Hi Jacques, I take soil sample for my job, (I work in agriculture) and we always wear gloves to avoid touching the soil when mixing it. It can actually affect the pH, even more so if you are wearing sun screan. That might be what threw of your analysis! I hope it's a useful piece of info for next time 😊
As someone who's always lived in places with hard water, I would definitely avoid running high calcium concentrations through any pipes or drip lines. Probably best, if you're using a water-soluble amendment is to do it with a watering can, especially as you don't need to do it often. It's just not worth the risk of gumming up your water infrastructure with mineral deposits.
Hi Jacque, I am a retired dairy farmer from mid-state NH. on a 3 generation farm. We also took soil samples often. We used a tubular probe about 12 inches long, which would extract a cylindrical soil sample about 1 in. in diameter, and as long as we were able to push it into the ground. We removed any plant matter (weeds, grass, alfalfa or corn stubble, etc.) we did not remove any top soil!, took a number of samples in the field, combined and mixed together the samples, took a small sample of that and sent it in for analysis. I feel this way gives a much better overall representative soil sample.
this is the way to go, the sample he sent in was mostly nonsense, i have no idea how he came up with that method, in australia we have to do lots of soil samples because the soil here is rarely good for growing western crops, you can buy a soil probe at bunnings that is exactly what you describe, a metal tube with a handle.
@@fnytnqsladcgqlefzcqxlzlcgj9220 I only use the Epic channel as a comparison as I live within 10 miles of the two neighborhoods (South & North Park neighborhoods of San Diego). They shoot from the hip a lot so I don't take much of what they say as fact. This video being a case of that. It's so easy to grow in SD, when people say I have an amazing garden I always say its 70 the weather, 30% me. You have to be special not to be able to grow in SD.
This is what I was attempting to replicate without having a probe handy. I was hoping to show a way of doing it with just tools people have handy. The only reason I avoided the top soil is because I apply compost and fertilizer on the surface and so I didn't want them to throw off my results but on a large scale I can see that not mattering.
@fnytnqsladcgqlefzcqxlzlcgj9220 as to the sample I sent being nonsense this is literally the same thing just not using a fancy tool. How could soil being sent in being nonsense? Genuinely happy to hear your thoughts as to why this sample is pointless to you.
@@Napoleon-xp3sm I feel that's a bit harsh. I live in Texas and courtesy of the Marines spent time in San Diego and southern Cali so when I'm watching I'm more than aware of difference in climate between the two locations with my apartment balcony grow bag garden. As for shooting from the hip, I think that describes your average gardener and both Jacque and Kevin constantly remind to look at you respective growing zone.
Hey Jacque, One simple way to add calcium to your soil, is to roast (gently) your egg shells, grind them up, and sprinkle them around your plants. Also, if you boil eggs, use the water on your garden after it has cooled. Love your informative videos. Thanks for the time you spend researching stuff to share with us. 🇦🇺🦘
And don't forget other nutrients that plants need to break down calcium. Once you apply some eggshells, you will rarely ever have to do it again as they're broken down & sipped up slowly.
Thank you for explaining this in detail. I went to a soil workshop where they were discussing adding spent mushroom blocks to the soil.so many benefits. I have yet to test my soil but i definitely see changes. The increased worm activity and less compaction in my beds. Thank you for sharing
All of us science nerds loved this video. I also love rocks and used to have a nice collection as a child. Still enjoy running little garden experiments although it is very hard to control for all the variables.
Wow! This was by far one of the best soil testing videos I've seen. Very informative, and the comparison from last year till now, just proves, why we need a "Epic gardening analysis kit." I'm very visual, so looking at your charts was so educational in detail. Thanks for sharing your details as well.
No it’s not. They have a conflict of interest. They should be urging people to use their local/state agricultural extension services for soil testing. Costs less and likely way more accurate results.
I'm glad it was helpful, I think the breakdown is often the hardest part of understanding the results. This video is universal as to how to take and average a soil sample and then how to interpret and understand what each data point means. As to other comments in this thread, there has been and always will be many options at various price points. One of the downsides with local ag and extension is the long lead time and lack of convenience. The data would be the same if the tests is testing the same thing using the same testing methodology. Please always look for whatever serves your needs best there is no obligation to stick to one option ever.
Thank you for the clear and concise overview of soil testing and interpretation of the results. It corroborated many of my observations and showed me some new perspectives. You mentioned grubs. Unless I had reason to suspect that the grubs were the larvae of pest insects, such as plant damage potentially attributable to either the larvae or adults, I would be inclined not to worry about grubs. Some of the grubs might be either larvae of beneficial beetles or other insects, or harmless. Also, gypsum can add calcium (and sulphur) without substantially raising soil Ph.
I love the analysis, very helpful for how to go about interpreting my own results. I have clay soil with high potassium and phosphorus also. I never thought about how manure based compost could be contributing. Some people might think the higher the numbers the better but like you mentioned - it can throw off the uptake of other nutrients. Thank you for your thoughtful work!
You can always have too much of a good thing! It becomes so saturated that it blocks other elements with similar charges from being taken up by the plants!
Hi Jacque, loved the video. One thing to keep in mind is since your calcium levels are below the optimal range, make sure to not over apply calcium because it can tie up you phosphorus making it unavailable to you plants. Thanks👍
I think he was reffering to Jadam eggshell/vinegar calcium, wich is a foliar spray? I think plants would benefit from this and it wouldn't stop from absorbing other nutrients... What do you think?
@@jacquesinthegarden if it ties up the phosphorus as the other commenter said (not sure if it does) that might be a good thing in your bed where the phosphorus is too high.
Glad you gave a breakdown on how to do the test. I am always intimidated. That said, if you have clay soil and you create a blueberry bed out of sheet mulch and coffee grounds, you can have an organic matter test off the charts. Mine was 35% organic matter. It'll be interesting to see how that changes over time. The blueberries love it.
The idea of soil testing is daunting to me because I have a bunch of different beds with totally different soil mixes/methods. Multiple raised beds all filled differently, one no-dig bed mulched with mushroom compost, one tilled bed, one “lazy bed” and a lazy lasagna bed. I feel like anything other than testing every bed individually would be pointless for me since they’re all so different.
You can always do it a bit at a time. Test a couple this year, test a couple next year. No reason you need to know everything all at once considering the alternative is not knowing anything. Focus on the ones you think could benefit the most.
You need to grow (black oil) sunflowers all over your garden. Their big tap roots will leave nice organic matter for your garden when you cut them down, and the roots help to break up and aerate the soil.
Don't get too hung up on the "high" potassium or phosphate number in isolation. Look at total base saturation which compares the CEC to the sum of K Ca and Mg, this base saturation is often closely linked to changes in pH unless you have a lot of free lime or a very recent application of ammonical N fertilizer. The Ph of 7.1 and high K hints that the base saturation is very high, assumuing it is not a soil naturally high in limestone. Then look at the ratio of those three, it can vary quite widely but 4:2:1 or 3:2:1 is a good goal for K:Ca:Mg (By wide range I mean anything from 1:1:1 to 8:4:1 could be fine, and within that commercial farmers will tend to look more at plant testing because of various complexities affecting actual nutrient availibility.) As for high phosphate it really isn't detrimental to plants unless availible in such an extreme as to compete with other anions, in which case you will see deficiency symptoms of certain micronutrients rather than direct phosphate toxicity. (Be careful reading the soil test, you could be looking at elemental P or P₂O₅, there is a 2.3 multiplier between the pure element and the fertilizer label number [P₂O₅], and do not try to compare different types of P test methods and recomended level ie Olsen, bray, etc all give very different results and are suited to different soil types). The availibility of phosphate drops with time as it binds strongly with calcium and magnesium. (commercial growers tend to apply P in concentrated bands to reduce contect with Ca and Mg and delay this binding.) The point of the different P test methods is to show the P that may be availible to the plant in a season, not the reserve P that is bound to Ca/Mg and only very very slowly availible (decades). The environmental concerns of phosphate don't come from leaching because of the binding and some other factors that slow P mobility within soil, they issue is errosion of solid soil particles containing phosphate directly into surface waterways. You should expect lower organic matter in warm climates because it breaks down faster. And it is a half life issue so the more organic matter you have the faster it will break down. 5% is reasonable for areas with cool soil (yearly average, but time period with soil temp below 32f all count as 32f in the calculation because microbial activity is fully stopped.) 3-4% is reasonable in warm temperate areas and even less in the tropics. You really only find natural levels above these percentages where there was a bog situation for decades (resuling in "muck" soil after draining); old conifer forrest where the duff is jvery high carbon low nitrogen acidic and resistant to breakdown; or in areas closer with extremely cool damp soil in the far north that isn't a climate condusive to most crops.
