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Soil Sample Report Interpretations:

• Double PPM (Parts per Million) to get pounds per acre; divide by two to go from pounds per acre to PPM. 
• P: Phosphorus needs to have > 210 pounds per acre; put it out before you plant and work it in to the soil
• K: Potassium needs to have 80-100 pounds per acre with a base saturation of 2-7%; We are not worried about the potash levels in the time of the soil sample report because it will leach out anyway. We put K out with N as needed.
• Ca: Calcium needs to have > 1,200 pounds per acre with base saturation > 50%
• Mg:  Magnesium needs to have > 95 pounds per acre, but with a minimum of 70 pounds per acre with base saturation between 7-10% (Normally, in high organic soils, Mg is ~ 50% base saturation; 95 is enough if you are putting calcitic lime; if Mg gets to 70-80 pounds per acre, Clemson Ext. says that that is sufficient
• S: Sulfur needs to have > 30-40 pounds per acre (if the level of sulfur is too high, it will cause the taste of the crop to appear hot). We normally put out about 10# /acre for most crops; most other farmers put out more.  In Florida, they were using Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer which has 24% sulfur and beets tasted hot.  We switched to the Urea fertilizer, like we use in SC because it has only 3% Sulfur

Lime Recommendations:

• Try to push the use of High Calcium Lime (Calcitic Lime) because it has only about 2% or less in Magnesium. Too much Magnesium in the soil is poisonous to the plants
• Spread Lime as far ahead of planting as possible after the land is level and harrowed
• Gypsum is high in calcium and it is readily available to the plant; it can be used when you need to raise calcium levels, but not pH
• We don’t like to use Gypsum because it leaches quicker and has too much sulfur which causes the product to taste spicy hot
• Try to work the all lime into the soil 2-3 times before planting; lime residues will stay in the soil for 5-8 years; the small parts of the lime are available in about a month whereas the coarse parts of the lime might not be available for ~8 years.
• Before purchasing lime, always ask to see a copy of the analysis from the vendor. It should be along these lines:
  • Gypsum:                             19% Ca    0% Mg
  • Dolomite Lime:                 20% Ca    8% Mg
  • High Cal: (brand name) 30% Ca    2% Mg
  • Calcitic                                33% Ca    0% Mg

*Sometimes vendors will call them all “High Calcium lime” because they all have high calcium levels, so make sure to say “calcitic lime” to clarify

Heavy land needs more lime than sandy soil

A rule of thumb is to not put out less that 1 ton of lime per acre. If you are going to put any out, go ahead and put out 2,000 pounds