Soil analysis results - help to understand

50HX

anyone here can make sense of this in plain english/ how to read my other samples

my understanding of the attachment is

Index 1 for both P &K

Need to apply 10t of lime/ HA

Whats the best way to do this, little and often rather than 2 spreads??

for the P & K I assume this can't be done in one year so do i go 10-10-20 or 18-6-12 over a period of years

this is a silage field but would it make any difference if it were for grazing?

this is all new to me as the aul lad never soil sampled

any help would be greatly appreciated

Chiarrai_abu

I cant open your file.
Anyhow, make sure not to apply fertilizer after lime. One offsets the other and you waste your money.
Lime takes up to 2 years before its fully available for reducing down your PH.
I usually spread lime at the end of the year (October depending on weather) weeks after spreading the last fertilizer.
I am going to get samples done again this October as with the wet weather and peaty soil I think my PH will have crept up again

Username John

50HX wrote: »

anyone here can make sense of this in plain english/ how to read my other samples

my understanding of the attachment is

Index 1 for both P &K

Need to apply 10t of lime/ HA

Whats the best way to do this, little and often rather than 2 spreads??

for the P & K I assume this can't be done in one year so do i go 10-10-20 or 18-6-12 over a period of years

this is a silage field but would it make any difference if it were for grazing?

this is all new to me as the aul lad never soil sampled

any help would be greatly appreciated

http://www.fertilizer-assoc.ie/faqs/

Don't put out lime if it's silage ground, as it affects fermentation.

I know the last poster said not to put out lime now, as would affect fertiliser usage - I thought that was just for urea?
All other compound fertilisers would be OK?

I have similar results to you 50HX - low pH, low P
I put out ground lime last week on the fields where I could and got grab lime for the others, but I am under stocked and don't plan on putting out much fertiliser. Will get some 10-10-20 and out this out bit by bit, to raise P.
Hard to justify puttin out enough to get indexes right, when the money coming in isn't much like...

Edit : see table 2 in link below
http://www.gouldings.ie/ni/grass-growth/seasonal-management-tips/liming/

I think this says at low pH - only half or less the P is available to the plant. So getting out the lime, and raising the pH, will make more P available anyways...

50HX

handy website - must dig into properly

have increased numbers slightly but would agree with you

i won't be going mad on trying to get the fertility right as it aint dairy i have

hard to justify the out lay

will gradually go at it without breaking the bank and retest in 2-3 years time

maybe i'm completley wrong approach

patsy_mccabe

The max Teagasc recommend is 3T of ground like per acre in any one year.

You need 32 units/acre of P and 68 units/acre of K, so 3 bags/acre of 10/10/20 would cover that.

larthehar

With a pH of 5.5 you would be wasting the fertiliser putting it out on that. If it were me I would go with gran lime 3 bags/ac to bring up the pH fast.. rather than flushing the euros down the drain!

50HX

on heavy enough/clay soil would that bang of lime at this time of year not make the soil even more soft than it already is naturally

can i put lime out now??

larthehar

50HX wrote: »

on heavy enough/clay soil would that bang of lime at this time of year not make the soil even more soft than it already is naturally

can i put lime out now??

you can lime anytime, just as said above don't lime silage ground this time of year.. also don't spread lime and urea together..

I can't say if lime will cause heavy clay to get heavier though!

50HX

larthehar wrote: »

you can lime anytime, just as said above don't lime silage ground this time of year.. also don't spread lime and urea together..