My soil pH in San Diego was always slightly high and the same was seen even in things like my vermicomposter. I eventually started to just attribute it to something about the mineral composition of the water being enough to affect pH and those same minerals being common in the soil.
I get a ton of pill bugs, so to help with them not eating too many seedlings, I add in compost, worm casting, and I add will toss veggie leaves & veggies/fruit scraps for worms & pills bugs to break down in each bed.
This is my first year dealing with so many as well. Slugs too. And most the ground is really hard from lack of rain/watering. I'm planning on planting extra seeds and just starting some stuff in doors. I love that they're helping to break down all of the compost though. My soil needs it badly.
I have a bazillion pill bugs in my raised bed. It worries me because they can feed on young seedlings. I sprinkled with Sluggo plus but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference. I know they help decompose but the number of them is abundant. And creepy.
Try slicing oranges and put them around the bed at night. In the morning they will be covered in pill bugs. Discard the oranges with bugs. Do this until there are no more bugs. Good luck. 🤜 🤛
They can really be a problem when it comes to mowing down young seedlings. In my mind there are 2 paths, removal or accepting. You can scrap out the top layer of soil with a wide shovel and probably get like 80% of them and then move them somewhere else in your yard. You can also just accept that they are there and apply fresh mulch to give them something to eat. In that regard you are probably best off transplanting seedlings rather than direct seeding. If you transplant larger seedlings with 4+ true leaves they shouldn't be able to kill them.
$20 at our county's Extension Office. Also available at many ag supply stores. Overall it's good to have options. These videos are important info for gardeners everywhere. Well done!
Are soil tests normally this intricate or are we just getting more richness because Jaques is also a geologist. Like ‘because granite would have more potassium’ is that common knowledge? Lol. Thanks for the very informative vid!
Granitic based soils can test high ,or low depending on whether the feldspars ( degraded from the original granite) are potassium or sodium based. Also, alkaline soils will have low K availability, but could could contain good amounts of K- just not available.
Granite contains a lot of Feldspar, which can be made in nature with Na, K or Ca, depending on the origin. I bet that as a Geologist, Jacques knows the history of his region pretty well and looking at he soil samples, this makes a lot of sense.
Haha, the analysis is for sure from my own intuition here from doing field work across San Diego as a geology student. For me it is just a fun puzzle to solve where I can look at my results and then try to pull out the information based on everything else I know! Unfortunately the test does not come with a geology insight!
Thank you I was wondering about those kits on your alls site. For calcium I use ground up egg shells and seafood shells like crab shrimp and lobster. I dry them out un the oven or my treager depending on if I want the house to smell like fish. Oven set to 200° then let them go for 6-12 hours depending on how much you have then into the nutra bullet to turn them into powder.
No afence? Is cooking it down the right thing to do just like other things fish emotion @ a high temperature kills the nutrients. I have to look that up but I am wondering now cause I just put them out for chickens to eat them. Chicken manure high in Calcium?
@briankubik5041 Calcium doesn't change in the cooking process. The bone meal available in garden centers has to be sterilized, to remove pathogens. And that's at a much higher temp than the OP is talking about. Shellfish also contain iodine, which CAN be altered by cooking.
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but you can use a grass cover crop like oats or wheat to scavenge excess phosphorus from your soil and increase organic matter. its great to have that confirmation though before taking the next step so you know what the best options are!
I have been soil testing all my soils, my raised beds were really hot on nutrients like pegged the graph on everything even after corn and tomatoes and garlic were in the bed, crazy how much it had that 3 heavy feeders in succession didnt manage to deplete it. My native soil is a giant ancient sand dune that holds absolutely no water and is nutrient depleted and requires a lot of fertilizer applications and lime applications to keep it from going super acidic.
Calcium sulfate/ gypsum will not raise Ca levels in the soil. It works as a plant feeder. Calcium carbonate, 200 mesh will boost levels in the soil. A more coarse mesh chalk will have a slower availability, last longer in the soil and be less dusty to spread.
@@jacquesinthegarden If memory serves the calcium sulfate disassociates into calcium oxide and sulfate. The free sulfate then gloms onto Na. With sufficient irrigation it the leaches into the subsoil where it's less damaging. Calcium carbonate OTOH is LOVED by microorganisms, which are LOVED by worms. Carbonate is a building block for life. You can get 10 mesh lime , and up to 200 mesh lime. VICAL is a product that comes to mind- 200 mesh- dusty to spread. Grangettos has it. Never buy dolomite lime unless your soil is devoid of Mg.
Tree roots take all kinds of nutrients and water out of the soil and they will travel quite a distance. I even had tree roots grow up through the drain holes of a container that had been sitting in the same place for two years. Couldn't understand why nothing would grow in it until I tried to move it and discovered the tree roots. Raised beds are definitely the way to go if you have any trees nearby. Your zinc and copper were high. Is that a problem?
I have watched many gardening videos on UA-cam and no one tests their soil. This is the only one I can remember seeing. I have my soil tested every three years. Two years ago I heavily composted my soil and ruined my nitrogen level. My crops were horrible. I hope that this year things are better.
Fun fact 6.5 is the best Ph overall as a lot of soil nutrients cannot be taken up efficiently or at all if it is below or above that. At 6.5 you get the highest degree of availability of nutrients.
Yes! A good way to know if something counts as soil organic matter is to ask two questions: Was it ever alive? Or did it come from something that was alive? If yes, 9 out of 10 times it counts as organic matter. Some examples - spent plants, leaves, straw, peat, coir, manure, bones, sticks, hair, even cardboard and lumber counts. The exceptions to this are products from living things that break down extremely quickly (think blood meal or urine/urea). Even though it's organic it breaks down too quickly to affect the organic content of soil and is simply used as a fertilizer. Biochar is another exception because it has been carbonized and thus breaks down too slowly to count (biochar can remain in soil for hundreds, even thousands, of years).
Love this! ❤ Having access to a full and complete, comprehensive, easy to read soul test is a game changer! Now, is it something you will do all the time? No. Yet if you have a garden bed, or maybe a bed you've used for years, and all of a sudden the plants look brown, wilted, burned, floppy, or just unhealthy, well since you spent months and sometimes years growing these green little friends, you will surely want to quickly correct the issue before they perish! Thats when the soil tests come in. If you've already cared for your bed, amended the soil, added compost, done alk the normal things, and you ate still havinfmg trouble, a soil tests is forbsure the way to go! Grab your soil like Jaques showed everyone, send in that bag, and in a short time you have access to see if you have too much of one nutrient, too little of another, high mineral, low mineral, hydroohobic soil, you name it! Boom! Now you can fix it as save your littke green friends! I love this, it will come in handy fir many a gardener. ❤
Jacque, Im just curious, not trying to be a pest or rude or anything cause we're all trying to learn how to be epic gardeners and you never stop learning. I was watching you take soil samples and then preparing each location for the bag. It occurred to me that when you go from one locations tray to another without washing your hands or washing the sifter it may mix the samples and skew the results. What do you think about that? Just wondering. Id be curious to see if you prepare each sample again and clean in between each sample location...scooper, sifter, & hands....if the tests would come out different. Not saying you have to do that obviously (your garden, your life) but im just curious. However, you said your definitely having an issue in one and maybe it could make a difference? 🤷♀️ I love your videos. Your very helpful! Im so thankful for all of you at epic garden because i am 45 this month and have never been taught how to do this stuff even though my mother and grandmother were brought up farming. When i was born as the eldest of my mothers children all that stopped and my mother became blue collar. My grandmother became disabled. So neither of them thought to teach me what they know. Not even family recipes or anything. I have none of that to hand down. So....I am determined to learn and hand down myself. Also ti become more self sufficient and healthier. i thank you for being willing to help us learn. 🫂🥰 Ive seen several critical people making rude comments....you may not follow all the rules and you may make mistakes....who cares! We are all human for one and what works for you may not work for everyone but at least it gives us ignorant people a starting point to trial and error. I appreciate you all very much! Dont stop or get discouraged because of the rude critics...GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Im here, watching and loving to learn from you all
Case and point! The mushroom spawn thing you pointed out. I would never have known. I dug up some soil to plant some flowers and found some soil that looked like that and wondered what caused it and if it would bother my plants. However, I was thining my swamp sunflowers which were planted in that spot and I was replanting there as well after I added amendments and more soil for the large bathtub planter I had them in. These flowers thrived in the bathtub with it in there so I just figured it was fine since they had been fine up to now. But still....now I know. Thanks again! 🫂
Your P and Zn are very high in your native soil. In fact no need to add in anytime in a life time for a garden. You could be adding 1" of soil to your raised bed. If your area is 4356 square ft that is 1/10 acre that weighs 300,000 lbs per 9" of soil. SOM of 5% is great, no need for more to screw up fertility with compost. Just add ammonium sulfate for the N and to lower the pH some. 25 lbs through the year for 4,000 square feet.
