|
| I need some help figuring out what's going on with my soil. I just had some new areas tested (trying to figure out where best to plant my cultivated blueberries). An earlier sample from same general area gave pH of 3.8, High OM, Very Low Nitrate, Low Ammonium, Low P, and High K, Ca, and Mg. I figured the extremely low pH was why the wild blueberries in that area might not be bearing fruit (though the leaves look fine, so that's weird with Very Low N).
15 ft over I have a nice patch of wild (lowbush) blueberries that do produce berries, tried to figure where to put the highbush so they wouldn't shade them, it's pretty mossy and rocky over there. Test results in new location are pH 4.2, Low Nitrate, High (150 ppm) Ammonium (!) Medium Low P, Low K, Low Ca, and Medium Mg. How can they be so different in the same general area, native unamended soil? And where would ammonium nitrate come from if chemical fertilizers or manure have never been applied? I've got questions on new results from amended beds too, but I'll start a new thread on that. Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Fri, May 11, 12 at 17:33
| You don't say where you are located. Those pH numbers are very very low. Where did you have your tests done? A soil testing lab? Have you added any soil acidifiers like sulfur, aluminum sulfate, etc.? Nitrate and ammonium occur naturally in the soil as a result of microbes breaking down organic matter, fixing N from the air, and/or converting nitrate to nitrogen gas. It is quite natural to see some there. |
|
| Soil lab (state lab) says ammonium not usually found unless you're fertilized recently. We're in CT and the native soil is extremely acidic (though usually low 4's, not high 3's). We've never added anything to this soil - it's just barely out of the woods where we cleared for our house (and now the blueberries are growing in since we took the big trees - mostly oak, maple, hickory, pine - out), til we hit ledge and had to move the foundation. |
|
| I just looked it up (had a hard time finding anything but references to synthetic fertilizers), apparently ammonium is produced naturally, just in more neutral soils it's converted to nitrate form, but in acidic soils nitrification doesn't occur as easily. Still don't know why the large difference in pH and nutrient levels in a relatively small area - maybe some difference in underlying minerals (ledge in more acidic part) - flora is pretty much the same (lots of mountain laurel, blueberry, and in the LESS acidic area, some more moss). |
|
| I have seen soil pH vary that much over a relatively short distance, it depends on many things. Do the Blueberries growing in the 3.8 soil blossom? Do pollinators spend time at the blossoms if they do? Is the soil too wet, or too dry, at fruit set time? There are many variables that determine why one set pf plants, growing here, will produce and others, growing over there, will not and we need to look closely at the why to understand that. |
|
| High pH sometimes blocks NPK. High K could cause an imbalance that will block NP. |
|
| A soil pH outside about the 6.0 to 7.0 range can make it difficult for plants to uptake and utilize nutrients. Most all plant nutrients are most readily available in the 6.2 to 6.8 range, but some plants, such as Blueberries have evolved growing is soils with lower pHs and struggles growing in soils with "normal" pHs. Nutrient imbalance can create as many problems as nutrient deficiency. Excess Potash, K, can cause a plant to not be able to properly use Nitrogen, N, and vice versa. An imbalance of Calcium, Ca, and Magnesium, MG, can create problems that give the appearance of a deficiency in either one, because plants need both, in balance, to properly utilize one or the other. so a soil with adequate levels of Ca can still grow plants with Blossom End Rot, of the soil Mg levels are not in balance. |
|
| Well, we planted 6 blueberry bushes in the 4.2 soil, mixed a couple shovels of composted manure (5.6 pH) in the holes and also used as mulch/top dressing, no other amendments (manure was High nitrate, Medium ammonium, High P, Medium K and Low Ca, Medium High Mg) so I'm hoping they will do OK, don't really know what Ca requirements are for blueberries but I've never seen on with BER ;-) |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.