Soils

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Soils

• Anthony P. Tuggle
• Extension Agent
• Rutherford County

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SOIL . . . WHAT IS IT?
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Introduction

• What is Soil?
• the basic material of the gardeners art
• not dirt (dirt is soil out of place)

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The Formation of Soil

• Soil is formed over many years by the physical or
  chemical weathering of rock.
• Parent material refers to those rocks or deposits
  from which a soil develops.

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Soil Profile

• Most soils are arranged in 3 distinct layers or
  horizons.
• The principle horizons are collectively called
  the soil profile.

A Topsoil
B Subsoil
C Parent Matter
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The Formation of Soil

• The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
  lists 8 Major Land Resource Areas in Tennessee
• Southern Mississippi Valley Alluvium (MS River
  Bottoms)
• S. MS Valley Silty Uplands(The Deep Loess Region)
• Southern Coastal Plains
• The Highland Rim and Pennyroyal
• The Nashville Basin (Central Basin)
• The Cumberland Plateau and Mountains
• The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys
• Blue Ridge (The West Slope of the Appalachian
  Mountains)

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Soil Composition(Of a Good Soil)

• Water Air - 50
• Soil Mineral Matter - 48.5
• Living Organisms - .5
• Organic Matter - 1

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Water Air
Saturation
Field Capacity
Permanent Wilting Point
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Living Organisms
.5
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Organic Matter
1
Eat More Chicken
Enhances development of structure.
Stabilizes soil structure.
Source of nutrients (nitrogen, sulfur)
Large nutrient and water holding capacity
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Soil Physical Properties

• Soil Texture
• Soil Structure
• Landscape Position
• Slope
• Rooting Depth
• Color
• Drainage
• Presence of Rock Fragments

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Soil Color

• Organic Matter
• Age
• Drainage

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Soil Texture

• The Size of Soil Particles

Medium Silt
Coarse Clay
Fine Sand
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100
Percent Clay
90
10
Percent Silt
20
80
70
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Soil Textural Triangle
40
60
50
50
60
40
30
70
80
20
90
10
100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Percent Sand
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Prismatic
Granular
Blocky
Columnar
Platy
Types of Soil Structure
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Soil Chemical Properties
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Cation Exchange
Example Rainfall results in constant
introduction of H ions, forcing calcium and other
bases into the soil solution where they are
leached away.
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Reversing Cation Exchange

• Limestone is added
• Calcium ions replace H and other cations
• Result clay becomes higher in exchangable
  Calcium and lower in H and Al

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Soil Management

• To identify your soil type
• Take handful of soil from your garden and rub a
  little between your finger and thumb.
• Clay feels sticky and will roll into a ball that
  simply changes shape when pressed.
• Sand is coarse and gritty.
• Silt feels silky.
• Limestone has a dry crumbly feel and a
  grayish-white color.
• Peat is black and moist.

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Soil Types

• Five main soil types
• Clay
• Sand
• Silt
• Limestone
• Peat

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Soil Types Clay

• Clay soils are typically heavy, cold soils which
  feel sticky when moist and are hard and compacted
  when dry.

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Soil Types Sand

• Sandy soils are dry and light.
• Will feel gritty between the fingers

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Soil Types Limestone

• Calcareous soils are pale hungry-looking soils
  that often contain a high proportion of stones
  and flints

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Soil Types Silt

• Silty-type soil is neither gritty or sticky. The
  soil particles are small, making it feel smooth
  and silky to the touch.

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Soil Types Peat

• Peat is a distinctive dark brown or gray color
  and has a spongy texture.
• It is rich in decomposed matter.

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Essential Plant Nutrients

• Three elements
• Carbon C
• Hydrogen (H), and
• Oxygen (O)
• are supplied by air (in the form of carbon
  dioxide) and water.

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Essential Plant Nutrients
Non-Mineral Carbon - C Hydrogen - H Oxygen - O
Primary or Macronutrients Nitrogen -
N Phosphorus - P Potassium - K
Micronutrients Zinc - Zn Chlorine - Cl Boron -
B Molybdenum - Mo Copper - Cu Iron - Fe Manganese
- Mn
Secondary Calcium - Ca Magnesium - Mg Sulfur - S
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Function of Essential Elements

• NITROGEN - Vegetative growth
• PHOSPHORUS - New root growth, blooms seeds
• POTASSIUM - Vigor disease resistance, stalk
  strength, seed quality
• CALCIUM - Root formation, straw stiffness
• MAGNESIUM - Helps uptake of other elements
• SULFUR - Amino acids, vitamins, dark green color

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Soil Mineral Matter
48.5
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Four Phases of Soil Management

• Analyzing Your Soil
• Using Soil Conditioners
• Adding General Fertilizer
• Using Specific Fertilizers

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Analyzing Your Soil

• Dont Guess, Soil Test!
• A basic soil test can be conducted through your
  county Extension office.
• Charge 6/sample (for basic soil test)
• Takes about 2 weeks to receive the results.
• A basic soil test will indicate the pH value,
  Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) content.

