Your results are most interesting. I'm a big fan of sustainable growing so =
try to come up with ways to produce as many amendments on site as possible.
I'm learning more in this little bit of research of the wide divergence in =
soil testing, extraction techniques; Strong acid, weak acid, no acid. I'd l=
ike to experiment with citric acid (one compound apparently exudated by roo=
ts)
Tim
--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, EAReinheimer <erica_r_at_...> wrote:
>
> Hello Tim,
>
> Yes, I think that is quite correct about nitrogen testing being quite
> variable. It seems to be a snapshot of what is available. For this
> reason, Logan does not report nitrogen levels with their Basic test
> results, which I think is to their credit.
>
> There is a way to calculate estimated nitrogen release, if you know the
> organic matter percent of your soil, which Logan does report. In
> general if it is 5% or higher, you likely will not need to add
> nitrogen. Mine is about 2%. Until I started adding 50# sacks of
> soymeal, now feather meal, the garden never produced like I wanted it
> to. It is extremely difficult to get those results by adding manure
> and/or compost. For some reason, the percent nitrogen of the amendment
> plays a big role in it's effectiveness. Likely this is because it takes=
> some nitrogen just to decompose the carbon in the amendment itself.
>
> Balancing all the cations is important, not just having enough
> nitrogen. Balancing the anions is also important, though less understood=
.
>
> Albrect's work was based on Mehlich 3 soil testing, so it is easier to
> use results from a lab like Logan, which does Mehlich 3 testing.
>
> I don't actually use Logan for the recommendations part of the process. =
> I like Michael Astera's book, The Ideal Soil. It lays out all the
> arithmetic to balance the elements according to Albrecht.
>
> All this mineralization, I think, is a worthy precursor to a highly
> biologically active soil.
>
> Erica
>
>
>
> On 6/18/2011 5:50 PM, Tim Wilson wrote:
> >
> > I did spend some time today searching for any information indicating
> > that organic (sequestered) nutrients contained in compost or soil can
> > be revealed by typical laboratory testing,[not painstaking heating and=
> > weighing, etc. for each nutrient] including Mehlich III processes. I
> > am willing to learn if I'm incorrect so if anyone has some citations,
> > etc. please post them
> >
> > Following is a not bad read and an excerpt;
> >
> > http://www.farmwest.com/index.cfm?method=library.showPage&librarypage=
id=125
> > <http://www.farmwest.com/index.cfm?method=library.showPage&librarypag=
eid=125>
> >
> > "Nitrogen is present in the soil in a variety of forms that change
> > from one to another (see the Nitrogen Cycle section). This has caused
> > the limited use of soil N analyses throughout the world. Most of the N=
> > present in agricultural soils is in organic forms yet plants largely
> > feed on inorganic N, particularly nitrate. Nitrate can be readily
> > measured in soils, but the amount in the soil at any one time may not
> > indicate how much is available to plants through the growing season
> > because substantial amounts of inorganic N can be released from the
> > organic forms (a process called mineralization). Unfortunately, the
> > rate of release of inorganic N from the organic matter in the soil
> > cannot be predicted by a chemical analysis at this time."
> >
> > Tim
> >
> > --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
> > <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com>, "Tim Wilson" <thegoodjob_at_>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > The only guts info I could find quickly was their newsletter with
> > the articles about pH manipulation. Need to follow up before I can
> > really say anything besides (??). In the farming community I lived in
> > before I watched the locals chasing pH year after year following
> > recommendations from the lab. It seemed to no avail, as we got equal
> > to better yields completely ignoring pH and all manor of 'chemical
> > soil tests' but (???)
> > >
> > > Tim
> > >
> > > --- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
> > <mailto:compost_tea%40yahoogroups.com>, "steved3602002" <steved_at_> wrote=
:
> > > >
> > > > Logan Labs is an offshoot of Brookside Labs
> > > > and both are based on the classic Albrecht
> > > > soil test which is geared to mineral balance
> > > > for soil structure and optimal microbial
> > > > habitat, taking care of plant fertility,
> > > > ultimately aiming for nutritionally balanced
> > > > feeds and foods.
> > > >
> > > > Albrecht was a soil microbiologist, you know.
> > > >
> > > > Steve Diver
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
Received on Tue Jun 21 2011 - 13:42:51 EDT