Recommended soil tests--what do I pay the lab to do?

[Seamaiden]

Thread title pretty much says it all. I've called our local county ag extension and they don't perform any soil testing. They sent me to an outfit in Modesto (wouldn't Davis have been just as close?) called A&L Laboratories: http://www.al-labs-west.com/

This outfit seems to be extremely comprehensive in their testing, and I'm feeling a little lost when I sit here looking at all the services and analyses they offer. And so, I come to the more experienced soil growers for a little advice on the subject.

My goal and focus is to utilize the soil food web in a natural, holistic and organic manner. I'm not wrapped up in veganics because I think animals, including dead animals and animal poo, have a place in this ecosystem we call earth. But I am quite wrapped up in the processes I plan to put into motion for growing cannabis and food crops (right now it's beans & corn, old varieties).

Since I plan on doing some crop rotation (but haven't gotten the exact rotation figured out since we're on a good slope, this should get interesting considering my propensity to fall down on my ass) I'm thinking I'll need to be rather complete, yet generalized, in my approach to handling the soil.

In ANY event! Do I go beyond the basics of soil testing? Do I really need to get deep into soil salinity, even if this land has never been cropped before? How about soil microbiology? Minerals? Heavy red clay, extremely hard water, radon dangers--I live in the Sierra Nevada, western scarp, so that may give some of you an idea of what kind of earth I'm sitting on here.

Many thanks! :harvest:

 

[jammie]

sorry i can't help ya too much. basically i'm an indoor/water guy. my outside adventure is a small veggie garden that gets the indoor waste. i am more interested in the plant material eval. great price for the basics. i wonder if it would be ok to call it hemp, seeing as you have to id the plant that your sending for analysis

 

[Seamaiden]

Hmm... you know, I just don't know for sure the flavors in Modesto, so I don't know that they'd be happy to test hemp. Then again, they might not even care, really. I do know a few friends who started off using Brix readings (using a refractometer), and many of them have now moved to NO3 (nitrate) as a meter to gauge cannabis health.

 

[mrbong73]

Seamaiden:
PVFS can do soil samples for you. Look here

What else is on the shopping list?

 

[Seamaiden]

WOW! So all I need to do is dig 'em up some dirt? The Modesto lab has all their tests separated out.

The list is extensive, begins with stuff like soil amendments (they're my azomite, etcetera source) including minerals and meals, poops and microbes. Also includes pest controls like stylet oil. Hortonova trellis is going to be needed in a big way this year (gotta put that on the list, thanks for reminding me!), and it's all going to be rounded out with some fruit trees. Maybe nuts, too, lotta walnuts are grown up here, significant crop in fact.

Any suggestions are absolutely welcome. :)

 

[mrbong73]

Here's my shopping cart. As a starter.

 

[Seamaiden]

It says it's empty. :D

 

[mrbong73]

Whoops. let me see.
Well that's not going to work. It was these items:
Neem seed meal 6lb
Fish bone meal 50lb
k mag 50lb
alfalfa meal 50lb
gypsum 50lb
fish meal 50lb
crab shell 35lb
gaia glacial rock dust 50lb
oyster shell lime 50lb

Not sure what you have already. The bulk compost and humus would be great.

 

[Seamaiden]

Ok. I wait....

 

[mrbong73]

I edited previous post.

 

[Seamaiden]

Printing. Thank you!

 

[mrbong73]

I thought I saw you mention you had some eco nereo kelp? Have you tried it yet? Also the fish powder?
Both really good stuff, especially as a foliar.

 

[Seamaiden]

I've been using the fish powder for over a year, have it on my list because even though it doesn't exactly dissolve, it's a lot easier to use than fish emulsion and I like using dry products when/where I can. Haven't done the fish powder as a foliar because I did that once with fish emulsion--never again. Outside the stink, it attracted tons of hornets and one got a little personal for my taste.

I've got a couple bags of alfalfa pellets and mixed some of that A&M (alfalfa + grain hay + molasses) as a top-dressing in one bed, we'll see how that performs but I think it's going to give some decent results.
I haven't tried the Eco Nereo yet, saving it for this year's OD.

