Soil Tests

[bushboy]

I recently had a soil analysis done - it was a pretty painless procedure and the cost was quite reasonable
- I did it through "Batphone" and I was quite impressed by the service and report provided

Anyway - my soil - nice loam about 2 spades deep ( ex small crops farm)
is quite deficient in Organic matter ( ie mulch) and several trace elements
- Manganese,Sulphur,Boron and Silicon - the Nitrogen was down as well

I suspected I had some mineral deficiencies, although my veggies/fruit are reasonable , my citrus have always looked "hungery"

So anyone around Brisbane with loam - same probably applies re these trace elements.
If anyone wants details on how to go about this I am happy to post

Tom

[Hamish]

Hi Tom - I will want to get some soil tests done so would love some details and cost.

[bushboy]

Ok- I contacted Des Warnock - info@batphone.com.au - he sent me a pdf outlining the procedure which was as follows:

15cm deep hole - 3-4cm wide slice ->bucket
I took 3 samples from the areas I use for growing food and 1 from further away.
These I mixed together as a sort of representative sample.
Next step is to put 500gm into a ziplock bag with a completed downloaded form and send to
Batphone (in padded post office bag). Cost is $149 for standard analysis + $11 for plant silicon.

The report came back electronically (pdf) after about 2 weeks
- it was a 16 page document - 1 page with a list of various elements levels
present, reference ranges etc etc and then lots of explanation
and suggestions of products to rectify any deficiencies present.
Batphone seem to make up a complete blend depending on the result
as well - I have yet to pursue this with them and at what cost

-for me this involves a mix of organic KSO4, soluble Humate,
Natra-Mag Manganese,ZnSO4, & Boron granules.

I didn't check for cheaper analysis prices elsewhere

Tom

[Hamish]

Thanks Tom - very useful info!

[Jonathan Dyer]

I would be adding Gypsum as well to your soil. It will supply calcium and sulphur and is the cheapest supply possible it will take 1-2years to be fully plant available so will be a good addition with your other fertilisers to help maintain adequate levels over several years.

I would recommend a foliar test on your citrus this will give you a much better analysis of what you plant needs but is not necessary if your fertilisers fix the problem. Heaps of aged chicken manure and good doses of iron sulphate or cheated iron will do wonders for your citrus.

I would say $150 is a tad expensive but not excessive.

[bushboy]

Update - I have recently used a product called "Alroc" as it was strongly recommended to me by another gardener.
It may be wishful thinking but I feel my citrus are looking better this past month or so since I applied a few handfuls around the drip line

I have been hunting down it's components and it looks like it is loaded with the trace elements my soil is deficient in

link http://www.ausmin.net.au/htm_pages/alroc.htm

Might not need to pay money for a custom made brew after all

Tom

[bushboy]

forgot - I also made a blue a few years ago putting down dolomite -this apparently has a
detrimental effect on ca/mg ratio - Gypsum is better
(thanks Jonathon Dyer for your feeback as well)

[Jonathan Dyer]

Hi Tom,

Products such as Alrock are great however, will not work miracles overnight; they are very, very slow release trace element type fertilisers composed mainly of superfined rock. In most cases they require soil microbes to activate and release trace elements to the plant (similar to gypsum), which intern this process takes many years to be plant available. Hence, it is required to be applied on a regular basis (bi-yearly) to enable trace elements are being applied to the plant. I use granite dust taken from around my water bores and apply it to some potted plants and into my Aquaponic system, I cant say how well they work in that circumstance.

It is important that your soil is able to remain moist to allow efficient microbe function and population build up; seaweed extracts will help promote microbe growth leading to better transformation and extraction of the trace elements found in products such as Alroc.

I would not recommend anyone to have a complete custom soil mix made to suit there soils. They are expensive especially in small doses required in the backyard. The products that they mix are relative cheap and all one needs to do is by the individual elements, mix it themselves and apply. In most cases from what you have purchased there will be enough to make several application mixes so therefore is much cheaper. On the other hand if you are able to find a complete fertiliser (N:P:K + trace) such as Yates Thrive or Manutec Tomato Magic that is relatively available and best suited to your soil (and soil deficiencies) this alone may be enough to suffice for good crops, providing a trace element mix every 18 months to maintain levels is also good.

Tom I guess that $150 for a soil test isnt too bad considering that they gave a 16 odd page report and good recommendations, why did you request a silicon test?

[bushboy]

re silicon - I had read it was important for plant cell structure - and it was an option -so I thought why not!

Batphone got back to me with a price for a custom blend - min of 1 tonne @ $1600 - don't think I'll go for that.
At least now I know what sort of stuff to add to my soil - usually I have been haphazard with stuff like stable manure/ echo88
or whatever was handy - usually not much though. I need to be a little more routine and methodical
but like most of us getting into growing food is quite challenging.
I have much more admiration now for our farmers who seem to be grossly undervalued ( and under payed) for
what they do for the rest of us

Still no luck with Jade Perch fingerlings for my ap setup -looks like I will have to be patient until late Nov for some

Tom

[Jonathan Dyer]

G’Day Tom,

Good on you for taking the initiative for getting a soil test done on your soil; your plants will thank you and your health will only benefit from a more nutritious product.

What you read about silicon is correct but mainly deficiencies in leaf tests (over soil tests) have shown that it really only occurs in hydroponic re-circulation systems and little evidence even shows in run to waste hydroponic systems. There is very little problem in soil bound agriculture as there is generally enough silicon found in the soil and water itself, however, I guess it wont hurt either way. Saying that it may become a slight deficiency in Aquaponic Re-circulation systems, so may be something worth considering especially if your water is rain water.