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Canada

Recieved my soil results in the mail today:

PH 7.8
Organic Matter 5.1
P -ppm 71
K ppm 365
Mg ppm 198
Calcium 4235
Texture Medium
Cation exchange 25
K % 3.8
MG % 7
Ca % 81
H % 5
N 50
P205 20
Magnesium 30

Ive got roughly 1 month before the plants hit the patch what would you suggest I add Agri-Food Labs suggested I add Magnesium to balance out my Potassium and Magnesium

what ways would be best to do this?

Thanks

Dave

4/21/2005 4:28:56 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

DAP (diammonium phosphate) 18-46-0 might be your best bet to get that potassium up quickly. Epsom salts is usually a good additive for mag.

4/21/2005 7:01:57 PM

Canada

Probably a really stupid question here, Epsom salts, Is this the stuff you buy from a Grocery store ? I donno thats why i'm asking, Also my current home patch is roughly 200 SF How much of this stuff would you add to top layer then till in?

as for the 18-46- 0 were would I find that stuff at?

thanks in advance
Dave.

P.S by adding this stuff now it wouldnt Hurt the young plants at all when they get planted outdoors in later May?

I would like to get this stuff tilled in before afternoon as all sunday and on its suppose to be rainy and it would probably help this stuff get down deeper and evenly into the soil.

4/21/2005 9:09:49 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

epsoma triple phosphate...I forget the numbers but comes in five pound bags...and epsom salts are what ya think they are....200 Sq ft...doesnt need a whole lot..so rather go light and and add as needed..

4/21/2005 10:01:44 PM

Canada

Well I was instruced to add 6 lbs of epsom salts per 1000 sq. If my math was done correctly a 200 sq patch would require a 5th of that which would be 1.2 Lbs. and I tilled in 1.5lbs this mourning. suppose to rain the next few days so should soak in nicely

Dave

4/22/2005 5:29:44 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

A few days to soak?

That reminds me of a question I have. (really just a rephrasing of Dave's question)

How long should one wait to put the plants in the ground after the soil has been ammended? Does the soil need to "settle"? Or, could I put in a load of manure tomorrow and plant the next day?

4/22/2005 10:28:57 PM

Canada

Yup suppose to rain all week tomouro alone we are suppose to get 15-25 cm of rain :-( ya I wanted to get the epsom salts lightly tilled in before the rain started to help it leach into the soil. not sure if this helps or not but cant hurt .

To answer your question on Manaures, that all depends what type of manure are you putting onto your garden?

if its the store bought stuff in bags you can add as much as you want and plant the same day and it wont hurt anything as its well composted. If your buying from a farm I would try to get some stuff thats been composted for at least 2-3 years or more so it wont burn anything as fresh manure takes a few months to break down when tilled in.

your planting time is roughly the same as myself, My plants are hitting the patch May 7th with a second batch hitting the patch on may 14th ( back ups) then June i'll be weeding out the weaker plants to give room for the stonger (3) plants left in patch

Dave

4/22/2005 10:53:03 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Yeah, I just hope that the ground is dry enough when it's time for me to till. At the end of last season I used a tiller to break up the sod of the expanded are of our garden. But, it was so muddy that it really just left big clumps. That's what I still have. So, I want to till it ASAP. (saw a beautiful mid-tine honda tiller at Home Depot today. It was a rental, but it looked like it was brand new. I wonder if it would be a good enough deal to buy even though we're spending like crazy already this year.)

4/22/2005 11:21:36 PM

Canada

Ya never turn over the soil when its wet. always wait till the soil is somewhat dry before turning it over or it will clump and dry hard like clay in clumps ( been there done that myself already too):-( , I dont have a tiller myself just because my patch is only 200 sq i normally do it the hard way and use a shovel. double diggin the patch this past fall was allot of work. how much does Home Depot want for there tiller, I saw they have a small gas one there
for like $499 but I think that was like an 2 hp model and it was new.

Dave

4/22/2005 11:57:41 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

I don't know how much it is to buy. It's about $45 for 4 hours and $63 for 24 to rent. I think it was a Honda FC600 (http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=FC600). They also had a more beaten up F501. Both mid-tine. I'd prefer rear. But, if these were cheap enough, I'd grab-em. Doubtful that they'd be low enough for me.

4/23/2005 2:26:20 AM