plants to concentrate energy into root growth or at the end of the season, when a flush of leafy growth may not harden off in time to deal with winter.

Most gardens also have adequate levels of potassium and phosphorus and you can see that the levels are off the charts in this section of mine.

The organic matter level is at 7.6%, which is pretty good (you don’t want this number to get above 10% and it’s important to remember that the more organic matter, the more it ties up nitrogen in breaking it down).

But the number to look at is the pH; the one number I thought I had a good handle on before doing this test. At 7.5, my soil pH is definitely higher than I thought it was (I was under the impression that it was more in the 7.2 range). A pH of 7 is neutral. Anything below that is considered acidic, anything above it is alkaline. And while a lot of plants can handle a range of pH, 7.5 is definitely at the high end for where plants will thrive.

For instance, I continue to attempt to grow a climbing rose in this bed and although they grow, they don’t thrive like they should given that it is nearly perfect conditions for them. The last few years they’ve also suffered from aphid attacks, which is in my opinion a sign of a less-than-healthy plant. The optimum pH for roses is 6.5.

The other problem with high pH soils is that they can make it difficult for plants to use micronutrients in the soil. One of the recommendations in the report addresses this. “Some ornamentals such as roses may show yellowing (chlorosis) from iron and/or manganese deficiency at high soil pH. Treat problems related to micronutrient deficiency when soil pH is above optimum with foliar spray containing iron and manganese 1 to 2 times during the growing season.”

The results of the main garden test showed similar results.

The pH is just a touch lower and the organic matter just a touch higher. I’ve been having a few issues with cholorosis on my large Limelight hydrangea in this bed and I now think that’s due to it needing some micronutrients because of the high pH.

There is a difference in texture between the soil sample from the skinny garden, top, and the main garden, bottom.

There’s more to soil than just numbers of course. Another helpful test I could do at home would be to do the soil-in-a-jar test that most of us probably did in school to determine texture and composition. Fine Gardening has information on how to do a more elaborate version of this test. Just from looking at my soil samples it was clear to me that when I rejuvenate the skinny bed I need to work on creating a more moisture retentive soil.

So what’s the bottom line here?

  1. There’s no need to seek out balanced (i.e. 10-10-10) fertilizers because my soil doesn’t need any more phosphorus or potassium than it already has. I can spend my money concentrating on just adding nitrogen.
  2. More than fertilizing, I need to be focused on bringing down the pH of my soil. I’ll never grow azaleas, but I think I can make some serious strides to getting the pH closer to neutral. There are two main ways I can achieve this: aluminum sulphate or elemental sulfur. Elemental sulfur will require less but will take longer to work. Aluminum sulphate works faster but requires about six times more to get the same pH change of elemental sulfur. 
  3. I need to consider incorporating an iron or manganese foliar spray for plants showing signs of chlorosis. 
Will I recoup the $30 I spent on the tests? Probably, although even if I didn’t, knowing what I need to do to improve my garden would be well worth the $30.

soil soil test
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
2 Comments

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Comments

  1. Heather - New House New Home says: April 2, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    Wow! You've got me thinking I need to do this after all. I have no idea what the ph level is in my garden and I'll bet you that my organic matter is way too high as we dump a lot of compost on it every spring.

    Reply
  2. Shane Illingworth says: May 25, 2015 at 7:02 am

    Before growing anything such as gardening, farming and cultivating we must go for soil test; either the soil is suitable for gardening and other substances or not. The nutritious value present in the soil will decide the growth of plants and crops; therefore we should go for soil test before any farming and gardening.

    Reply

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Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

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