Got my second soil analysis back for my “backwoods” orchard. So where do y’all stop on amendments?
I started out in 2022 with this:
now this spring I have transplanted another 30 grafted apples (real addiction)
I believe that last years analyses were taken too close to the surface. This year I sampled as I planted the trees.
The handwritten values are from the second lab. They match closer than I expected.
I am planting apples, pears, persimmons, mainly.
The question is how far do each of you take the soil amendments. If I let my OCD kick in that would be
466 lb/A (3 acres cleared)
667 lb/A soft rock phosphate
32 lb/A elemental sulfur
2.8 lb/A zinc
6 lb/A Manganese
5.4 lb/A copper
2.8 lb/A Boron
I brought in over a couple tons of amendments last year on the back of a 4w on a steep logging trail.
Your orchard look great!
I would start with the basics and retest in the fall.
Got to get the PH in proper range. It takes a while for lime to work its way through the soil. The finer the limestone grind, the faster it moves. Powdered limestone is much finer than Ag limestone and spreads with a drop spreader. Pelletized lime spreads easy with a broadcast spreader but is more expensive. Probably take multiple applications to get the PH in the root zone where you want it.
NPK in the approximate ratio of 5/10/5.
In my situation which is non organic with a focus on low labor and low cost I would apply enough 5/10/5 to get close to the 60# of N/acre and monitor the growth. Might give them a small dose of N later if growth is low. If you have drip irrigation, fertigation works well for small adjustments. You can drive yourself crazy trying to hit precise targets of macro and micronutrients. I have found that my soil test results never seem to produce the numbers I expect after adjustments. Leaf testing combined with a soil test is helpful.
If your soil PH is so low it requires large amounts of lime to correct, I would not add any sulfur until the PH in the proper range even if the soil test shows you need S.
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