I tested my water supply today:
pH 6.5
Hardness: moderate
Chlorine: very low
Iron: very low
Copper: none
Nitrites: none
Nitrates: none
I also calculated the flow rate for setting up a drip irrigation system. It came out to 10 gallons per minute, or 600 gallons per hour.
Friday, March 28, 2014
And even more amendments
I put down the following amendments today:
1.2 oz zinc sulfate
0.12 oz of copper (so small an amount it won't end up being spread evenly, and likely won't matter)
8.1 pounds of 11-52-0
5.8 pounds of 21-0-0-24
7.7 pounds of KMag
14.2 pounds of 0-0-50
1/2 gallon of Humega for the 1200 sq. ft. patch
1.2 oz zinc sulfate
0.12 oz of copper (so small an amount it won't end up being spread evenly, and likely won't matter)
8.1 pounds of 11-52-0
5.8 pounds of 21-0-0-24
7.7 pounds of KMag
14.2 pounds of 0-0-50
1/2 gallon of Humega for the 1200 sq. ft. patch
Saturday, March 22, 2014
How to use the Soil Report to figure out how much fertilizer to add.
After talking with John Taberna at Western Laboratories, and reviewing their Fertilizer Calculation tutorial for Atlantic Giants, I was able to figure out how much fertilizer I need to add.
The recommendations for my soil from Western Laboratories were as follows:
In addition, my pH was 6.2.
The first thing to tackle is the pH. Atlantic Giant pumpkins do best at a pH of 7.4 to 7.8. Western Laboratories has a pH tutorial which discusses how much lime to add to the soil to raise the pH by certain amounts. However, John Taberna said that I do not want to try to raise the pH all the way from 6.2 to 7.4 this year. If I add that much lime all at once, it will inhibit the ability of the pumpkin plants to extract other nutrients they need from the soil. He recommended adding 20 pounds of lime, or 25 pounds of dolomite lime, this year, and adding the rest next year based on the pH at that time.
Once the pH is more basic, or alkaline, then it is possible to follow the Fertilizer Calculation tutorial.
I more or less followed the tutorial and just plugged in my numbers from my soil report.
Fertilizer is named as follows: x-x-x, or Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (potash). The first number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is nitrogen, the second number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is phosphorus, and the third number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is potassium or potash (K2SO4)
For amending the soil, Phosphorus is first. It will be amended using 11-52-0 fertilizer. The recommendation from the lab on the soil report is to add 3.5 pounds of phosphorus per 1000 sq. ft. 11-52-0 is 52% phosphorus (that is what the 52 stands for), so divide 3.5 pounds by 0.52 to get 6.73 pounds of 11-52-0 needed per 1000 sq. ft. However, I have a 1200 sq. ft. plot, so divide 6.73 pounds by 1000 sq. ft. and multiply by 1200 sq. ft (or just multiply by 1.2) to get 8.1 pounds of 11-52-0 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. patch.
Nitrogen is next. It will be amended using 21-0-0-24, or ammonium sulfate (the fourth place in the fertilizer name, -24, is for sulfur). The lab recommended adding 3.5 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft. However, 11-52-0 (which we added above) has nitrogen in it too, 0.47 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. Subtract 0.47 from 3.5 to get 3.03 lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. needed to amend. 21-0-0-24 is 21% nitrogen, so divide 3.03 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.21 to get 14.4 pounds of ammonium sulfate to add per 1000 sq ft. As before, multiple 14.4 pounds by 1.2 to get 17.3 pounds of 21-0-0-24 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. patch.
The only catch with nitrogen is not to add it all at once. The lab recommended adding 1/3 of the total, or 5.8 pounds of 21-0-0-24, once every 3 weeks for 3 total applications.
Magnesium is next. My calculation was easy, since the amount recommended by the lab to add was the same as that in their Fertilizer Calculation tutorial example. The lab recommended 0.7 pounds of magnesium per 1000 sq. ft. KMag (also known as Sul-po-mag, or Potassium magnesium sulfate) will be used to amend the plot. KMag is 11% Magnesium, so divide 0.7 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.11 to get 6.4 pounds of KMag per 1000 sq. ft. needed. Multiply by 1.2 for my 1200 sq. ft. plot, and I will need to add 7.7 pounds of KMag.
