Sorry, no....never needed analysis after augmenting, breaking up clay, adding what I added. Had a few nice sequoias, plus bountiful garden. That tells me soil was adequate!!
-
ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
Soils in Colorado
- Thread starter slownickel
- Start date
Sorry, no....never needed analysis after augmenting, breaking up clay, adding what I added. Had a few nice sequoias, plus bountiful garden. That tells me soil was adequate!!
The soil may have been more than adequate, but how do you quantify what adequate means and how would you replicate or improve soil to those same conditions if you had to grow elsewhere?
Also what happens when you grow in it for a year or 3 or 10 and you have depleted it?
Also what happens when you grow in it for a year or 3 or 10 and you have depleted it?
In our valley here, because of all the Calcium Carbonate, and presumably the low levels of Aluminum, the alfalfa farmers just spray their fields every 2-5 years, depending on need, with sulfuric acid. Drops the pH down quick, mobilizes all that calcium, and people get lush green fields of protein rich alfalfa, the best in the country, with sometimes 4 cuttings on a good year, just below 7000 ft above sea level.
The hops farmers, and many of the orchards will plant and only add some well aged horse manure, no other inputs other than irrigation water, and get pretty amazing results. The Fe:Mn ratio is less than 1 in the native soil. Haven't spoken directly with any orchard farmers here that are using more diverse inputs and really attempting at balancing soil. I'm sure there are farmers that are balancing soil minerals, I just haven't met any.
The hops farmers, and many of the orchards will plant and only add some well aged horse manure, no other inputs other than irrigation water, and get pretty amazing results. The Fe:Mn ratio is less than 1 in the native soil. Haven't spoken directly with any orchard farmers here that are using more diverse inputs and really attempting at balancing soil. I'm sure there are farmers that are balancing soil minerals, I just haven't met any.
Can't get much more balanced than that... All that OM will eventually make a soil with all that native Ca. Just that it will take a while. Sulfuric acid makes more sense, provided they are willing to wait to get in there and plant something. How fast do they go back and plant alfalfa after the sulfuric acid shock treatment?
Whats the harm? Sorry, not trying to scare away anyone....
They treat with sulfuric acid as soon as the snow melts in the spring, and wait at least two weeks to plant. Irrigation water schedules depend on each particular mountain or mesa you live on, and can literally vary from property to property. It is completely dependent on winter snow accumulation and how fast it starts melting in the spring. Our irrigation water can start as early as April, and end as late as October. Or it can go from the second week of June into the last week of July, on really bad dry years.
Subbed
My only "experience" with native soil was making my own pots with an open bottom on them that was directly exposed to the soil. The soil I used was ROLS from previous grows and I supplemented with some top dressed organics. I wasn't impressed at all with the size and vigor of the plant but that was because of the biblical amount of grasshoppers that I had this year that I know I've mentioned in other posts/threads.
My only "experience" with native soil was making my own pots with an open bottom on them that was directly exposed to the soil. The soil I used was ROLS from previous grows and I supplemented with some top dressed organics. I wasn't impressed at all with the size and vigor of the plant but that was because of the biblical amount of grasshoppers that I had this year that I know I've mentioned in other posts/threads.
gypsom is key. Using acidic amendments and adding organic matter to help release the bicarbonates. Humate (Humic Shale Ore) helps release the bound nutrients as well. Green sand is awesome, a bit of rice hulls and pumice stone and or lava rock really help round out the native soils. Other things to add coco, peat and worm castings. Oyster shell and crab shell really help in the short term to make sure their is enough Ca availible until the native soil is been living for 2-3 seasons. Then small amounts of inputs like egg shell are enough Ca and P to keep the cycle going. Compost your Cannabis leaf and stalks back into the soil as well to increase the organic matter and keep the nitrogen cycle in a more closed loop. it takes 2-3 good seasons to get Colorado native soil to break the clay and shale unless you happen to live in one of the golden areas of Colorado that already have dark rich sandy loam soil. Most native soil has what you need, you just have to add what is needed to release locked up nutrients and restart or speed up the life process in the soil itself.
it takes 2-3 good seasons to get Colorado native soil to break the clay and shale unless you happen to live in one of the golden areas of Colorado that already have dark rich sandy loam soil. Most native soil has what you need, you just have to add what is needed to release locked up nutrients and restart or speed up the life process in the soil itself.
Yup. Most CO soil needs to be amended.
Yup. Most CO soil needs to be amended.
