Soil Test recommendations

[Bowsnbucks]

For the farmers out there - For a legume plot of clover / alfalfa mix, if the soil test says the soil needs 90 lbs./acre of P and 60 lbs./acre of K - what mix of fertilizer and how much should we put on ??
How many lbs. of 0-?-? in this plot ?? Thanks.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Is this for a food plot, or a cash crop?
If it is a food plot, I would just put down 8 bags of 50 pounds per acre of 0-20-20.
If it is a cash crop, have an elevator, or a place that mixes fertilizer mix your custom mix.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

4wanderingeye - Food plot. So just put down (8) 50 lb. bags of 0-20-20 on that acre ?? ( If I'm understanding your comment above )

How did you arrive at that rate ?? Do the 20 & 20 in the in the 0-20-20 mix mean 20 lbs. per 50 lb. bag of P & 20 lbs. of K ??

 

[4wanderingeyes]

It means there is 20 pounds per 100 pounds , so there is only 10 pounds per 50 pound bag. Being it is a food plot, close will be good enough, and the cheapest.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks very much, 4wanderingeye !! 80 lbs. is close enough to the 90 lbs. recommended. I didn't know the "20" numbers were based on 100 lbs. Learned something new today.

 

[Mortenson]

Yep, %

 

[SD51555]

For the farmers out there - For a legume plot of clover / alfalfa mix, if the soil test says the soil needs 90 lbs./acre of P and 60 lbs./acre of K - what mix of fertilizer and how much should we put on ??
How many lbs. of 0-?-? in this plot ?? Thanks.

Clover and alfalfa are heavy sulfur users. Was there a rec for S?

 

[Wild Thing]

For the farmers out there - For a legume plot of clover / alfalfa mix, if the soil test says the soil needs 90 lbs./acre of P and 60 lbs./acre of K - what mix of fertilizer and how much should we put on ??
How many lbs. of 0-?-? in this plot ?? Thanks.

If your local coop has other fertilizer choices you may be able to get by with spreading fewer pounds...and yes, the numbers on the bag = the percent of actual fertilizer or pounds per 100# (2 bags) of fertilizer. At my coop I can buy both 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 so this is how I would fertilize the plot.

If you need 60 # of K per acre you can get there by spreading 2 bags (100#) of 0-0-60. 60 divided by 0.6 = 100#

If you need 90#/acre of P you can get there by spreading 4 bags (200#) of 0-46-0. 90 divided by 0.46 = 196#

If your plot is more or less than 1.0 acres you need to do a little more math to calculate what you need for that particular plot.

If your plot is only 1/2 acre....multiply 100# times 0.5 to get 50# (of 0-0-60) per half acre.

If your plot is 1.25 acres....multiply 100# times 1.25 to get 125# (of 0-0-60) per 1 1/4 acres.

Same with the P - 196 times 0.5 = 98# of 0-46-0 for 1/2 acre or 196 times 1.25 = 245# of 0-46-0 for 1 1/4 acres.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

SD51555 - They made no recommendation for sulfur - I suppose because the test code was for a wildlife food plot, not cash crop. But the results sheets list the normal range for S in Pa. soils as between 10 and 25 ppm. Our tests showed anywhere between 5.0 and 7.5 - so I'd say we need to add S. Not familiar with how to amend for S - never added it before.

Wildthing - Thanks for the additional info. I'll check to see if our ag / feed mill has those mixtures. Is it more economical to go the 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 route and fewer bags ??

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Wildthing - Thanks for the additional info. I'll check to see if our ag / feed mill has those mixtures. Is it more economical to go the 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 route and fewer bags ??

It really depends on who you buy it from. 0-20-20 is a more commonly stocked fertilizer, then the straight P&K. But it is easier to just fill the spreader up and throw out 1 kind of fertilizer throughout the field, rather then making 2 separate passes to spread 2 different kinds. You could also ask the feed mill to mix them for you, so then it would be easier, but with small quanities and the busy time of year, they may not do it for you. If you were doing a cash crop, that would have been what I would have recommended to do.

 

[Wild Thing]

SD51555 -

Wildthing - Thanks for the additional info. I'll check to see if our ag / feed mill has those mixtures. Is it more economical to go the 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 route and fewer bags ??

I like to think that it is more economical, but you will have to check the prices at your local feed mill.

