Soil Results - Action?

farmernewbie

Lads,

Got results from 4 soil samples.
pH is from 6.85 to 7.35
P is from 5.35 to 12.10
K is from 20.50 to 32.90

The N index in all samples Low(2)
The P index's are medium(3) and high(4)
The K index is V.low(1) for all samples.

I am ok for lime but advisor said I need to apply potash. He reckons 0.7.30 or 50% K.

I think I will go with 2 bags of 50%K in October and just put on Nitrogen then next April. Unfortunately I already have this year's fert got. No access to slurry.

Can I ask what the ideal figures are for P and K? Is index 4 a tad high for P? Should I be careful with this?

Greengrass1

farmernewbie wrote: »

Lads,

Got results from 4 soil samples.
pH is from 6.85 to 7.35
P is from 5.35 to 12.10
K is from 20.50 to 32.90

The N index in all samples Low(2)
The P index's are medium(3) and high(4)
The K index is V.low(1) for all samples.

I am ok for lime but advisor said I need to apply potash. He reckons 0.7.30 or 50% K.

I think I will go with 2 bags of 50%K in October and just put on Nitrogen then next April. Unfortunately I already have this year's fert got. No access to slurry.

Can I ask what the ideal figures are for P and K? Is index 4 a tad high for P? Should I be careful with this?

Get some mutate of potash. Don't think its too dear and they don't care how high k goes in the soil tbh.
Your p is good, very good in fact. Just keep it topped up every year. Rule of thumb is 20units of p and 40 units of k to maintain it every year.

farmernewbie

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Get some mutate of potash. Don't think its too dear and they don't care how high k goes in the soil tbh.
Your p is good, very good in fact. Just keep it topped up every year. Rule of thumb is 20units of p and 40 units of k to maintain it every year.

Thanks Greengrass1,

What price is mutate of potash roughly? Does it come in 50kg bags in granular form?

I think from now on when I get K sorted I will go with two bags of 0.7.30 and two or urea to the acre. I take a cut of must of the ground for silage each year and sell it.

Greengrass1

farmernewbie wrote: »

Thanks Greengrass1,

What price is mutate of potash roughly? Does it come in 50kg bags in granular form?

I think from now on when I get K sorted I will go with two bags of 0.7.30 and two or urea to the acre. I take a cut of must of the ground for silage each year and sell it.

Ye that's why you k is low then.
What feet have you got in the yard?
Never bought straight potash but I'd say you can get in 50kg bags.

What part of the country are you in?

farmernewbie

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Ye that's why you k is low then.
What feet have you got in the yard?
Never bought straight potash but I'd say you can get in 50kg bags.

What part of the country are you in?

In the west. 18.6.12 in the yard. 2 1/2 to 3 bags per acre on silage ground and thats all I go with.

Greengrass1

farmernewbie wrote: »

In the west. 18.6.12 in the yard. 2 1/2 to 3 bags per acre on silage ground and thats all I go with.

Is that all you have ever gone with?
If it is just stick more potash on and you will build it.
You'll get a better crop as a result

farmernewbie

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Is that all you have ever gone with?
If it is just stick more potash on and you will build it.
You'll get a better crop as a result

Ya the last couple years just 18.6.12 about 2 bags per acre. Lightly stocked and sell some silage. Fields are in bad shape and need to build them up abit.

Will try and get potash on this autumn or else early spring next year. And then hit them with Nitrogen.

Better if I can get silage cut early and get good after grass.

farmernewbie

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Is that all you have ever gone with?
If it is just stick more potash on and you will build it.
You'll get a better crop as a result

Actually would I lose much P and K to silage each year? What are the ideal figures for each? I heard K should be at 90.

Greengrass1

farmernewbie wrote: »

Actually would I lose much P and K to silage each year? What are the ideal figures for each? I heard K should be at 90.

Only figure that comes to my mind is 20 units of p and 40 of k.
That's for a dairy farm though.
If ye go by that ye can't go too far wrong

DMAXMAN

if you are growing silage to sell you will get a good response to potash as k deficient soils don't respond to nitrogen.never saw potash in small bags only big bags around here any way. roughly costing a little less than 400/ton

farmernewbie

DMAXMAN wrote: »

if you are growing silage to sell you will get a good response to potash as k deficient soils don't respond to nitrogen.never saw potash in small bags only big bags around here any way. roughly costing a little less than 400/ton

Thanks DMAXMAN,

Ya my values were 20 to 32 think this should be up at 90. Grass growth has been poor alright. Hopefully can get it in 50kg bags as don't have means of working with big bags.

Reckon a bag an acre should help me.

Sami23

P should be around 8 and K around 150 so definately would be worth going with a bag of Potash now

It comes in the 50kg bags alright

razor8

sorry for jumping in here. got these samples taken last week, alot of index 4, is this good or bad??

lime went out on three of the samples last year at which time the requirement was 10/12 tonnes per ha and now back to 0 so delighted with that

from samples taken how do i calculate my N requirements? asked for test but not sure i got it

Sami23

razor8 wrote: »

sorry for jumping in here. got these samples taken last week, alot of index 4, is this good or bad??

lime went out on three of the samples last year at which time the requirement was 10/12 tonnes per ha and now back to 0 so delighted with that

from samples taken how do i calculate my N requirements? asked for test but not sure i got it

They are excellent results Razor, well done. Do ya mind me asking what company did the testing for you and how much per sample. I am paying 14 euro per sample at the moment

razor8

Sami23 wrote: »

They are excellent results Razor, well done. Do ya mind me asking what company did the testing for you and how much per sample. I am paying 14 euro per sample at the moment

the results look ok to me too but i still find the grass is getting it hard to grow which has me puzzled

oldcastle labs did mine for 17.50 per sample if over 5 samples, costs more for one or two

Sami23

razor8 wrote: »

the results look ok to me too but i still find the grass is getting it hard to grow which has me puzzled

oldcastle labs did mine for 17.50 per sample if over 5 samples, costs more for one or two

Are they old pastures by any chance cause really with those results there is no excuse for grass not to grow ?

razor8

Sami23 wrote: »

Are they old pastures by any chance cause really with those results there is no excuse for grass not to grow ?

two were reseeded last year and growing very well but the other 4 not reseeded in last 30 years, major reseed on the cards.

The ploughed reseeds turned up alot of small stones which is a real pain so i think i will just overseed this year, bit of draining to be done first though!

Sami23

razor8 wrote: »

two were reseeded last year and growing very well but the other 4 not reseeded in last 30 years, major reseed on the cards.

The ploughed reseeds turned up alot of small stones which is a real pain so i think i will just overseed this year, bit of draining to be done first though!

Agree its a pity with such good fertility not to be getting the benefits from it. Reseeding will be well worth it in long run.