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Cleveland Texas

This is my soil test results for my watermelon patch for next year.

PH 5.6
Nitrate-N 56 ppm
Phosphorus 26 ppm
Potassium 97 ppm
Calcium 562 ppm
Magnesium 147 ppm
Sulfur 83 ppm
Sodium 115 ppm
Organic matter 1.53%

Does anybody have any recomendations on what and how much I should add? I'm going to plant clover as a cover crop.

10/15/2010 12:22:34 AM

Corryton, TN

If you got recomendations from the lab, start with those especially the lime because it takes longer to work. If you didn't get recomendations from them, contact them and I'm sure they will e-mail them to you. Just tell them your growing watermelons. Due to the fact your not planting melons now, you do not need to apply much, if any, nitrogen now. Clover only needs a little to get going. Soil recomendations from labs are based on a working depth of 6 inches. If you have worked the ground down to 8" increase amendments by 1/3, 10" by 2/3, 1 foot - double them, etc. Work them in and retest in spring. Watermelons and pumpkins need basicly the same nutrients.

10/15/2010 8:31:23 AM

Trinity River Bottom

RB. i'm interested in seeing what they tell you to add . keep us posted. especially in the organic matter .
of course ph needs to come up . but i wouldn't worry to much about everything else until spring . but thats my opinion see what they tell you.
what lab did you use ?

10/15/2010 8:47:40 AM

southwest MO

Do you have any aged compost to throw in there before you plant your clover? Also some lime would be good. You have alot of room to grow this soil, just dont try to go to fast and get an imbalance. Good compost should grow all these numbers more-or-less in a uniform matter.

10/15/2010 9:27:25 AM

Trinity River Bottom

guess i'm a little to old school . but after being in the nursery business all my life. i rely more on what the plant tells me it needs than anything else .

10/15/2010 1:37:23 PM

southwest MO

I'm with you there kirk as I think most folks are. Every body stresses to get a soil test then when the results come in their not really sure what it all means... Looking at rebjr's #'s the first thing that comes to mind is low fertility. But fertility is based on many different things such as microbe population/activity, tilth, water holding capacity etc...But if you look at enough soil tests his #'s rank pretty low. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing because he appears uniform. Like you say his plants will tell him if their getting what they need ie. if it's fertile.
Cation exchange capacity (C.E.C.)is another useful tool and another part of the fertility equation. Its not listed here but I'm guessing its around 8-10...We as gardeners have the ability to take a small patch of ground and make it highly fertile where it may not be economically viable for a farmer to do this with large tracts of land. I'm also guessing based on his geography that this could just be native sandy soil. If this is close to reality adding compost will help build his fertility and be a good start. This will also help the physical characteristics of his soil ie. water holding capacity, tilth etc., but will also help build the chemical characteristic of C.E.C. I guess my point is if he can use these tools to start building the soil he may be a little further ahead instead of waiting to see his plants struggling and trying to correct mid season, because at that point the alternatives are allot less in that he will likely have to depend on water solubles which feed the plant but do little for fertility.

10/15/2010 6:06:31 PM

Cleveland Texas

The recomendations were:
1.9 lbs Phosphorus per 1000sq/ft.
1.7 lbs Potassium per 1000sq/ft.
15 lbs Limestone per 1000sq/ft.

I don't have any compost available yet. I'm getting some mushroom compost and black humus soon and I'm going to finish composting it to add in the spring. I took my sample at 6" and I'm tilling down to about 8".
I used Texas A&M soil lab and these are the results and recomendations they gave me. The results seem low to me but i'm still learning. I guess I will try a different lab next time to see how much the results vary.

10/15/2010 9:02:33 PM

Southeast Texas

rebjr,do you live in tarkenton,your close to me i can help some.i just grow 500 to 600lbers but it a start...

10/16/2010 8:49:54 PM

Cleveland Texas

Yes I live in Tarkington. I don't live to far from Raywood and not to far from Moss Hill.
I've added everything the soil sample recomended but after reading things here I think I still may be a little low on some things.
Is there anyting that I should start a little on the high side for the beginning of the season?

10/17/2010 8:20:21 PM

Corryton, TN

I think your good till the spring test. You can make the small adjustments then. Depending on irrigation methods you can make small additions through the season. Start thinking about irrigation systems and WEED CONTROL.

10/18/2010 6:41:36 AM

Rochester, Minnesota

Clover as a cover crop. That's funny! I pulled my vines and I expecting snow as a cover crop. Gotta love Minnesota.

10/18/2010 8:57:04 AM

Cleveland Texas

Weed control is going to be landscape fabric and for irrigation I was thinking about using soaker hoses under the fabric. I'm going to put some compost under the fabric also.

10/18/2010 9:41:02 AM