Question. I have raised beds that I filled originally with the square foot gardening mix of vermiculite, peat moss, and assorted composts. The beds are over clay. I find the soil mixture level drops quite a bit each season and has to be topped up a couple times a year. I live in hot SE Texas so garden all year. What would you suggest I add to the beds to help maintain the soil level better so it’s not disappearing into the atmosphere. Make my own compost, worm castings and leaf mold so I have the organic material covered. Thanks
Great video, Jacques. You have encouraged me to do a soil test on my raised beds. I have planned on rotating my crops this year, so this will give me more accurate information. Thanks for all of your informational videos. 😍 from zone 6B in Southeast Missouri.
check with your local recycling center/ waste removal. Usually they will make compost from green waste. Just make sure that they aren't using sludge from the wastewater treatment plants.
Fantastic comprehensive review of soil testing. I’ll surely benefit from this. I have raised beds & containers, grow mostly veggies. My husband recently bought Aerobin 400, composting system. It is Australian made. 400 L capacity. I’m so excited to see the results next year. It also gives me compost tea, which I have already started using. I have three tumbler composters which I was not very happy about. So I am hoping this Aerobin will really help increase my composting.
A big bag of Diamond K gypsum would do go really far in your garden. I've been pushing calcium hard this year due to all the rain and everything in my garden is loving it. Phosphorus availability to the plant mostly relies on microbes to break down OM and rock phosphate to release it in a plant available form. When i see flower development on anything i usually give them a tea of gypsum and Fish hydrolysate or a sprinkle of Fish bone meal and gypsum. It's a great way to launch things into production.
I remember apply that when I first started my garden as I had super clay rich soils and has hoping to ease that. It has been a while since I've used any though.
Been thinking about this for a bit now - last year’s soil test for my raised veg beds said “too much organic matter.” How do I balance that out? Dig up clay from elsewhere and sprinkle it around? Ok, prob not. But still, for veg how much of a “problem” is this? And how to correct/balance for more minerals or whatever clay would bring?
Yaass!! Im looking forward to see actually how cover crops impact the results next year and perhaps how regenerative practices would help as well. Also, question: are there plants which you can grow who absorb more of K or P in conparision to orhwr minerals to balance out the high amounts in the soil? Like bananas have high K, so would that work? If the paknts absorbs more, there is less left in the soil?
Well. The product of the grubs, worms, other organisms in compost IS a manure. When I find some in one of my outdoor planters, I've succeeded in making "soil". And the plants are usually very pleased.
I'm excited to see your results next year too! I have not done any soil testing yet, but I would sure like to. I know our organic matter is next to nothing. So I'm focusing on that for now. It will be interesting to see what an actual test shows.
For me it is a very fun thing to sort of work out and try to solve over time! I think organic matter content is for sure the one to follow for general health.
I am just getting started gardening this year, looking to fill a dozen raised beds. In order to get the best soil (test), Do you guys recommend: Cocco Coir / Compost / 50/50 blend Perlite/Vermiculite Top Soil / Compost / Sand or wood chip Blend What amendments / additives / fertilizers ? Thank you.
Thanks for the great video! My potassium and phosphorous levels in my beds are similarly quite high, and I was curious if you’d recommend avoiding fertilizer that has any at all? Last year I used balanced organic granular fertilizers and plant based compost mainly, but now I’m wondering if I should only use supplemental nitrogen throughout the growing season. What do you think?
I've never tested my soil. 🤔 A couple universities have, that came out and studied/learned how we do things, but I didn't ask the results. We do the same things to all of our soil, regardless of location, and environment. It works great for us, so no point changing it, or testing it.
Love your informative videos! I’m particularly interested in growing sweet potatoes in grow bags and I saw one where you harvested the potatoes. However, I’d like to know if the fertilizer is the same for beds vs grow bags & what kind of soil is used for grow bags. I think i read where nitrogen isn’t good for tubers as they will have lush leaves but very little productive sweet potatoes?
if your veges are already growing amazingly (like those gigantic cabbages), is there really a need to take the time to change the soil? is the amount of effort and time to put into the soil balance worth the extra growth?
I wonder if alfalfa meal would be a good general amendment for you. It's great for nitrogen, organic matter, plus calcium, magnesium, sulphur that you may also need. A good organic non GMO product is ideal. I'm trying a cover crop of field peas this year for the first time, which I'll terminate and leave in place as a mulch.
Areas that have heavily manured( or lots of compost added) will test high for K. Calcium carbonate can buffer this, but a good 14 element soiltest- including base amounts of K, Na, Ca, Mg- is needed so another imbalance isn't created.
@@jacquesinthegarden You can " fertigate" w/ gypsum made for that purpose, but it is only a plant feeder. Gyp won't build Ca levels to the 70% base saturation level needed to drive Sodium in to the subsoil where it's less damaging. Calcium lime is needed for that. It's a much better bang for the buck. You can do both.
There was someone discussing the soil food web, and how looking at the bacterial, fungus, and nemotode level in your soil is key for plant growth. They discuss using compost (or compost tea for large scale farms) to improve this. Her opinion is that the mineral testing isn't really important. There are plenty of minerals in all soil to sustain growth for 100s of years, it is just a matter of having the microrhizal fugus and bacteria to free them up.
Testing the soil is very important - who knew?! Interesting presentation, thanks. I have a question regarding garlic. I planted it at the right time and it is growing very well. My problem now is protecting the green tops. I live in northern Arizona and the wind is endless. Can I trim the tops off like with onions or will I impair their growth? Thanks, you Epic boys are so interesting and fun to watch.
You can trim plants but it can impair their growth to some extent. With onions it might dry them out quicker especially if they are already mature. Planting wind blocking shrubs or taller plants on the edges of your garden can help slow the wind as well.
Hi Jacques, you said if your organic materials are too high it can cause problems. I have raised beds that are filled almost completely with organic matter. What should I look for as problems that would cause? I have basically no native soil because my property is predominantly decomposed granite (Pikes Peak batholith). What can I put in my beds to correct this problem?
Watch Gary's Best Gardening videos on soil. www.youtube.com/@GarysBestGardening I would look into buying some sandy loam topsoil from a landscaping business.
As I understand it, soil tests are rather useless because it gives only the quantities of soluble nutriments at the moment you took the soil sample. What is the most important is the quantity and the diversity of the microorganisms in the soil that are responsible to solubilize the specific nutriments needed by the plants at the moment the plants need them. No matter the soil test results they usually have plenty of mineral nutriments available that only need to be solubilize by microorganisms. So what is important is to feed the microorganisms with organic matters and they will feed the plants.
@@Neenerella333 Discrete application of potassium sulfate, too, will help to bring up K levels. Compost, while high in K is also loaded with Na. Never apply K chloride! Also called Muriate potash. Na will sub for K if K is unavailable( high ph water and/or soil). But get hit with hot weather and your plants will wilt- even if very well watered. The high Na / low K causes the plant cells to burst.
