The American Beagler Forum

What have you guys used to replenish your soil and add nitrogen?

Organic and Non-organic

In my area of NE Ohio I use 2-3 50 lb bags of 25-5-10 as a starting point for most grains and shrubs. This is just a starting point though. The few minutes it takes to do a soil test will reward you with a better crop. It will also pay for itself in fertilizer savings by helping you to get correct ratio. In my case I already have a lot of Phosphorous in my soil, so that's why I use the low P fertilizer. In my area also our soils run on the acid side and lime is often as important as the fertilizer. The soil test will tell you that to. As a general rule of thumb I apply lime at no more than 2 tons per acre each application and that will raise the Ph about a 1/2 a point. The following a good little article with a list of lab that do soil testing.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/pdf/1132.pdf
PS Littlewoody, How do you get this come up a hyperlink
Shane

Littlewoody, Found my answer to the hyperlink. The text doesn't come up blue until you "Submit" the post.

Just a note on the soil tests. You don't need a fancy probe as seen in the OSU article. Take a shovel or trowel. Throw a good sampling of your area from about 6" deep in a "Clean" container. Stir it all together. Pull off about a 1 1/2 cups. Fill out the form and send it in. These labs are always helpful with any questions on completing the form.

Depending on the crop, I usually start with 1-3 bags of 12-12-12. In corn I add a bag of 46-0-0 urea and side dress with urea again during the growing season. In the organic field, I like rye as a plow down in spring. I rotate my plots between corn and cow peas for nitrogen. I also use a mix of crimson clover, Austrian winter peas, and wheat. Makes a nice green browse, adds nitrogen, and makes good summer cover. I plant oats in the spring. It's good browse and cover for young rabbits. I drill my oats, rye, peas, and wheat. I broadcast my clovers.

Larry