Soil report

[Jesse HendersonParticipant]

Hello all,

I got my Waypoint soil sample back and just wanted any thoughts and observations.  I’m reading their recommendation as 6000lbs per acre but then my second sample is for a pear orchard and they recommend 3500lbs per acre there.  I’m guessing they are underestimating a bit?  Should I start with that and then repeat a soil sample again after some settling time?  My local farmers coop expressed some doubt as to finding dolomitic lime as they usually deliver calcitic.  Also they said that they may not be able to have a truck spread that on my two acres and that I would need to rent their spreader and do it with my tractor.  There is another delivery service that I may be able to contract with to spread it so I’m crossing my fingers.

Appreciate any thought or ideas anyone might have!

Thanks!

Jesse

 

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[Fabrice CaporalKeymaster]

The quantity of lime that you will need depends on the buffering capacity of your soil. Clay buffers changes much more than sand. The advantage of a high buffer is that once you reach a level it will take longer to drop back down, however it take much more lime to do the job. Note that because of those buffering effects the increase of the pH is not linear, but rather exponential, so the biggest the change the harder it is to reach the desired level.

We stated at 5.8-62 and we brought 40t/acre which brought our pH to 7.6-7.8. Our soil is a clay loam to sandy loam.

What I have found is that in our area specialists have no experience working with high pH, and they are scared by the numbers we are talking about.

I am of the belief that it would be very hard to reach a point with too much lime (assuming you are using natural stone aggregate). After all,  in Europe, the orchard a literally planted on top of lime…

Where are you located? For us they had to bring the trucks all the way from the Sierra. They also transferred the lime in big semis, dumped it in piles and then used sprayer trucks to spread it. With that amount of lime we could have not done it with our tractor.

[Jesse HendersonParticipant]

Ok thank you Fabrice that’s what I was thinking.   I’m in Northwest Arkansas

[Fabrice CaporalKeymaster]

Please note that I am no scientist and these were just expression my personal experience.

[Jesse HendersonParticipant]

Well I know with growing truffles in the US that is how it goes! Your experience is helpful to me

 

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