This is a good question, I haven't tested for Na and in the past I have seen soil crusting with white mineral deposits. After noticing it I added a garden water filter and have noticed the crusting is gone. I will look into a Na test and see how feasible it is.
@@jacquesinthegarden Unless it's an RO filter, salt is passing right through. I have a carbon filter on my drip systems and to water the orchard. It helps to filter out chlorine / amine that is detrimental to soil organisms/ mycorhizae.
Specifically I can't break down each one but for example having too much phosphorous can limit the plants ability to take in other nutrients like zinc or iron. It can get pretty specific but generally speaking too much of a good thing can always be bad.
Another great video Jacque. Quick question, you mentioned sing fertilizer through your drip system and I've been looking for a good cheap way to fertigate my garden. My Question is which system do you use and are you happy with it. TIA!
There are a lot of cheap options but I have found that the Ez-Flow is the most reliable one that just works. I think the cheapest is like 60-70 dollars but it works across a wide range of water pressures which is nice.
Just got my soil test results today. The good thing is everything is off the charts high. The bad thing is everything is off the charts high, including ph at 7.4, organic matter at 29% and sodium at 125ppm (447ppm for my new soil). I see a large amount of gypsum powder and sulphur in my near future 😂
The calcium isn't too low but just lower than optimal. Blossom end rot is usually only a calcium issue if you are very deficient otherwise it is usually a watering issue. The plant doesn't have enough water and then can't mobilize the calcium when it needs it leading to end rot.
soil organic matter and also tests for carbon are meant to measure levels of these in a soil that is not amended routinely with dead organic matter added to soil. SOM is meant to measure the living and dead microbes in soil. fine particles of cellulose and the boom and bust of adding dead organic matter are skewing the results, which should show numbers for stable populations of microbes associated with crops grown. it's like getting a high (good) reading of carbon for soil that has had coal fines added in.
Great episode. I am using my local extension at UMass for some soil testing, but I strongly encourage EVERYONE to do some testing. I admit, I have a lot more control, since I am using mostly grow bags (a little over 100 between 5, 7, 10 and 25 gallon) for my gardens. BTW, had a week in the Pacific Northwest for some work recently, and some time off. Saw the Columbia River Gorge, the great flood plains (Missoula floods) Lots of Central Washington, and a ton of the areas where there were some impressive Volcanic flows. (well, a "while ago") Curious, if in your prior life, you ever got to do some study of those volcanic flows? I live in New England and we really don't have that kind of geology. A lot more of our geology (Cape Cod for me) is much more influenced by Glacial and ice movement. In fact, my whole area is an entire moraine from 15,000 YA) in fact, I am not far from that "east coast" place called WHOI.
I know that my soil PH tests on the high-ish side, and already has LOTS of calcium floating around IN it, yet it's not always available to my plants. I live in a place where limestone is quarried all around us. We also have lots of rocks & large limestone in our soil. And our water passes through limestone caves, always carrying calcium with it. So even the water is higher in PH. However, the trick is to figure out how to make the calcium more available to root systems. The only answer I know is what NOT to do - which is to NOT add more calcium! I'll be interested to find out what calcium answers you come up with Jaques!
My general goal at this moment is to apply liquid calcium as a foliar spray. There are a lot of options out there for water soluble calcium which you can then mix into water and apply with a pump sprayer. The downside is that you have to do this on a regular basis to keep calcium high. I am not going to get too obsessed with it but I will try to spray some calcium once a month.
Does that soil test include checks for contaminants such as lead, asbestos, and mercury? I'd hope so at that kind of cost. Yes, I skimmed the video 25 minutes is pretty long. Down here in Melbourne Australia, there's a great soil test option available that checks for contaminants, soil structure, and nutrient levels that's almost free. (Donation) If yours covers all the bases it's a small price to pay to not only get an idea of your current soil status but also suggestions to improve it.
I would nit recommend running any calcium through your drip lines as it will build up and calcify over time. I would apply it let the drip lines work it into your soil.
For now I am messing around with foliar spraying calcium. The downside is that it takes a lot of time to apply. I am not going to get obsessive with it but just try to spray once a month and see if the plants look better. If my values were lower I would consider adding calcium carbonate but you are right it would increase pH.
All of my beds are either raised, in containers or in a no-till spot, so I'd be interested in what the tests would say about mine. I'm doing half and half flowers with veg and fruit. Should be interesting... the beds are just a year old.
Love to hear that setup, the first test is fun because it sets a baseline and then every year after is a fun game of what happened and how did it happen.
You could in theory but it would be a costly practices. Every test is mostly just a snapshot general picture anyway so trying to get the exact perfect timing probably isn't going to be as insightful unless you are a production farm.
I have sandy soil, like 903%. What ratio of county compost should I mix into it. I'm using the blend for raised beds. 50 50? I'm growing primarily tomatoes & squash.
@@jacquesinthegarden it’ll be a TON of information to digest so it’s definitely something of a learning course. WCA is a good place to start. Look into “Dr. Cho’s Natural Farming” book, has everything KNF directly from the master himself.
Great video Jacques! One thing that really helped me understand soil testing is reading The Intelligent Gardener by Steve Solomon. Great read ,check it out!
I would be curious to see sap analysis also. Highly biologically active soils have the ability to provide compounds that aren't in the soil. Anyway, great video, I always enjoy your videos.
Hi Jacques, I take soil sample for my job, (I work in agriculture) and we always wear gloves to avoid touching the soil when mixing it. It can actually affect the pH, even more so if you are wearing sun screan. That might be what threw of your analysis! I hope it's a useful piece of info for next time 😊
As someone who's always lived in places with hard water, I would definitely avoid running high calcium concentrations through any pipes or drip lines. Probably best, if you're using a water-soluble amendment is to do it with a watering can, especially as you don't need to do it often. It's just not worth the risk of gumming up your water infrastructure with mineral deposits.
Hi Jacque, I am a retired dairy farmer from mid-state NH. on a 3 generation farm. We also took soil samples often.
We used a tubular probe about 12 inches long, which would extract a cylindrical soil sample about 1 in. in diameter, and as long as we were able to push it into the ground. We removed any plant matter (weeds, grass, alfalfa or corn stubble, etc.) we did not remove any top soil!, took a number of samples in the field, combined and mixed together the samples, took a small sample of that and sent it in for analysis. I feel this way gives a much better overall representative soil sample.
this is the way to go, the sample he sent in was mostly nonsense, i have no idea how he came up with that method, in australia we have to do lots of soil samples because the soil here is rarely good for growing western crops, you can buy a soil probe at bunnings that is exactly what you describe, a metal tube with a handle.
@@fnytnqsladcgqlefzcqxlzlcgj9220 I only use the Epic channel as a comparison as I live within 10 miles of the two neighborhoods (South & North Park neighborhoods of San Diego). They shoot from the hip a lot so I don't take much of what they say as fact. This video being a case of that. It's so easy to grow in SD, when people say I have an amazing garden I always say its 70 the weather, 30% me. You have to be special not to be able to grow in SD.
This is what I was attempting to replicate without having a probe handy. I was hoping to show a way of doing it with just tools people have handy. The only reason I avoided the top soil is because I apply compost and fertilizer on the surface and so I didn't want them to throw off my results but on a large scale I can see that not mattering.
@fnytnqsladcgqlefzcqxlzlcgj9220 as to the sample I sent being nonsense this is literally the same thing just not using a fancy tool. How could soil being sent in being nonsense? Genuinely happy to hear your thoughts as to why this sample is pointless to you.
@@Napoleon-xp3sm I feel that's a bit harsh. I live in Texas and courtesy of the Marines spent time in San Diego and southern Cali so when I'm watching I'm more than aware of difference in climate between the two locations with my apartment balcony grow bag garden. As for shooting from the hip, I think that describes your average gardener and both Jacque and Kevin constantly remind to look at you respective growing zone.
Hey Jacque,
One simple way to add calcium to your soil, is to roast (gently) your egg shells, grind them up, and sprinkle them around your plants. Also, if you boil eggs, use the water on your garden after it has cooled.
Love your informative videos. Thanks for the time you spend researching stuff to share with us. 🇦🇺🦘
And don't forget other nutrients that plants need to break down calcium. Once you apply some eggshells, you will rarely ever have to do it again as they're broken down & sipped up slowly.
