# First Soil Test



## Pezking7p (May 23, 2020)

I am having a bit of a time interpreting all of this but I'm going to take a crack and look for feedback: Most things are listed in unusual units, some in an Index (which I can find no information about) and some as a %. There are guidelines levels on the laboratory's website for low-mod-adequate-high-very high, but they don't list units on those so it's not 100% clear that the units on my report match with the units on the guidelines.

P - Very low at 9. (Should be 81-120). They are recommending 2.7 lbs phosphate per 1000. 
K - Very low at 65. (Should be 151-250). They are recommending 0.7 lbs potash per 1000. 
Mg - High at 24%. Unsure on this, their guidelines are not in %, but I think I need my Ca:Mg ratio to be higher so I think Mg is still high. 
Ca - Low at 50%. Again, their guidelines are not in %, but I think the ratio should have more Ca by quite a bit. 
pH - Good, surprisingly.
Sulfur - Again, assuming the units are correct between my report and the guidelines they give, I'm "very high". Ideal is around 51-75 versus my 268. 
Zn - Again, this looks "very high" according to their range.
Mg - Appears to be in range.
Cu - Well into the "very high" range.

So, my plan would be to start make an addition of potash now, and 1 lb/k of phosphate. Then add more phosphate in August, and again in September. Nitrogen will wait until fall blitz.

The rest of those? I'm clueless on if they even need to be addressed. The best I can tell, I may need to add some calcium.

Halp please.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Use the search function to search TLF for "NCDA Index".


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Yes to P and K.


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## Pezking7p (May 23, 2020)

Ridgerunner, you are a life saver! Thank you! Now it looks like I've got some reading to do...

G-man, aye aye, captain.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

Could you post a link to the site where the soil test lab recommends P levels of 81-120? Thanks.


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## Pezking7p (May 23, 2020)

Ridgerunner said:


> Could you post a link to the site where the soil test lab recommends P levels of 81-120? Thanks.


I found it in the test lab's FAQ section. Again, the units are not listed, and they have multiple report types available so it's not clear that these match my results. Here: https://watersag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Understanding-Soil-Report.pdf

Also note that I mistakenly copied some values from the Mehlich I table.

My plan was and still is to call the lab once I have a chance to read the NCDA Index article.


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## Babameca (Jul 29, 2019)

Ridgerunner said:


> Could you post a link to the site where the soil test lab recommends P levels of 81-120? Thanks.


I am surprised about the P too...
https://norganics.com/index-2/calculation-pages/calculate-phosphorus-application/


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