Gardening Unplugged - Soil Amendments w/ Jeremy Schmidt

[@shawnmatthews6761]

This was a great wealth of information. Was Looking to improve my garden. Now I can improve my lawn as well. Thanks

[@brandonlamontcooper8141]

Thank you for your service..

[@kelliq81]

Watched this yesterday and thought it was great. I always say it's all about the soil and make sure you put the plant in right spot: full sun, partial, shade. He went into more detail which I enjoyed and I have the book on order that he mentioned. I've been organic gardening since 1994 - its a gamechanger. Highly recommend.

[@saltwaterpurl]

I used to work at an Ag Extension soil lab, and this is VERY good information. 👌🏻 The only things I would add are: - Soil tests give you a big advantage, and you shouldn’t apply fertilizer without one because it’s easy to make your plants sick and damage the water that drains off your land if you fertilize without a test. Unless you are psychic, you need the test. - It is better to go a little lighter than recommended on fertilizer than go heavier. There are a ton of problems that plants get from “overeating”, vs. just growing a tad slower with less. - The little home soil test kits are generally not accurate. Don’t buy them. - You should get your soil test done by the state lab nearest to you. Each lab uses different processes based on the kind of soils in that region to get accurate test results. - Areas with more commercial agriculture have bigger government grants for their Extension labs, so depending on where you live the soil test might be closer to $20. - Depending on your native soil and climate, your pH change over time is very different. What he described about needing sulphur simply because of adding organic matter (mulch, etc) over time may not be the same for your area. Your lab often has good education materials on their website. - For those of you with lawn, don’t follow instructions on a fertilizer bag, follow the Scott’s 4-step, or listen to a lawn company that is not testing your yard for pH, nutrient levels, and organic matter percentage. Many lawn companies have no education and are interested in doing more applications to get paid more. There are great lawn companies, but they are the minority, so shop around. Responsible altering of the environment involves science. Take some time, enjoy, and be patient with learning how to be a good steward of your land! It’s very satisfying, and everyone will really appreciate your knowledge!

[@bluejay3945]

A bit confused. My understanding is that potassium does not affect soil pH as only the H ion affects pH. Did u say that adding green sand will raise pH? Please clarify. Thank u

[@Plantdelights]

Hello! All cations (positively charged particles) affect pH. H+ is a very weak base and is easily outcompeted by the much stronger K+. So when you add K+ to the soil, it pushes H+ out, thus increasing the amount of H+ in the soil and raising pH.

[@bluejay3945]

@@Plantdelights thank u! Let me ask ur opinion then. My soil test showed low potassium so I bought a pre-mixed spray of potassium to apply to my lawn. I believe it was potassium sulphate but I’m not sure any more. I followed the spray application rate. About 10 days later my lawn bleached. Turned white like u would see from an application of Tenacity. Not a fungal look nor any crystalline salt from over fertilizing. I do strictly organic. We were gone a few days so I don’t know if we were unwittingly sprayed by a lawn service by mistake. So the white lawn completely died off except for the wicked wild Bermuda. I aerated, added a thin veneer of compost, and reseeded with TTTF. It’s coming in nicely but I’m concerned that my potassium application could have screwed up my biology. Any thoughts? I’m not planning on doing another soil test until next fall. Nobody has given me a reasonable answer so I thought I’d ask because u have such great insight. Thank u for ur consideration and I appreciate your amazing content. I know ur Espoma fans but have u tried any neen cake powder or kelp meal? Also I switched from Planttone to a fertilizer from Microlife out of Texas. I really liked how my beds responded to their formula this past year so perhaps it’s worth looking into to for u