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• Tools Needed
• A soil probe, shovel or spade
• Bucket
• Soil test form
• Soil sample box

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• When to sample
• Soils can be analyzed at any time of the year,
  however fall is the most desirable time.
• Fields are drier and more accessible and the lab
  is not as busy. Soil samples must be dry when
  submitted to the lab.
• Testing in fall allows recommended rates of lime,
  phosphate and potash to be applied well in
  advance of spring planting.

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• How Often
• Before planting a new garden or landscape area
  then
• Lawns/Gardens/Ornamental bedsevery 3 5 years
  or if you suspect a problem.
• High value cropstest annually
• Continuous row crops/double cropping
  systemsevery 2-3 years.

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• Soil test results can be no better than the
  sample collected.
• For large areas, soil portions should be taken
  from an area not to exceed 10 acres.
• For lawns and gardens, soil portions should be
  collected at random from 8-10 locations.
• Areas of contrasting soils, problem spots or
  portions of the field where crop response is
  significantly different should be sampled
  separately.

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• Small portions of soil should be gathered from
  several locations.
• Dig at least 6 deep.
• Place soil in bucket, then go on to the next area
  and do the same thing again.
• Mix portions together in the bucket, remove all
  grass, rocks and other debris. Then keep
  approximately one cup of soil to be submitted to
  the soil lab for analysis.

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How To Take a Good Soil Sample?

• Properly Select the Sampling Area.
• The area should not exceed 10 acres.
• Areas of contrasting soils, problem spots, etc.
  should be sampled separately if possible.

X
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Collect Adequate Sub-samples
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Collect Good Sub-samples
Uniform cores are important!
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Soil pH and Its Effects of Nutrient Availability

• Soil pH refers to the amount of hydrogen (H) ions
  or acidity found in soils.
• As acid levels (H ion concentration) increase,
  the pH of the soil decreases.
• The pH scale ranges from 0 14 with most soils in
  Tennessee ranging in value from 4.5 to 7.5.

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Soil pH and Its Effects of Nutrient Availability

• Soils with pH values greater than 7.0 are
  alkaline or sweet.
• Soils with pH values less than 7.0 are acid or
  sour.
• Nutrient availability is directly affected by pH.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
________________________________________ ACID/SOUR
ALKALINE/SWEET
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Soil pH and Its Effects on Nutrient Availability
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Soil pH and Its Effects of Nutrient Availability

• What does lime do?
• Lime reduces the amounts of soluble aluminum and
  manganese to nontoxic levels.
• As pH increases, the availability of manganese
  and aluminum decreases. This prevents plants
  from being exposed to toxic amounts of these
  elements.
• Manganese and aluminum toxicities become major
  problems in many plants when the soil pH drops
  near 5.).

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Soil pH and Its Effects of Nutrient Availability

• Adjusting the Soil pH
• Various lime sources are used to adjust soil pH
  upwards (to more alkaline/sweet range) when it
  falls below the recommended ranges.
• Sources such as elemental sulfur, iron sulfate,
  and aluminum sulfate are used to adjust soil pH
  downwards (to more acid/sour range) when it is
  above the recommended ranges.

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ADJUSTING THE SOIL PH LEVEL

• Apply lime to reduce soil acidity.
  Use no more than 50 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft.
  Expect long adjustment period.
• Apply sulfur to increase soil acidity.
  Use 2 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. for each .1 unit
  change in the pH level.
  Expect extremely short adjustment
  period.

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Soil pH and Its Effects of Nutrient Availability

• While the water pH indicates the need for lime,
  the buffer pH determines how much lime to apply.
• Buffer pH is a measure of the amount of acid held
  by the soil particles and accounts for the total
  acid that must be neutralized when lime is added.