Potassium, or Potash (K2SO4) is next. We just added KMag above, which at 6.4 pounds per 1000 sq. ft., means that we added 1.4 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. of potash. The lab recommended adding 7.3 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. potash, so subtracting 1.4 from 7.3 yields 5.9 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. of Potash that we still need to add to our soil. We will supplement with 0-0-50. Since it is 50% potash, divide 5.9 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.50 to get 11.8 pounds of 0-0-50 needed per 100 sq. ft., or multiplying by 1.2, 14.2 pounds of 0-0-50 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. plot.
Sulfate sulfur is last for the major nutrients. In short, because all of the fertilzers we added so far already have sulfur in them, the amount of sulfur added so far will already be higher than the amount recommended by the lab. However, the Fertilizer Calculation tutorial in essence says that this is ok.
The recommendations for my soil from Western Laboratories were as follows:
In addition, my pH was 6.2.
The first thing to tackle is the pH. Atlantic Giant pumpkins do best at a pH of 7.4 to 7.8. Western Laboratories has a pH tutorial which discusses how much lime to add to the soil to raise the pH by certain amounts. However, John Taberna said that I do not want to try to raise the pH all the way from 6.2 to 7.4 this year. If I add that much lime all at once, it will inhibit the ability of the pumpkin plants to extract other nutrients they need from the soil. He recommended adding 20 pounds of lime, or 25 pounds of dolomite lime, this year, and adding the rest next year based on the pH at that time.
Once the pH is more basic, or alkaline, then it is possible to follow the Fertilizer Calculation tutorial.
I more or less followed the tutorial and just plugged in my numbers from my soil report.
Fertilizer is named as follows: x-x-x, or Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (potash). The first number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is nitrogen, the second number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is phosphorus, and the third number represents the percent of the fertilizer that is potassium or potash (K2SO4)
For amending the soil, Phosphorus is first. It will be amended using 11-52-0 fertilizer. The recommendation from the lab on the soil report is to add 3.5 pounds of phosphorus per 1000 sq. ft. 11-52-0 is 52% phosphorus (that is what the 52 stands for), so divide 3.5 pounds by 0.52 to get 6.73 pounds of 11-52-0 needed per 1000 sq. ft. However, I have a 1200 sq. ft. plot, so divide 6.73 pounds by 1000 sq. ft. and multiply by 1200 sq. ft (or just multiply by 1.2) to get 8.1 pounds of 11-52-0 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. patch.
Nitrogen is next. It will be amended using 21-0-0-24, or ammonium sulfate (the fourth place in the fertilizer name, -24, is for sulfur). The lab recommended adding 3.5 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft. However, 11-52-0 (which we added above) has nitrogen in it too, 0.47 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. Subtract 0.47 from 3.5 to get 3.03 lbs of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. needed to amend. 21-0-0-24 is 21% nitrogen, so divide 3.03 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.21 to get 14.4 pounds of ammonium sulfate to add per 1000 sq ft. As before, multiple 14.4 pounds by 1.2 to get 17.3 pounds of 21-0-0-24 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. patch.
The only catch with nitrogen is not to add it all at once. The lab recommended adding 1/3 of the total, or 5.8 pounds of 21-0-0-24, once every 3 weeks for 3 total applications.
Magnesium is next. My calculation was easy, since the amount recommended by the lab to add was the same as that in their Fertilizer Calculation tutorial example. The lab recommended 0.7 pounds of magnesium per 1000 sq. ft. KMag (also known as Sul-po-mag, or Potassium magnesium sulfate) will be used to amend the plot. KMag is 11% Magnesium, so divide 0.7 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.11 to get 6.4 pounds of KMag per 1000 sq. ft. needed. Multiply by 1.2 for my 1200 sq. ft. plot, and I will need to add 7.7 pounds of KMag.