Thank you for explaining this in detail. I went to a soil workshop where they were discussing adding spent mushroom blocks to the soil.so many benefits. I have yet to test my soil but i definitely see changes. The increased worm activity and less compaction in my beds. Thank you for sharing
All of us science nerds loved this video. I also love rocks and used to have a nice collection as a child. Still enjoy running little garden experiments although it is very hard to control for all the variables.
Wow! This was by far one of the best soil testing videos I've seen. Very informative, and the comparison from last year till now, just proves, why we need a "Epic gardening analysis kit." I'm very visual, so looking at your charts was so educational in detail. Thanks for sharing your details as well.
Please, Epicgardening is a sellout, let's not ruin this channel with aggressive merchandising.
You are stoked about 60 dollar soil kits...
University extension offices are also great places to find soil test kits. They usually have lots of options.
No it’s not. They have a conflict of interest. They should be urging people to use their local/state agricultural extension services for soil testing. Costs less and likely way more accurate results.
I'm glad it was helpful, I think the breakdown is often the hardest part of understanding the results. This video is universal as to how to take and average a soil sample and then how to interpret and understand what each data point means.
As to other comments in this thread, there has been and always will be many options at various price points. One of the downsides with local ag and extension is the long lead time and lack of convenience. The data would be the same if the tests is testing the same thing using the same testing methodology. Please always look for whatever serves your needs best there is no obligation to stick to one option ever.
I appreciate the detailed feedback and breakdown of the data and what each change told you. I can tell your background is as a scientist. Cheers!
It makes sense that there would be little organic matter in the soil if you omitted the top two inches (where the organic matter is)
Thank you for the clear and concise overview of soil testing and interpretation of the results. It corroborated many of my observations and showed me some new perspectives. You mentioned grubs. Unless I had reason to suspect that the grubs were the larvae of pest insects, such as plant damage potentially attributable to either the larvae or adults, I would be inclined not to worry about grubs. Some of the grubs might be either larvae of beneficial beetles or other insects, or harmless. Also, gypsum can add calcium (and sulphur) without substantially raising soil Ph.
I love the analysis, very helpful for how to go about interpreting my own results. I have clay soil with high potassium and phosphorus also. I never thought about how manure based compost could be contributing. Some people might think the higher the numbers the better but like you mentioned - it can throw off the uptake of other nutrients. Thank you for your thoughtful work!
You can always have too much of a good thing! It becomes so saturated that it blocks other elements with similar charges from being taken up by the plants!
Hi Jacque, loved the video. One thing to keep in mind is since your calcium levels are below the optimal range, make sure to not over apply calcium because it can tie up you phosphorus making it unavailable to you plants. Thanks👍
I think he was reffering to Jadam eggshell/vinegar calcium, wich is a foliar spray? I think plants would benefit from this and it wouldn't stop from absorbing other nutrients... What do you think?
This is a good point, I don't think I will amend the soil and instead do foliar calcium to see if it has any impact!
@@jacquesinthegarden if it ties up the phosphorus as the other commenter said (not sure if it does) that might be a good thing in your bed where the phosphorus is too high.
Glad you gave a breakdown on how to do the test. I am always intimidated. That said, if you have clay soil and you create a blueberry bed out of sheet mulch and coffee grounds, you can have an organic matter test off the charts. Mine was 35% organic matter. It'll be interesting to see how that changes over time. The blueberries love it.
Hey Jacques whenever ph is above 7 ph the phosphorus gets deionized and doesn't get absorbed very well.
This was awesome! Love the in-depth analysis of the test results. Looking forward to the eventual follow up!
The idea of soil testing is daunting to me because I have a bunch of different beds with totally different soil mixes/methods. Multiple raised beds all filled differently, one no-dig bed mulched with mushroom compost, one tilled bed, one “lazy bed” and a lazy lasagna bed. I feel like anything other than testing every bed individually would be pointless for me since they’re all so different.
You can tell a lot just by looking at how the plants are doing. I wouldn't worry about it.
Just see how stuff grows and make everything like the one that flourishes the most
You can always do it a bit at a time. Test a couple this year, test a couple next year. No reason you need to know everything all at once considering the alternative is not knowing anything. Focus on the ones you think could benefit the most.
@@nicklombardo8944 That's good advice
You need to grow (black oil) sunflowers all over your garden. Their big tap roots will leave nice organic matter for your garden when you cut them down, and the roots help to break up and aerate the soil.
Don't get too hung up on the "high" potassium or phosphate number in isolation. Look at total base saturation which compares the CEC to the sum of K Ca and Mg, this base saturation is often closely linked to changes in pH unless you have a lot of free lime or a very recent application of ammonical N fertilizer. The Ph of 7.1 and high K hints that the base saturation is very high, assumuing it is not a soil naturally high in limestone.
Then look at the ratio of those three, it can vary quite widely but 4:2:1 or 3:2:1 is a good goal for K:Ca:Mg (By wide range I mean anything from 1:1:1 to 8:4:1 could be fine, and within that commercial farmers will tend to look more at plant testing because of various complexities affecting actual nutrient availibility.)
As for high phosphate it really isn't detrimental to plants unless availible in such an extreme as to compete with other anions, in which case you will see deficiency symptoms of certain micronutrients rather than direct phosphate toxicity. (Be careful reading the soil test, you could be looking at elemental P or P₂O₅, there is a 2.3 multiplier between the pure element and the fertilizer label number [P₂O₅], and do not try to compare different types of P test methods and recomended level ie Olsen, bray, etc all give very different results and are suited to different soil types). The availibility of phosphate drops with time as it binds strongly with calcium and magnesium. (commercial growers tend to apply P in concentrated bands to reduce contect with Ca and Mg and delay this binding.) The point of the different P test methods is to show the P that may be availible to the plant in a season, not the reserve P that is bound to Ca/Mg and only very very slowly availible (decades). The environmental concerns of phosphate don't come from leaching because of the binding and some other factors that slow P mobility within soil, they issue is errosion of solid soil particles containing phosphate directly into surface waterways.
You should expect lower organic matter in warm climates because it breaks down faster. And it is a half life issue so the more organic matter you have the faster it will break down. 5% is reasonable for areas with cool soil (yearly average, but time period with soil temp below 32f all count as 32f in the calculation because microbial activity is fully stopped.) 3-4% is reasonable in warm temperate areas and even less in the tropics.
You really only find natural levels above these percentages where there was a bog situation for decades (resuling in "muck" soil after draining); old conifer forrest where the duff is jvery high carbon low nitrogen acidic and resistant to breakdown; or in areas closer with extremely cool damp soil in the far north that isn't a climate condusive to most crops.
My soil pH in San Diego was always slightly high and the same was seen even in things like my vermicomposter. I eventually started to just attribute it to something about the mineral composition of the water being enough to affect pH and those same minerals being common in the soil.
I get a ton of pill bugs, so to help with them not eating too many seedlings, I add in compost, worm casting, and I add will toss veggie leaves & veggies/fruit scraps for worms & pills bugs to break down in each bed.
This is my first year dealing with so many as well. Slugs too. And most the ground is really hard from lack of rain/watering. I'm planning on planting extra seeds and just starting some stuff in doors. I love that they're helping to break down all of the compost though. My soil needs it badly.
I have a bazillion pill bugs in my raised bed. It worries me because they can feed on young seedlings. I sprinkled with Sluggo plus but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference. I know they help decompose but the number of them is abundant. And creepy.
I noticed I started getting a lot after I put down natural leaf mulch. I plan to try beneficial nematodes to take care of the problem.
Try slicing oranges and put them around the bed at night. In the morning they will be covered in pill bugs. Discard the oranges with bugs. Do this until there are no more bugs. Good luck. 🤜 🤛
Same here. They ate my strawberries! Boogers!
They can really be a problem when it comes to mowing down young seedlings. In my mind there are 2 paths, removal or accepting. You can scrap out the top layer of soil with a wide shovel and probably get like 80% of them and then move them somewhere else in your yard. You can also just accept that they are there and apply fresh mulch to give them something to eat. In that regard you are probably best off transplanting seedlings rather than direct seeding. If you transplant larger seedlings with 4+ true leaves they shouldn't be able to kill them.
