How to interpret soil analyzes
How to interpret soil analyzes
The reading of an analysis of the terrain and therefore of its bulletin is an activity that needs particular professional skills (proper of the Agronomist Doctors and Forest Doctors) and that allows us to understand, sometimes in a preventive way, the suitability of agronomic and cultural choices and above all, if we are affecting or facilitating soil fertility.
Below is an analysis bulletin, to understand how to interpret the soil analysis, with some of the most important determinations to understand the most salient features of a soil. In this case the following parameters and values were determined: pH, Active Limestone, Electrical Conductivity, Cation Exchange Capacity (CSC), Weaving, Total Nitrogen, Assimilable Phosphorus, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Exchangeable Sodium and Organic Substance. In the case of details or major investigations we can determine other parameters that may concern the iron and other elements and microelements that help us to understand any phytopathies or agronomic needs.
In the case of our bulletin we are in the presence of a soil with pH Subalcaline, which gives us some indications on the choice of plants tolerating this acidity value. The active limestone (to which we can add also the determination of total limestone), gives us excellent indications on the choice of rootstocks, cultivars more resistant to this value and possible difficulties in assimilation of some elements or microelements. An important and often disregarded value in the choice of the plant is that of the electric Conductivity (in aqueous extract of soil); this parameter is of fundamental importance, especially when it is high (over 0.50) of states of accumulation of salts in the soil or physiological salinity of the same so that many agronomic techniques and some crops are completely adequate or even avoided. The CSC gives us a good parameter not only on the distribution of the elements in the structure of the soil but above all the ability to be able to push or not with the fertilizations, low CSCs frustrate the inputs of fertilizers that are thus dispersed in the stratums (with eutrophication of the same) while too high CSC can denote an excessive accumulation of salts in the micelles of the ground with dangers on the structure of the same.
The four main exchange elements (CA, K, Mg and Na) must be in balanced percentages and an excess percentage of one over the others leads to nutritional disruptions on the plant or dangers, as mentioned, in charge of the structure of the soils; this aspect is particularly important for Sodium (Na) which, over certain levels, makes the unstructured soils with instability phenomena including geological instability and interference in the assimilation of other elements (a phenomenon that is often misinterpreted with phenomena of chlorosis (in fact it is It is a matter of induced and indirect chlorosis.) A particular mention must be made of nitrogen and organic matter and their correct relationship.The monitoring of the two elements makes us understand if we are conducting a good agronomic technique and if we are maintaining good fertility. of the soil and of the entire agro-ecological setting of our cultivation.
The fundamental thing of the analysis bulletins is that they report the method of determining the individual parameters and possibly a calibration system (reading scale) that also allows you to understand immediately and immediately the salient features.
Guido Bissanti