Mar
1
Written by:
Clint Patterson
3/1/2010 8:04 PM
In case you haven’t been following along or are new to the site, I’d like to catch you up to speed. We are in the early stages of our “Food Plot Journey”. Up until now we have selected our areas where we are going to plant food plots and collected our soil samples. The WeHuntSC.com Team is going to plant several Tecomate Seed Food Plot products in various locations. Some of these locations will be remote locations where we install the food plots with a GroundHog MAX and others are tractor accessible.
The Readouts
It didn’t take long for our soil samples to return back from the Agricultural Service Laboratory at Clemson. The data on the soil sample readout was very detailed and informative. We received a general information sheet that helped us to understand what the data in our readouts meant. There were summary sections for “Soil Test Results”, “Understanding Your Soil Sample”, “Nutrients” etc. So even a web guy can make sense of what is going on with this readout (kind of!). Along with the general “help you understand the readout” sheet was another sheet titled the “Soil Report” which contained the actual results from our soil.
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When we sent the soil samples in, we had to tell them what we were going to be planting so that they would best know what to recommend. The information section is structured in tables and has 2 columns denoting the specific analysis and the result of the analysis. The current pH and levels of Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Boron, Copper, Sodium, Sulfur, Soluble Salts, Nitrate Nitrogen, & Organic Matter were all shown in this table. Below this section was a section of calculations which discussed the acidity of the soil, the base saturation, and more scientific stuff that I can’t really spell correctly even with spell-check! Then followed the recommended amount of lime (in pounds) that need to be added to the soil with other nutrient information recommendations based off our proposed type of plant that we’re planting…in this case, a legume.
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The top-most category on the sheet was the Soil Ph. With pH, the magic # is 7. The goal is to try to be as close to 7 as you can because a pH of 7 offers the best growing environments for plants. In the first readout, the pH of the soil was 7.0 so we are right on track with it. This soil in the area of this specific food plot has been managed along with having been farmed before. Some of the other readouts on the property were not as close and a lime application was recommended.
Since we are planting legumes there was no recommendation for nitrogen because the plants will produce their own once the root system is established. This nitrogen balancing act is unique to legumes. In order for the plants to produce their own nitrogen they must be properly inoculated, especially in areas where they have not been grown before. If inoculants are not used, the plants may not properly develop a root system and a poor stand may result. Check with your local feed and seed store to get the correct inoculants. Make sure to check the expiration date and use more than what the minimum recommendation is on the package to make sure you get enough. For more information on inoculants, see The inoculants .PDF
Now that we know what we need to add to the soil, we’ll probably bush-hog the field and get it ready to be limed. When we take more steps…we’ll document them here!
Regards,
Clint