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What Your Soil Test Tells Us
The soil is strongly acidic at pH 4.8. Available nitrogen is very low at 7 ppm, Olsen phosphorus is very low at 4 ppm, and potassium is low at 41 ppm. Calcium is relatively low at 246 ppm. Salinity and sodium are not presently limiting.
Only about 21% of the submitted material passed the 2-mm screen, supporting a staged soil-building approach for this shallow, rocky/decomposed-granite site.
| Amendment | Amount for 2,000 ft² |
|---|
| Feather meal 12.8-0-0 | 29.2 lb |
| Bone meal 2-14-0 | 13.1 lb |
| K-Mag / langbeinite 0-0-22 | 12.5 lb |
| Calcitic limestone, about 96% CCE | 88.5 lb calculated total |
| Compost | Apply in planned two-stage treatment |
Staged treatment: the limestone quantity is a rough total requirement, not an instruction to apply all of it at once. Lime and compost are applied in two tranches with a retest after the first treatment.
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Amendment Recommendations
Nitrogen: use feather meal as the primary natural-first nitrogen source.
Phosphorus: use bone meal to address the low Olsen phosphorus result while accounting for its other guaranteed nutrients.
Potassium: use K-Mag/langbeinite to address the low potassium result without relying on impractical retail wood-ash quantities.
pH: use calcitic limestone as the liming material; do not apply the full calculated total in one pass.
Organic matter / soil building: add compost as part of the two-stage treatment and use the retest to determine the second-stage adjustment.
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Why These Amendments Were Selected
QMA selected a coordinated natural-first set of materials rather than treating each laboratory number independently. Feather meal supplies nitrogen without relying on a synthetic quick-release fertilizer. Bone meal addresses phosphorus. K-Mag/langbeinite provides potassium at a practical product weight. Calcitic limestone addresses strong acidity without adding unnecessary magnesium.
Retail packaged wood ash was considered but rejected because the amount required was economically impractical. The plan reassigned its nutrient and liming functions to more practical materials.
Public-method boundary: this page explains the customer-facing selection logic. Proprietary allocation and balancing procedures are not reproduced.
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Calculation Evidence and Safeguards
| Evidence | Released interpretation |
|---|
| pH 4.8 | Strongly acidic; staged liming required |
| Available-N 7 ppm | Nitrogen correction supported |
| Olsen P 4 ppm | Phosphorus correction supported |
| K 41 ppm | Potassium correction supported |
| ECe 0.2 / SAR 0.51 | No salinity or sodium correction |
| 21% passing 2 mm | Supports staged site-building approach |
Retest gate: the second lime/compost tranche is not finalized until the first treatment has reacted and the soil is retested.
Final status: Initial treatment released; second-stage treatment remains evidence-dependent.