@@herrerad3 I’ll try this! Thank you!
$20 at our county's Extension Office. Also available at many ag supply stores. Overall it's good to have options. These videos are important info for gardeners everywhere. Well done!
Can you do a video on tumble composting? I know that I am doing something wrong to get the ideal result. But I have no idea how to fix it...
Are soil tests normally this intricate or are we just getting more richness because Jaques is also a geologist. Like ‘because granite would have more potassium’ is that common knowledge? Lol.
Thanks for the very informative vid!
Granitic based soils can test high ,or low depending on whether the feldspars ( degraded from the original granite) are potassium or sodium based.
Also, alkaline soils will have low K availability, but could could contain good amounts of K- just not available.
Looks like there's more than 1 geologist in the crowd!!
Granite contains a lot of Feldspar, which can be made in nature with Na, K or Ca, depending on the origin. I bet that as a Geologist, Jacques knows the history of his region pretty well and looking at he soil samples, this makes a lot of sense.
Haha, the analysis is for sure from my own intuition here from doing field work across San Diego as a geology student. For me it is just a fun puzzle to solve where I can look at my results and then try to pull out the information based on everything else I know! Unfortunately the test does not come with a geology insight!
@@williamevans6522granite is rock, not soil by any means, nor is it bioavailable. 😂
Thank you I was wondering about those kits on your alls site.
For calcium I use ground up egg shells and seafood shells like crab shrimp and lobster. I dry them out un the oven or my treager depending on if I want the house to smell like fish. Oven set to 200° then let them go for 6-12 hours depending on how much you have then into the nutra bullet to turn them into powder.
No afence? Is cooking it down the right thing to do just like other things fish emotion @ a high temperature kills the nutrients. I have to look that up but I am wondering now cause I just put them out for chickens to eat them. Chicken manure high in Calcium?
@briankubik5041 Calcium doesn't change in the cooking process. The bone meal available in garden centers has to be sterilized, to remove pathogens. And that's at a much higher temp than the OP is talking about. Shellfish also contain iodine, which CAN be altered by cooking.
That's not going to be plant available for years, unfortunately.
Powdered calcium is still not plant available garden like a Viking has a good video. I believe you do your process and then add it to vinegar.
How much does this soil test cost?
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but you can use a grass cover crop like oats or wheat to scavenge excess phosphorus from your soil and increase organic matter. its great to have that confirmation though before taking the next step so you know what the best options are!
First impression. My goodness. I have never seen cabbage that big. What??? Overall, this video was so helpful. Ty very much ❤ I learned some things.
Not too long at all! I love the detailed explanation of how to apply the results
I have been soil testing all my soils, my raised beds were really hot on nutrients like pegged the graph on everything even after corn and tomatoes and garlic were in the bed, crazy how much it had that 3 heavy feeders in succession didnt manage to deplete it. My native soil is a giant ancient sand dune that holds absolutely no water and is nutrient depleted and requires a lot of fertilizer applications and lime applications to keep it from going super acidic.
Garden like a Viking has a great video on homemade water, soluble calcium. Also, I was wondering, if you’re screening out your organic matter.
Thanks for the thorough explanation of the test and spotlighting how some results are not always a problem.
Calcium sulfate/ gypsum will not raise Ca levels in the soil.
It works as a plant feeder.
Calcium carbonate, 200 mesh will boost levels in the soil.
A more coarse mesh chalk will have a slower availability, last longer in the soil and be less dusty to spread.
Oui c'est important une granulométrie pas trop fine sinon ça devient du béton et ça bloque le sol.
@@legueux3144 Je ne peux pas traduire cela
That makes sense since Calcium carbonate will break down slowly over time where as gypsum is probably way too water soluble. Thanks for the info!
@@jacquesinthegarden If memory serves the calcium sulfate disassociates into calcium oxide and sulfate. The free sulfate then gloms onto Na. With sufficient irrigation it the leaches into the subsoil where it's less damaging.
Calcium carbonate OTOH is LOVED by microorganisms, which are LOVED by worms.
Carbonate is a building block for life.
You can get 10 mesh lime , and up to 200 mesh lime.
VICAL is a product that comes to mind- 200 mesh- dusty to spread.
Grangettos has it.
Never buy dolomite lime unless your soil is devoid of Mg.
Tree roots take all kinds of nutrients and water out of the soil and they will travel quite a distance. I even had tree roots grow up through the drain holes of a container that had been sitting in the same place for two years. Couldn't understand why nothing would grow in it until I tried to move it and discovered the tree roots. Raised beds are definitely the way to go if you have any trees nearby. Your zinc and copper were high. Is that a problem?
I have watched many gardening videos on UA-cam and no one tests their soil. This is the only one I can remember seeing. I have my soil tested every three years.
Two years ago I heavily composted my soil and ruined my nitrogen level. My crops were horrible.
I hope that this year things are better.
What did you compost with?
Fun fact 6.5 is the best Ph overall as a lot of soil nutrients cannot be taken up efficiently or at all if it is below or above that. At 6.5 you get the highest degree of availability of nutrients.
Do coir and peat count as Organic Matter?
Yes! A good way to know if something counts as soil organic matter is to ask two questions: Was it ever alive? Or did it come from something that was alive? If yes, 9 out of 10 times it counts as organic matter. Some examples - spent plants, leaves, straw, peat, coir, manure, bones, sticks, hair, even cardboard and lumber counts.
The exceptions to this are products from living things that break down extremely quickly (think blood meal or urine/urea). Even though it's organic it breaks down too quickly to affect the organic content of soil and is simply used as a fertilizer. Biochar is another exception because it has been carbonized and thus breaks down too slowly to count (biochar can remain in soil for hundreds, even thousands, of years).
Love this! ❤ Having access to a full and complete, comprehensive, easy to read soul test is a game changer! Now, is it something you will do all the time? No. Yet if you have a garden bed, or maybe a bed you've used for years, and all of a sudden the plants look brown, wilted, burned, floppy, or just unhealthy, well since you spent months and sometimes years growing these green little friends, you will surely want to quickly correct the issue before they perish! Thats when the soil tests come in. If you've already cared for your bed, amended the soil, added compost, done alk the normal things, and you ate still havinfmg trouble, a soil tests is forbsure the way to go! Grab your soil like Jaques showed everyone, send in that bag, and in a short time you have access to see if you have too much of one nutrient, too little of another, high mineral, low mineral, hydroohobic soil, you name it! Boom! Now you can fix it as save your littke green friends! I love this, it will come in handy fir many a gardener. ❤
Jacque, Im just curious, not trying to be a pest or rude or anything cause we're all trying to learn how to be epic gardeners and you never stop learning.
I was watching you take soil samples and then preparing each location for the bag. It occurred to me that when you go from one locations tray to another without washing your hands or washing the sifter it may mix the samples and skew the results. What do you think about that? Just wondering. Id be curious to see if you prepare each sample again and clean in between each sample location...scooper, sifter, & hands....if the tests would come out different. Not saying you have to do that obviously (your garden, your life) but im just curious. However, you said your definitely having an issue in one and maybe it could make a difference? 🤷♀️
I love your videos. Your very helpful! Im so thankful for all of you at epic garden because i am 45 this month and have never been taught how to do this stuff even though my mother and grandmother were brought up farming. When i was born as the eldest of my mothers children all that stopped and my mother became blue collar. My grandmother became disabled. So neither of them thought to teach me what they know. Not even family recipes or anything. I have none of that to hand down. So....I am determined to learn and hand down myself. Also ti become more self sufficient and healthier. i thank you for being willing to help us learn. 🫂🥰 Ive seen several critical people making rude comments....you may not follow all the rules and you may make mistakes....who cares! We are all human for one and what works for you may not work for everyone but at least it gives us ignorant people a starting point to trial and error. I appreciate you all very much! Dont stop or get discouraged because of the rude critics...GOD BLESS YOU ALL. Im here, watching and loving to learn from you all
Case and point! The mushroom spawn thing you pointed out. I would never have known. I dug up some soil to plant some flowers and found some soil that looked like that and wondered what caused it and if it would bother my plants. However, I was thining my swamp sunflowers which were planted in that spot and I was replanting there as well after I added amendments and more soil for the large bathtub planter I had them in. These flowers thrived in the bathtub with it in there so I just figured it was fine since they had been fine up to now. But still....now I know. Thanks again! 🫂
Great test
If I'd test my rocks and tiny stones will be about 5 percent and That is after I've garden 8 seasons in this yard.