 

[mrbong73]

Yeah I hear ya on the stinky! I have the liquid fish hydolysate and it is very fishy smelling. I also/mainly use it for soil drench.

Personally, I think the focus should be on quality compost and ewc. If you have or can get enough to spread a couple/few inches over your beds you will be golden.
I would probably mix up my ferts and minerals before hand and then add that to the compost/ewc/humus and mix. Then just work all that into the soil a little.

 

[Seamaiden]

Hmm... even if I have high numbers of red crawlers and other segmented earthworm-type creatures? I figured that as long as I already have a large number of animals generating fresh castings that I wouldn't need to amend, even if it is that heavy clay.

I mix the amendments into a container and then spread them, sometimes incorporating soil into that mix first so as to be sure to have good, even coverage and dispersal.

Have a great compost source locally, looks better than it has in a while, owner told me he's changed sources. He was telling me about how he's reworking his compost and top-soil and people ask him what the soil will need for their plants in terms of feeding, and he's quite proud to say that you don't need to add NPK feeds. Then I told him about how I work the soil food web and need the best, "cleanest" sources of materials and he seemed fairly well-informed on that sort of stuff, so I think it bodes well. I didn't tell him what I'm cropping extensively, but it's good to know I can get that good quality top-soil when I need it, especially from someone who really understands where I'm coming from and doesn't give me this blank look, "What web?"

Of course, though, I will be checking out everything they have. :harvest:

 

[mrbong73]

Sight unseen, a good layer of organic material couldn't hurt. Sounds like you'll be fine though.
Have fun on the shopping spree! Good times ahead.

 

[Seamaiden]

I dropped some clams, came home with a lot of stuff, including several bare-root trees, and BLUEBERRIES. Yum. Apple, pear, fig, peach. Oh, Lord... I can hardly wait til they bear fruit!

Decided against alfalfa meal, as I've already got sources and I was talking to a gal there and she does the same thing I do--old hay sweepings from the feed store--except she uses it right on top as mulch. A couple of things they didn't have in stock, and others they no longer carry in the size I need (JMS in quart or gallon, I don't need 2.5gals).

Forgot to bring a soil sample with me, but I'm just gonna work it the best way I know how. Funny thing, the landscape, earth, flora, climate, out there in Grass Valley, is EXACTLY like here at home. Except it's a little flatter. Pretty much the same elevation as us, too. Made consultation on what to bring home a lot easier.

 

[mrbong73]

Seamaiden:
I am helping my mom do an organic vegetable garden this year. Also her first compost pile using bokashi fermented kitchen scraps. She's pretty jazzed about it all.
I think at the end of this season I will have her do a compost pile directly on top of the raised bed we made. By the end of the winter there should be an awesome layer of amazing compost to spread around and get ready for next year.
Random thoughts perhaps.

mrb

 

[Seamaiden]

Random thoughts can be the most handy, epiphanatic (I just made that word up, makes my spellchecker go nuts).

Your mom's garden is going to kick veggie garden ass! Ours does, every year. The neighbors, they always stop and ask, "How do you do it?" At first I didn't want to tell them, but then when we did start telling them, "It's all organic, soil food web!" we got these looks, and then, "Oh."

Ok, you go and grow your MG veggies that don't grow anywhere nearly as vigorously as mine. You go on ahead and enjoy that.

 

[Blaze]

I used Fruit Growers Laboratory Inc:



So far I've been very impressed with their customer service and expertise. The lab techs were able to answer all my questions and they returned phone calls and e-mails promptly. Should have the results back early next week.

They charge $70 for a comprehensive analysis which includes:

Primary Nutrients - N, P, K
Secondary - Exchangeable & Soluble Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium & SAR
Toxic Elements - Boron, Chloride, Sulfate
Micronutrients - Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu
CEC & % Base Saturation - Ca, Mg, K, Na, Hydrogen
Other - Moisture, Saturation, pH, Soil Salinity, Limestone, Lime, Requirement

With this info the can also extrapolate your C:N ratio, percentage of organic materials, and where you are on the texture triangle.