0-0-60 may be more expensive than 10-10-10 for example but you are getting 60# of fertilizer and only 40# of "filler" per 100#, whereas with 10-10-10 you are only getting 30# of fertilizer and 70# of filler per 100#. Maybe not a good analogy because they are different types of fertilizers but my coop doesn't sell 0-20-20.

Price a bag of 10-10-10 (30% fertilizer) and compare it to a bag of 19-19-19 (57% fertilizer) and calculate the cost per pound of actual fertilizer.

FYI - Last year's prices here for 0-46-0 was $14.87/bag. 0-0-60 was $11.50/bag.

 

[Wild Thing]

Wildthing - Thanks for the additional info. I'll check to see if our ag / feed mill has those mixtures. Is it more economical to go the 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 route and fewer bags ??

It really depends on who you buy it from. 0-20-20 is a more commonly stocked fertilizer, then the straight P&K. But it is easier to just fill the spreader up and throw out 1 kind of fertilizer throughout the field, rather then making 2 separate passes to spread 2 different kinds. You could also ask the feed mill to mix them for you, so then it would be easier, but with small quanities and the busy time of year, they may not do it for you. If you were doing a cash crop, that would have been what I would have recommended to do.

This could be true 4wanderingeyes, but how often are you going to need the exact same amounts of P & K? Probably not often...and my coop doesn't even sell 0-20-20. In B & B's case, he needs 50% more pounds of P than K. In most cases I will just mix the fertilizer together in the spreader and make only 1 pass. There is an agitator in the bottom of the spreader. Not an exact science ... but usually close enough:

Here, I have mixed P (0-46-0) and K (0-0-60) together in preparation for drilling soybeans.

 

[FarmerDan]

Don't forgot the boron

 

[Bowsnbucks]

WE have no tractor-pulled spreader like in the pic. 2 of us guys at camp have Solo shoulder-carried hard poly tub type spreaders and we WALK it around !! It's a hot, sweaty job !!! Lots of walking involved and taking turns with a few other guys. One guy had an ATV front-mounted electric spreader, but it crapped out. Last year - we WALKED.

I'll call our ag / feed mill and check pricing. 0-20-20 is fairly common around here.

 

[Wild Thing]

WE have no tractor-pulled spreader like in the pic. 2 of us guys at camp have Solo shoulder-carried hard poly tub type spreaders and we WALK it around !! It's a hot, sweaty job !!! Lots of walking involved and taking turns with a few other guys. One guy had an ATV front-mounted electric spreader, but it crapped out. Last year - we WALKED.

I'll call our ag / feed mill and check pricing. 0-20-20 is fairly common around here.

In that case I would use the highest percentage of fertilizer I could buy. You will have to walk 3 times further to spread 60# of K if spreading 0-20-20 vs 0-0-60.

 

[SD51555]

SD51555 - They made no recommendation for sulfur - I suppose because the test code was for a wildlife food plot, not cash crop. But the results sheets list the normal range for S in Pa. soils as between 10 and 25 ppm. Our tests showed anywhere between 5.0 and 7.5 - so I'd say we need to add S. Not familiar with how to amend for S - never added it before.

Wildthing - Thanks for the additional info. I'll check to see if our ag / feed mill has those mixtures. Is it more economical to go the 0-46-0 and 0-0-60 route and fewer bags ??

Throw out 200 lbs/ac of gypsum each year and you'll be good. If you're skeptical, cut your plot in half, and only put it on one side. Draw a line and see if you see any growth or browse differences.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

SD51555 - I e-mailed the Penn State soil lab and guess what they said would be a good non-acid forming amendment to add sulfur ?? G-Y-P-S-U-M.

 

[SD51555]

SD51555 - I e-mailed the Penn State soil lab and guess what they said would be a good non-acid forming amendment to add sulfur ?? G-Y-P-S-U-M.

It's the miracle mineral. I keep a stack of bags at my place at all times. Whenever I get something new I want to boost, I'll drag out a bag or two of lime and a shot of gypsum.

I heavily cut a couple acres on my place this winter, saving the good stuff, and laying the rest either flat, or jenga stacking logs (like 8" DBH ash). If I get around to it, those spots will get a light shot of dolomitic and gypsum. They just seem to come back faster with a little mineral addition.