Your P and Zn are very high in your native soil. In fact no need to add in anytime in a life time for a garden.
You could be adding 1" of soil to your raised bed.
If your area is 4356 square ft that is 1/10 acre that weighs 300,000 lbs per 9" of soil. SOM of 5% is great, no need
for more to screw up fertility with compost. Just add ammonium sulfate for the N and to lower the pH some. 25 lbs through the year for 4,000 square feet.
Question. I have raised beds that I filled originally with the square foot gardening mix of vermiculite, peat moss, and assorted composts. The beds are over clay. I find the soil mixture level drops quite a bit each season and has to be topped up a couple times a year. I live in hot SE Texas so garden all year. What would you suggest I add to the beds to help maintain the soil level better so it’s not disappearing into the atmosphere. Make my own compost, worm castings and leaf mold so I have the organic material covered. Thanks
Great video, Jacques. You have encouraged me to do a soil test on my raised beds. I have planned on rotating my crops this year, so this will give me more accurate information. Thanks for all of your informational videos. 😍 from zone 6B in Southeast Missouri.
check with your local recycling center/ waste removal. Usually they will make compost from green waste. Just make sure that they aren't using sludge from the wastewater treatment plants.
Fantastic comprehensive review of soil testing. I’ll surely benefit from this. I have raised beds & containers, grow mostly veggies. My husband recently bought Aerobin 400, composting system. It is Australian made. 400 L capacity. I’m so excited to see the results next year. It also gives me compost tea, which I have already started using. I have three tumbler composters which I was not very happy about. So I am hoping this Aerobin will really help increase my composting.
I keep seeing those and I might have to just try it at some point, it makes sense in general!
A big bag of Diamond K gypsum would do go really far in your garden. I've been pushing calcium hard this year due to all the rain and everything in my garden is loving it. Phosphorus availability to the plant mostly relies on microbes to break down OM and rock phosphate to release it in a plant available form. When i see flower development on anything i usually give them a tea of gypsum and Fish hydrolysate or a sprinkle of Fish bone meal and gypsum. It's a great way to launch things into production.
I remember apply that when I first started my garden as I had super clay rich soils and has hoping to ease that. It has been a while since I've used any though.
Been thinking about this for a bit now - last year’s soil test for my raised veg beds said “too much organic matter.” How do I balance that out? Dig up clay from elsewhere and sprinkle it around? Ok, prob not. But still, for veg how much of a “problem” is this? And how to correct/balance for more minerals or whatever clay would bring?
Yaass!!
Im looking forward to see actually how cover crops impact the results next year and perhaps how regenerative practices would help as well.
Also, question: are there plants which you can grow who absorb more of K or P in conparision to orhwr minerals to balance out the high amounts in the soil?
Like bananas have high K, so would that work? If the paknts absorbs more, there is less left in the soil?
I have an 18" deep raised bed, filled with 100% compost. What should I expect to grow in it year 5? I have grown successfully in year 1 and 2
Well. The product of the grubs, worms, other organisms in compost IS a manure. When I find some in one of my outdoor planters, I've succeeded in making "soil". And the plants are usually very pleased.
I'm excited to see your results next year too! I have not done any soil testing yet, but I would sure like to. I know our organic matter is next to nothing. So I'm focusing on that for now. It will be interesting to see what an actual test shows.
For me it is a very fun thing to sort of work out and try to solve over time! I think organic matter content is for sure the one to follow for general health.
I am just getting started gardening this year, looking to fill a dozen raised beds.
In order to get the best soil (test), Do you guys recommend:
Cocco Coir / Compost / 50/50 blend Perlite/Vermiculite
Top Soil / Compost / Sand or wood chip Blend
What amendments / additives / fertilizers ?
Thank you.
Increasing the organic matter will probably also help drop the pH as well. Some of those dissolved organic matter/carbon trends slightly acidic.
This is a really informative guide. Thanks always making great content!
Glad you enjoy it!
Thanks for the great video! My potassium and phosphorous levels in my beds are similarly quite high, and I was curious if you’d recommend avoiding fertilizer that has any at all? Last year I used balanced organic granular fertilizers and plant based compost mainly, but now I’m wondering if I should only use supplemental nitrogen throughout the growing season. What do you think?
I've never tested my soil. 🤔 A couple universities have, that came out and studied/learned how we do things, but I didn't ask the results. We do the same things to all of our soil, regardless of location, and environment. It works great for us, so no point changing it, or testing it.
Easy organic matter check is soil color -> blacker is better. Light brown soil -> low organic. Organic = carbon = black. Happy Growing!
What about testing for heavy metals?
Heavy metals tests are available but we haven't listed any yet. They are quite pricey!
Would love a follow up video or info on how you address the calcium deficiency- from what I’ve read it’s not a straight-forward issue.
Love your informative videos! I’m particularly interested in growing sweet potatoes in grow bags and I saw one where you harvested the potatoes. However, I’d like to know if the fertilizer is the same for beds vs grow bags & what kind of soil is used for grow bags. I think i read where nitrogen isn’t good for tubers as they will have lush leaves but very little productive sweet potatoes?
calcium nitrate is pretty good to run through water pipes for plants
if your veges are already growing amazingly (like those gigantic cabbages), is there really a need to take the time to change the soil? is the amount of effort and time to put into the soil balance worth the extra growth?
I wonder if alfalfa meal would be a good general amendment for you. It's great for nitrogen, organic matter, plus calcium, magnesium, sulphur that you may also need. A good organic non GMO product is ideal. I'm trying a cover crop of field peas this year for the first time, which I'll terminate and leave in place as a mulch.
I haven't looked into alfalfa meal much but this actually does make sense, I will look into it.
Areas that have heavily manured( or lots of compost added) will test high for K.
Calcium carbonate can buffer this, but a good 14 element soiltest- including base amounts of K, Na, Ca, Mg- is needed so another imbalance isn't created.
Interesting! Fortunately calcium is one thing I can easily supplement without harm since I am "low"
@@jacquesinthegarden You can
" fertigate" w/ gypsum made for that purpose, but it is only a plant feeder.
Gyp won't build Ca levels to the 70% base saturation level needed to drive Sodium in to the subsoil where it's less damaging.
Calcium lime is needed for that.
It's a much better bang for the buck.
You can do both.
There was someone discussing the soil food web, and how looking at the bacterial, fungus, and nemotode level in your soil is key for plant growth. They discuss using compost (or compost tea for large scale farms) to improve this. Her opinion is that the mineral testing isn't really important. There are plenty of minerals in all soil to sustain growth for 100s of years, it is just a matter of having the microrhizal fugus and bacteria to free them up.
Best soil test video I’ve seen. Great. Thanks 😊
Interesting about the grubs. I have used a lot of wood chips in my raised beds and I have found a lot of grubs in them.
Testing the soil is very important - who knew?! Interesting presentation, thanks. I have a question regarding garlic. I planted it at the right time and it is growing very well. My problem now is protecting the green tops. I live in northern Arizona and the wind is endless. Can I trim the tops off like with onions or will I impair their growth? Thanks, you Epic boys are so interesting and fun to watch.
You can trim plants but it can impair their growth to some extent. With onions it might dry them out quicker especially if they are already mature. Planting wind blocking shrubs or taller plants on the edges of your garden can help slow the wind as well.
@@jacquesinthegardenThanks for your reply!
Hi Jacques, you said if your organic materials are too high it can cause problems. I have raised beds that are filled almost completely with organic matter. What should I look for as problems that would cause? I have basically no native soil because my property is predominantly decomposed granite (Pikes Peak batholith). What can I put in my beds to correct this problem?
Watch Gary's Best Gardening videos on soil. www.youtube.com/@GarysBestGardening I would look into buying some sandy loam topsoil from a landscaping business.