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Analyzing Your SoilThe Soil Test

• Filling out the information sheet
• For each sample listed in the left column, you
  may request up to 3 recommendations.
• Use the table on the back of the information
  sheet to determine the appropriate crop codes to
  use.
• Soil sample boxes should be marked clearly with
  the sample numbers corresponding to those shown
  on the information sheet.

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Fertilizer Analysis

• A fertilizer bag should list
• Percentages of
• N
• P2O5
• K2O
• Sources of Nutrients
• Urea or Ammonium Nitrate
• Triple Super Phosphate
• Muriate of Potash
• Amount (wt.) of Fertilizer

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Application Methods

• Broadcasting
• Banding
• Fertilization of Planted Area only
• Side dressings
• Foliar Feeding

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HOW SHOULD FERTILIZER BE SPREAD ?

• Gravity Flow
• Centrifugal
• Hand

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HOW SHOULD FERTILIZER BE SPREAD ?

• Spread the material as uniformly as possible.
• Calibrate your equip-ment to apply the
  recommended amount.

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Adding General Fertilizers

• Supplies of manure and compost are not always
  available and the application of organic matter
  adds more to the soil structure rather than
  supplying sufficient amounts of nutrients. So,
  supplements may be needed.
• Pay attention to the type of crop you are growing
  as well as the soil test results.

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Adding General Fertilizers

• Organic vs. Inorganic
• Organic fertilizers the nutrients contained in
  the product are derived solely from the remains
  of a once-living organism.
• Examples cotton-seed meal, blood meal, bone meal
• Inorganic or synthetic fertilizers nutrients
  contained in the product are derived from
  inorganic materials.
• Examples urea, osmocote etc.

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Adding General Fertilizers

• Fertilizer Materials
• The fertilizer analysis on the bag refers to how
  much of an element there is in a material, based
  on the in weight.
• All fertilizers are labeled with 3 numbers that
  give the by weight of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus
  (expressed as P2O5) and Potassium (K20).
• Simply put, the numbers represent N, P, K

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Adding General Fertilizers

• Special Purpose Fertilizers
• Some fertilizers are packaged for certain uses
  such as tomato food or azalea food
• They may be formulated to release a higher amount
  of nutrient needed by a specific plant.
• They may be formulated to empty your pocket book!
• Slow Release Fertilizers
• Contain one or more essential nutrients which are
  released over a an extended time.
• Advantages include fewer applications, low burn
  potential and slow release rates.

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Fertilizer Materials

• Complete Versus Incomplete Fertilizer
• Special Purpose Fertilizers
• Slow Release Fertilizers
• Organic Fertilizer

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Adding General Fertilizers

• Complete Fertilizers
• A fertilizer which contains N, P K (the primary
  nutrients)
• Common examples are 6-12-12, 10-10-10,
  12-12-12, 15-15-15 etc.
• Incomplete Fertilizers
• Will be missing one or more of the primary
  nutrients.
• Examples 34-0-0 (Ammonium Nitrate), 46-0-0
  (Urea), 18-46-0 (diammonium phosphate), 0-0-60
  (muriate of potash) etc.

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Using Specific Fertilizers

• Some crops will always need special treatment
  even when the manure and fertilizer levels are
  sufficient to start with.
• Green-house tomatoes will benefit from extra
  feeding and a potash fertilizer to encourage
  fruit and flower formation.
• Leafy plants that remain in the ground for a long
  time such as cabbage may benefit from extra
  Nitrogen toward the end of the growing season.
• Raspberries, blueberries and other acid loving
  plants are prone to iron deficiencies when grown
  in alkaline soil requiring fertilizer treatment.

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Release Times for N Sources

• Begin
• Type Release Residual
• Ammonium sulfate minutes 7 days
• Urea minutes 20 days
• SCU (sulfur coated urea) 1 day years
• PCU and PCSCU 2 days 2 months
• Andersons (Scotts) Poly-S
• Pursell Poly-On
• Lesco Poly Plus
• MU (Methylene Urea) 4 days 4 months
• Contec, Nutralene
• UF (Ureaformaldahyde) 7 days 12 months
• Nitroform, Bluechip
• IBDU 3 days 4 months

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Using Soil Conditioners

• The best materials to add to your soil are
  compost and manure.
• The addition of this organic matter will
• Improve overall soil texture/structure
• Improve drainage
• Improve water holding capacity
• Provide some nutrients (actually makes nutrients
  more readily available to plants)

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Using Soil Conditioners

• Well-rotted animal manure is the very best
  material to use, but it can be difficult to
  obtain.
• Compost is the ideal way to return as much
  organic matter as possible back to the soil,
  following natures example.
• All amendments should be well-rotted and dug into
  the top layer of soil. If the organic matter is
  hot (like fresh mulch, sawdust, or fresh
  manure) this material will burn your plants.

