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Baa Mar 29, 2003

Were I a new gardener, I'd be starting to worry about CECs from this talk. While this is an important topic in soil science and to those who garden in extreme soils, please let me assure anyone that is beginning to think they need a science degree to dig a hole for a plant, that the majority of gardeners need not worry unduly about these.

That's a high pH you have there Lupine and one that not even the chalk hills of north Hampshire have to suffer although the land there is also clay over limestone.

I'm glad you bought up the levels of nutrients being extreme too. Many gardeners lace their soil with fertilizers (both organic and inorganic) without really testing for what is actually needed. Then come the questions as to why long lived plants such as Paeonies won't flower although they have flowered in previous years, more often than not it's because there is a soil nutrient anomally that is either natural (i.e depletion of other nutrients by the crop that doesn't require so much of one nutrient as it does of others) or due to an over zealous fertilising regieme.

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lupinelover Grove City, OH(Zone 6a) Mar 30, 2003

Good point, Baa; the only time people should be concerned about their soil having unusual problems, and pay to have the unusual tests, is a pattern of varied plant loss that continues for several years.

Most of us lose a few plants every year because of weather or poor siting conditions, or old age, or pest infestation; only when a site continually fails to have a variety of plants survive should people spend a lot of money having sophisticated soil analyses done.

A routine soil test, though, may be invaluable for those who just purchased a new home, or are attempting to grow things that require (not prefer) conditions that may not be naturally-occurring.

The routine testing is usually available in the US for about $10 -- about the cost of a good perennial; some of the sophisticated tests can run $100 per test, with 10-20 recommended for specific minerals such as molebdonum, magnesium, copper, most of which are completely irrelevent except in extreme cases.

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