soil recipe

[Lindalana]

Originally Posted by drew51

Soil tests don't show the rate of organic decomposition so really give inaccurate Nitrogen rates in the soil. And many micronutrients are not tested for that could be missing in your soil. I find them of limited use.
For example I had a manganese deficiency in my soil and it was diagnosed through a leaf sample. The soil test told me squat.

Since I follow biological gardening model, regular soil test from local ext site would not be useful for me, I have no interest in adding 0-50-0
I too have had manganese deficiency and while I did suspect it by the leaf look, both labs, International Ag labs and Crop Service International did great job for me. Also for growing veggies like tomatoes, one should test for boron.
My soil also tested low for sodium so it was pretty funny to go to grocery store and buy regular salt to sprinkle my soil. Wish I have done it in the beginning of the season as I really do not like to add "too much salt" to my canning recipes so entire canning went off in taste...
As for maple- I am betting lots of problems from the tree- shade and using all nutrients by tree roots, starving everything else, maples are notorious for it. Nothing to do cept getting containers in sunnier places or removing maple...