{"id":3580,"date":"2012-06-28T16:38:44","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T20:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/cranberries\/?page_id=3580"},"modified":"2019-01-30T23:47:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T23:47:32","slug":"interpreting-soil-tests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/cranberries\/grower-services\/workshops-and-meetings\/interpreting-soil-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"Interpretation of Soil Test Results"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Topic #3:<\/strong> <strong>Interpretation of Soil Test Results<\/strong> &#8211; [Nov. 4, 2011]<em> Dr. Marvin Pritts, Cornell University, \u00a0Professor &amp; Chair, Dept of Horticulture<\/em><em> (with a concentration in Small Fruit Production); <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/hort.cals.cornell.edu\/people\/faculty.cfm?netId=mpp3\">Online Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>This was part of a 12-part \u201cSoil and Nutrient Management for Berry Crops\u201d webinar series, a project that was funded by <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nesare.org\/\">NE SARE<\/a><\/strong> (Northeast Sustainable Research and Education Program), and which was organized by Marvin Pritts (Professor of Horticulture at Cornell Univ.) and Cathy Heidenreich (Extension Berry Specialist at Cornell Univ.).\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Points and\/or Points of Interest for Maine Cranberry Growers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Soil testing is a measure of plant-available nutrient levels (<em>not<\/em> the levels of nutrients that are in the soil)<\/li>\n<li>Recommendations from different soil-testing labs have different philosophies:\u00a0 Some want to build up the nutrient bank so there is never any risk of nutrients being limited; Others want to apply <em>just enough<\/em> to where the economic gain from additional amendment is equal to the cost of the added amendment.\u00a0 This would be the point where you<strong> first <\/strong>begin to see a \u2018slow-down\u2019 in terms of a plant\u2019s response to having more nutrients added\u2026.the point just before a plateau, in other words.\u00a0 University labs tend to fall into this category of philosophy, versus labs that also sell fertilizers.<\/li>\n<li>Most response curves that have been obtained and studied have been done from agronomic crops but much less often for fruit crops!<\/li>\n<li>It is difficult to move nutrients into the root zone when perennial plants are already established.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cation Exchange Capacity<\/strong> <strong>(CEC)<\/strong> of Various Soil Types (ranges a lot depending on soil type):\u00a0 <strong>Sands<\/strong> = 2 to 10, <strong>Loams<\/strong> = 7 to 25, <strong>Clays<\/strong> = 20 to 40, and <strong>Humus<\/strong> = 200 to 400.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Organic Matter %:<\/strong>\u00a0 Good to see organic matter % be <em>at least<\/em> 2%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Changes in pH:<\/strong> Significant time is required for lime or sulfur to affect soil pH <strong>(6 months to a year)<\/strong>; depends on the particle size of the lime or S (smaller = faster), soil moisture (wetter = faster), temperature (warmer = faster), and aeration (higher aeration = faster).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Interpreting Soil Tests:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Soil pH and Macronutrients <\/strong>(P, K, Ca, Mg) <em>(easy to find &amp; interpret on the test results) \u2013 <\/em>Note:<em> nitrogen recommendations are based on \u2018ballpark standards\u2019 rather than soil test findings.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Micronutrients <\/strong>(harder to interpret; usually not used by labs for deciding upon recommendations [except for Boron] \u2013 mostly useful if trying to diagnose a problem)\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Boron<\/strong> is important for cell elongation (so helps with root growth and having a good root mass density) and in cranberries, the germination of pollen and the growth of the pollen tube are enhanced in the presence of boron.\u00a0 It is very mobile in the soil (and can be applied any time of the season), <em>but<\/em> \u00e0 it is <em>not<\/em> very mobile in the plant (and neither is calcium).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The best analysis in the world is useless without a good recommendation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Unfortunately, many analytical labs provide \u201cgeneral plant recommendations for field crops\u201d without fine-tuning to the needs of specific crops.\u00a0 Dr. Pritts has often seen lab results for blueberry samples, for example, with recommendations that looked more relevant for corn!<\/li>\n<li>gypsum \/ calcium sulfate &#8212; does not raise your pH so a good choice if you are low in calcium.<\/li>\n<li>Magnesium sulfate &#8212; does not raise your pH and is a good choice if you are low in magnesium.<\/li>\n<li>Once plants are established, a foliar analysis will provide many more clues to help you diagnose nutrient problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Topic #3: Interpretation of Soil Test Results &#8211; [Nov. 4, 2011] Dr. Marvin Pritts, Cornell University, \u00a0Professor &amp; Chair, Dept of Horticulture (with a concentration in Small Fruit Production); Online Profile This was part of a 12-part \u201cSoil and Nutrient Management for Berry Crops\u201d webinar series, a project that was funded by NE SARE (Northeast [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":993,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3580","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Interpretation of Soil Test Results - Cooperative Extension: Cranberries - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/cranberries\/grower-services\/workshops-and-meetings\/interpreting-soil-tests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interpretation of Soil Test Results - Cooperative Extension: Cranberries - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Topic #3: Interpretation of Soil Test Results &#8211; 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