I can't say if lime will cause heavy clay to get heavier though!

i have grazing fields that are similar so would i be safe enough with gran lime and 10.10.20 on those along with Can

thanks for all the feedback lads

shot_ov_a

Here are results from my tests anyone have any idea what would be best suited to me

JohnHolland

Same as you 50hx, aul fellow last soil sampled about 20 years ago and that was also the last time land was limed. Tis low in everything. I put out 18-6-12 and gran lime on the silage fields and 10-10-20 & gran lime on grazing last week.

larthehar

50HX wrote: »

i have grazing fields that are similar so would i be safe enough with gran lime and 10.10.20 on those along with Can

thanks for all the feedback lads

No issues with doing this!

larthehar

shot_ov_a wrote: »

Here are results from my tests anyone have any idea what would be best suited to me

K are index 3 so ok, P is index 1.. I would go with 1 bag/ac 16% super phos to bring up P and 1 bag/ac of pasture sward for maintenance.. Then can for the rest of the year as required! P takes a few years to rectify so you may keep it going for a few yrs..

50HX

had a fella tellin me yestarday evening that the gran is for an instant type hit and the ground lime is longer lasting

he reckons that the benefits of gran lime are reduced drastically after ~6 weeks

Username John

50HX wrote: »

had a fella tellin me yestarday evening that the gran is for an instant type hit and the ground lime is longer lasting

he reckons that the benefits of gran lime are reduced drastically after ~6 weeks

Jaysus, not sure I like the sound of that

A bit of my ground is too high for a line spreader to travel. So granlime is the only option...

I just put out 1.5 bags / acre there this evening on a bit. Was planning to go another bag after the next grazing again...
But I had hoped it would last a reasonable length of time, and push up the pH over time...

larthehar

50HX wrote: »

had a fella tellin me yestarday evening that the gran is for an instant type hit and the ground lime is longer lasting

he reckons that the benefits of gran lime are reduced drastically after ~6 weeks

Gran lime last approx 18months.. normal lime lasts 5-6 years.. gran lime works instantly and ground lime takes approx 18months..
I can only speak from personal experience, I find it far superior for poor pH soils. I reckon the fella you spoke to see a rapid Response in the first six Weeks as soil is hungry for it!
It is more expensive but I generally follow with normal lime in the fall.. depends on how bad the pH is.. and how you like to throw fertliser around! @150 a ton.. granlime is very cheap fert!

50HX

depends on how bad the pH is.. and how you like to throw fertliser around! @150 a ton.. granlime is very cheap fert![/QUOTE]

very good point

a lot of soil is crying for lime so i think i'll follow a similar pattern rather than flushing fert down the drain...literally like you said

what do a 50kg bag of gran lime equate to v ground lime

as in is it a bag to the acre you put out??

Username John

larthehar wrote: »

Gran lime last approx 18months.. normal lime lasts 5-6 years.. gran lime works instantly and ground lime takes approx 18months..
I can only speak from personal experience, I find it far superior for poor pH soils. I reckon the fella you spoke to see a rapid Response in the first six Weeks as soil is hungry for it!
It is more expensive but I generally follow with normal lime in the fall.. depends on how bad the pH is.. and how you like to throw fertliser around! @150 a ton.. granlime is very cheap fert!

The pH of the field is 5.2 - and I can't put ground lime on the field.
So I was planning on putting out ~4 bags gran lime over the summer... Test again in the spring, and see what the pH is like...

P is desperately low as well, but want to raise the pH first. Not sure does that's the best plan, but it's the plan...

larthehar

50HX wrote: »

depends on how bad the pH is.. and how you like to throw fertliser around! @150 a ton.. granlime is very cheap fert!

very good point

a lot of soil is crying for lime so i think i'll follow a similar pattern rather than flushing fert down the drain...literally like you said

what do a 50kg bag of gran lime equate to v ground lime

as in is it a bag to the acre you put out??[/quote]

They say 3bags/ac to correct and 1.5bags to maintain. I can't remember the ratio.. I think it is 3:1.. I would get out 2 bags of granlime now and then ground lime @3 ton/ac in fall... done then for 5 years..

patsy_mccabe

My understanding is that Granline and ordinary Ground Limestone are basically the same thing. Granlime is much finer so gets to work quicker. Ground limestone has a much wider variation of particle size so while some of it gets to work straight away, some will take much longer.