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bit north of London, UK | Matt.
Interesting comment - i am aware there is some contention about this Ca/Mg ratio issue.
Eitherway, this year past for the first time i played with a lorry load of Kieserit with some interesting results.
Example.
A field, after K-displacement test, shows TEC of 13, pH 7.6 , humus 2.9% with Ca 83%, Mg 7.1%, K 4.6%, Na 1.1% of base saturation.
Sulphur 12ppm, Boron 0.8 ppm, Fe 240ppm, Mn 75ppm, Cu 1.4ppm, and Zn 5.9ppm
P2O5 226 lbs/ac (65% of desired level)
K 463 lbs/ac (shade over desired level)
Followed the fert recs, more or less. As well as copper sulphate, elemental S, Boron, some potassium sulphate, more DAP (should have been MAP), and N based around ammonium sulphate, i applied 300lbs/ac Kieserit.
And for months i thought i had wasted money on the Kieserit. I had left a test strip and was told i would see a difference in leaf colour within a month. Well i never saw any difference in colour all season, whether in bright sun or cloud..
But the crop of wheat is looking terrific so never mind - must be a good growing year allied with all the other stuff i applied...
Harvest day - i am hauling trailers for my father on the combine. As i pass the end of the test strip, exposed now the headland has been combined, i have to stop the tractor. I can see to the line the tramline i missed out when applying the kieserit. The wheat was a shade shorter, but much more eyecatching was that it was visibly thinner. Heads or ears were the same size, just less of them. I can't believe i didn't notice before, but by way of a poor excuse i was looking for the wrong thing.
Combine is now cutting the edge of this test strip. Pull dad down for a look - he has no idea there is a test strip. Without prompting he describes what i typed above. The combine goes a bit faster through this 80 foot wide test strip.
Where kieserit was applied a conventional 6 straw walker 290hp combine with 20 foot header was struggling to make 2.1 mph in a very ripe crop, albeit chopping the straw. The crop ran out at approx 15 t/ha, or 6 ton acre. Anyway, the relevant bit is the paragraph above.
Whatever about a Ca/mg ratio per se, i am now a fan of kieserit use where indicated. | |
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Soil Tests and knowing your soils