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Using Soil Conditioners

• Horse Manure
• Pig Manure
• Sheep Manure
• Chicken Manure
• Alternatives include
• Spent mushroom compost, seaweed, spent hops, wool
  shoddy, composted pine bark, cotton-seed hull,
  peat

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Using Soil Conditioners

• Green Manure Crops
• Are grown specifically to add organic matter to
  beds that are empty for a period of time.
• It is sown with the intention of digging it into
  the soil to provide organic matter and plant
  food.
• Turn the crops under about 6 weeks before
  planting to allow the organic material to
  break-down.

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Using Soil Conditioners

• Green Manure Crops that act as Nitrogen fixers
• Alfalfa, broad or fava bean, red clover, lupin,
  winter vetch
• Green Manure Crops that do not fix Nitrogen
• Buckwheat, rye, mustard, Italian ryegrass

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Typical Composition of Organic Fertilizing
Materials The nitrogen in organic fertilizing
materials becomes slowly available to plants.
There is considerable variation between samples.
The guarantee on the bag should be read
carefully. This data is taken from official
reports of state control departments.

Percentage on a Dry-Weight Basis Organic
Materials Total Available
Phosphoric Water-Soluble
Nitrogen, N Acid,
P2O5 Potash, K2O Bat
guano 10.0 4.0 2.0 Blood
13.0 2.0 1.0 Blood and
bone 6.5 7.0 . . . Bone black 1.3
15.0 . . . Bone meal, raw 3.0
15.0 . . . Steamed 2.0
15.0 . . . Castor bean meal
5.5 2.0 1.0 Cotton seed meal 6.0 3.0 1.0 Fish
meal 10.0 4.0 . . . Fish
solution 10.0 3.0 1.0
5.0 2.0 2.0 Garbage tankage 1.5 2.0 0.7 Horn and
hoof meal 12.0 2.0 . . . Sewerage sludge
1.5 1.3 0.4 Activated 6.0 3.0 0.1 Tankage
9.0 6.0 . . .
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Typical Composition of Manures Manures vary
greatly in their content of fertilizing
nutrients. The kind of feed used, the percentage
and type of litter or bedding, the moisture
content, and the age and degree of rotting or
drying can all modify the composition. In the
case of the commercially dried pulverized
manures, some nitrogen is lost in the process.
The following data is representative of typical
analyses from widely scattered reports.

Approximate Composition,

Per Cent Pounds
per Ton
Moisture Nitrogen
Phosphoric Acid Potash Fresh Manure
with Normal Quality of Bedding or
Litter Cow 86 11 3 10 Duck 61 22 29 10 Goose 67
22 11 10 Hen 73 22 18 10 Hog 87 11 6
9 Horse 80 13 5 10 Sheep 68 20 15 8 Steer or
feed yard 75 12 7 11 Turkey 74 26 14 10 Dried
Commercial Products Cow, East 10 42 63 61
West 16 18 15 31 Hen, East (with
litter) 16 56 57 30 West (droppings)
8 83 63 31 (with litter) 13 41 37 23
Hog, West 10 45 42 20 Rabbit, West
6 45 27 16 Sheep, East 10 38 30 40 West
9 27 19 41 Stockyard, East 8 41 32 36
West 15 41 11 38
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Commonly Available Fertilizer Materials
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SummaryWhat have we learned?

• To produce healthy crops, we must feed the soil
  and continually improve its texture by the
  addition of organic matter.
• To manage your soil successfully, learn the soil
  type and its characteristics.
• Know the essential plant nutrients
• PRIMARY (N, P, K)
• SECONDARY (CA, MG, S)

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SummaryWhat have we learned?

• Soil Management Phases
• Soil test
• Addition of soil conditioners
• General fertilizer use
• Specialized fertilizer use

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Plant-Nutrient Deficiency Symptoms

• Chlorosis
• Necrosis
• Rosetting
• Pigment accumulation
• Stunting

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Visual Diagnosis of Plant Nutrient Deficiencies
Iron
Posassium
Zinc
Boron
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The End

• Questions???????????????????????
• Special Thanks to
• Dewayne Trail-Rutherford County Director
• Dewayne Perry Williamson County Director
• Karla Kean Clarksville City Forester