Potassium, or Potash (K2SO4) is next. We just added KMag above, which at 6.4 pounds per 1000 sq. ft., means that we added 1.4 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. of potash. The lab recommended adding 7.3 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. potash, so subtracting 1.4 from 7.3 yields 5.9 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. of Potash that we still need to add to our soil. We will supplement with 0-0-50. Since it is 50% potash, divide 5.9 pounds per 1000 sq. ft. by 0.50 to get 11.8 pounds of 0-0-50 needed per 100 sq. ft., or multiplying by 1.2, 14.2 pounds of 0-0-50 needed for my 1200 sq. ft. plot.
Sulfate sulfur is last for the major nutrients. In short, because all of the fertilzers we added so far already have sulfur in them, the amount of sulfur added so far will already be higher than the amount recommended by the lab. However, the Fertilizer Calculation tutorial in essence says that this is ok.
Adding Amendments and setting up the Pumpkin Patch
3/21/14
I had the kids help me mark out a 30 ft by 40 ft rectangle in the yard where the pumpkin patch is going to go. We marked the edges and corners with orange spray paint.
Next, I started adding amendments. I used the Amendment Chart I have included on this blog, and put down the dolomite lime, mykos, humic acid, kelp meal, and zeolite. After that, we put down roughly 80 pounds of alfalfa hay.
The other amendments have yet to arrive by UPS, with the exception of Borax, which we already have.
I have requested a quote to have the yard tilled. After the other amendments are added and the patch is tilled, I will add a few thousand earth worms, which I will order from Amazon. They are only about $25 per 1000 worms.
I had the kids help me mark out a 30 ft by 40 ft rectangle in the yard where the pumpkin patch is going to go. We marked the edges and corners with orange spray paint.
Next, I started adding amendments. I used the Amendment Chart I have included on this blog, and put down the dolomite lime, mykos, humic acid, kelp meal, and zeolite. After that, we put down roughly 80 pounds of alfalfa hay.
The other amendments have yet to arrive by UPS, with the exception of Borax, which we already have.
I have requested a quote to have the yard tilled. After the other amendments are added and the patch is tilled, I will add a few thousand earth worms, which I will order from Amazon. They are only about $25 per 1000 worms.
Amendment List
I have quite a few things planned that the pumpkin patch needs just to be ready for the season.
The Soil Report
Western Laboratories has been working with Atlantic Giant Pumpkin growers for some time now. I like that I get a special soil report from them tailored specifically to growing giant pumpkins. Their website also has a tutorial for understanding soil reports, and information for how to grow Atlantic Giant Pumpkins. (The site requires a user name ("soil") and though it asks for a password, none is required.)
It is important to get a soil report done so that you know growing conditions you will be up against. The more you know, the more you can do to maximize your chances of growing a huge giant pumpkin. Western Laboratories has a table (which I have included below) of the recommended nutrient levels for Atlantic Giant pumpkins. They will show you what you need to do to get your soil into the proper target ranges.
After getting the results of my soil report from Western Laboratories in Parma, ID, I contacted their Soil Scientist, John Taberna. He was very helpful. He explained what the report meant and made recommendations for how to amend my soil.
It is important to get a soil report done so that you know growing conditions you will be up against. The more you know, the more you can do to maximize your chances of growing a huge giant pumpkin. Western Laboratories has a table (which I have included below) of the recommended nutrient levels for Atlantic Giant pumpkins. They will show you what you need to do to get your soil into the proper target ranges.
After getting the results of my soil report from Western Laboratories in Parma, ID, I contacted their Soil Scientist, John Taberna. He was very helpful. He explained what the report meant and made recommendations for how to amend my soil.
If you want to order a soil test from Western Laboratories for growing Atlantic Giant Pumpkins, you will want to request Test 75. They also have a monitoring program for your pumpkins throughout the growing season. It is discounted by 30%, so it is a good deal. This includes a pre-season soil test, 1 NMin test, 1 pre-season nematode test, 6 tissue tests, 6 soil supply tests, and 1 pumpkin core test after the weigh-off.
Midwest Laboratories is another good source for getting tissue and soil samples done.
New Pumpkin Patch
We have moved since last year. I will be creating a new pumpkin patch out of what used to be the yard. It is 30 ft x 40 ft, for a total of 1200 sq. ft., or 600 sq. ft. per pumpkin plant.
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