As I understand it, soil tests are rather useless because it gives only the quantities of soluble nutriments at the moment you took the soil sample. What is the most important is the quantity and the diversity of the microorganisms in the soil that are responsible to solubilize the specific nutriments needed by the plants at the moment the plants need them. No matter the soil test results they usually have plenty of mineral nutriments available that only need to be solubilize by microorganisms. So what is important is to feed the microorganisms with organic matters and they will feed the plants.
I saw you sift the soil before you put it in the bag. Could this be why the organic matter was low?
Why no test for Na? That's the primary" pollutant" in San Diego's water, as well as manures.
It has always tested high in my soil reports.
Phoenix too. Organic matter always helped with that.
@@Neenerella333 Discrete application of potassium sulfate, too, will help to bring up K levels.
Compost, while high in K is also loaded with Na.
Never apply K chloride! Also called Muriate potash.
Na will sub for K if K is unavailable( high ph water and/or soil).
But get hit with hot weather and your plants will wilt- even if very well watered.
The high Na / low K causes the plant cells to burst.
@@Neenerella333 They don't call it the Salt River for nothing...
This is a good question, I haven't tested for Na and in the past I have seen soil crusting with white mineral deposits. After noticing it I added a garden water filter and have noticed the crusting is gone. I will look into a Na test and see how feasible it is.
@@jacquesinthegarden Unless it's an RO filter, salt is passing right through.
I have a carbon filter on my drip systems and to water the orchard.
It helps to filter out chlorine / amine that is detrimental to soil organisms/ mycorhizae.
Hot Tip: Add Borax when planting beets, easy way to get boron into your soil. My beets have never looked better
One question is what is the repercussions of high numbers on some of the nutrients?
Specifically I can't break down each one but for example having too much phosphorous can limit the plants ability to take in other nutrients like zinc or iron. It can get pretty specific but generally speaking too much of a good thing can always be bad.
Another great video Jacque. Quick question, you mentioned sing fertilizer through your drip system and I've been looking for a good cheap way to fertigate my garden. My Question is which system do you use and are you happy with it. TIA!
There are a lot of cheap options but I have found that the Ez-Flow is the most reliable one that just works. I think the cheapest is like 60-70 dollars but it works across a wide range of water pressures which is nice.
@@jacquesinthegarden Okay awesome I'll give that a go. Thanks again !
Just got my soil test results today. The good thing is everything is off the charts high. The bad thing is everything is off the charts high, including ph at 7.4, organic matter at 29% and sodium at 125ppm (447ppm for my new soil).
I see a large amount of gypsum powder and sulphur in my near future 😂
Really interesting! I’m surprised with such low calcium levels, you haven’t had more blossom end rot
The calcium isn't too low but just lower than optimal. Blossom end rot is usually only a calcium issue if you are very deficient otherwise it is usually a watering issue. The plant doesn't have enough water and then can't mobilize the calcium when it needs it leading to end rot.
@@jacquesinthegarden 👍
soil organic matter and also tests for carbon are meant to measure levels of these in a soil that is not amended routinely with dead organic matter added to soil.
SOM is meant to measure the living and dead microbes in soil.
fine particles of cellulose and the boom and bust of adding dead organic matter are skewing the results, which should show numbers for stable populations of microbes associated with crops grown.
it's like getting a high (good) reading of carbon for soil that has had coal fines added in.
Great episode. I am using my local extension at UMass for some soil testing, but I strongly encourage EVERYONE to do some testing. I admit, I have a lot more control, since I am using mostly grow bags (a little over 100 between 5, 7, 10 and 25 gallon) for my gardens.
BTW, had a week in the Pacific Northwest for some work recently, and some time off. Saw the Columbia River Gorge, the great flood plains (Missoula floods) Lots of Central Washington, and a ton of the areas where there were some impressive Volcanic flows. (well, a "while ago")
Curious, if in your prior life, you ever got to do some study of those volcanic flows? I live in New England and we really don't have that kind of geology. A lot more of our geology (Cape Cod for me) is much more influenced by Glacial and ice movement. In fact, my whole area is an entire moraine from 15,000 YA) in fact, I am not far from that "east coast" place called WHOI.
Quite an incredibly helpful video AND promotes sales of soil tests. Double whammy, you nailed it, fantastic job! I’m sure Kevin would be proud…
That hummingbird wants to eat that orange flower that’s in the greenhouse DESPERATELY. lol.
I assume you could also use this for lawns
Would you recommend heavy metal testing too?
I know that my soil PH tests on the high-ish side, and already has LOTS of calcium floating around IN it, yet it's not always available to my plants.
I live in a place where limestone is quarried all around us.
We also have lots of rocks & large limestone in our soil.
And our water passes through limestone caves, always carrying calcium with it.
So even the water is higher in PH.
However, the trick is to figure out how to make the calcium more available to root systems.
The only answer I know is what NOT to do - which is to NOT add more calcium!
I'll be interested to find out what calcium answers you come up with Jaques!
My general goal at this moment is to apply liquid calcium as a foliar spray. There are a lot of options out there for water soluble calcium which you can then mix into water and apply with a pump sprayer. The downside is that you have to do this on a regular basis to keep calcium high. I am not going to get too obsessed with it but I will try to spray some calcium once a month.
Do you think screening the soil impacted the OM value?
Does that soil test include checks for contaminants such as lead, asbestos, and mercury?
I'd hope so at that kind of cost. Yes, I skimmed the video 25 minutes is pretty long. Down here in Melbourne Australia, there's a great soil test option available that checks for contaminants, soil structure, and nutrient levels that's almost free. (Donation)
If yours covers all the bases it's a small price to pay to not only get an idea of your current soil status but also suggestions to improve it.
Wow! I'm so glad that you have this kit!
I would nit recommend running any calcium through your drip lines as it will build up and calcify over time. I would apply it let the drip lines work it into your soil.
Curious how youre going to increase calcium without increasing your pH
For now I am messing around with foliar spraying calcium. The downside is that it takes a lot of time to apply. I am not going to get obsessive with it but just try to spray once a month and see if the plants look better. If my values were lower I would consider adding calcium carbonate but you are right it would increase pH.
All of my beds are either raised, in containers or in a no-till spot, so I'd be interested in what the tests would say about mine. I'm doing half and half flowers with veg and fruit. Should be interesting... the beds are just a year old.
Love to hear that setup, the first test is fun because it sets a baseline and then every year after is a fun game of what happened and how did it happen.
Should you test before and after a growing season to see what your crops are doing to the soil?
You could in theory but it would be a costly practices. Every test is mostly just a snapshot general picture anyway so trying to get the exact perfect timing probably isn't going to be as insightful unless you are a production farm.
What does a test cost?
Can you do a video on different ways to change the numbers over the year, like calcium and organic matter etc…
Thanks
Ph is pretty much all i worry about. I am gona add compost and plant food any ways.
I have sandy soil, like 903%.
What ratio of county compost should I mix into it.
I'm using the blend for raised beds.
50 50?
I'm growing primarily tomatoes & squash.
You can just build a bed directly on top of the ground add clay if you want it to hold more water and nutrients
WCA is a fun KNF solution! A dripline WCA application and a top dress of pulverized egg shell powder would certainly fix your CA issue.
Knf is underrated 🤙 I’m getting ready to cook up my first wca here in the next few days I’ve been saving my brown eggshells for weeks!
KNF is something I keep saying I will get into but I haven't really dived into it yet.
@@jacquesinthegarden it’ll be a TON of information to digest so it’s definitely something of a learning course. WCA is a good place to start. Look into “Dr. Cho’s Natural Farming” book, has everything KNF directly from the master himself.
@@jacquesinthegarden Get into it!!! Highly advise learning KNF WCA (adds calcium) & LABS (unlocks P). Good luck!
Great video Jacques! One thing that really helped me understand soil testing is reading The Intelligent Gardener by Steve Solomon. Great read ,check it out!
Thanks for the recommendation! I am always looking for new books and this one sounds great, just placed an order
Have you tried doing worm composting and/or sending a worm you dug up with the soil test and seeing the change in organic matter lol
I would be curious to see sap analysis also. Highly biologically active soils have the ability to provide compounds that aren't in the soil. Anyway, great video, I always enjoy your videos.
According to the nutient levels. Maybe organic matter isnt that important for the health of soil and plants as people think.