From: Steve Diver >
> The typical NPK
> soil test, even the Albrecht soil test, is largely irrelevant from
> this humus perspective.
Hi Steve
I would like to pursue this a bit. Maybe I think a bit different to most but
I reckon the main benefit of a proper soil test (a good Albrecht type
analysis) is the detailed trace element analysis - of course you have to pay
the rate to get it and many people are not prepared to go whole hog on a
soil test. The majors are simple and cheap - you can get Calcium ,
magnesium, potassium and sodium off any old twenty dollar soil test and run
an 'Albrecht balance' off those numbers and most times you will come out
with a workable result - there is a bit of math involved and some conversion
figures sometimes - it helps to know the cheap test numbers in comparison to
a perry or brookside but you can do this . OTOH A decent trace element
analysis is not something you can get cheap. For trace element numbers you
need to go to a good lab and pay the price and also do any retests with that
same lab. Trace element nutrition is something that many organic farmers
neglect almost as badly as their chemical cousins and I really dont see how
you can get this right (or know that it is right) without some proper soil
testing.
Of course I dont know those Swiss soils - maybe they are so loaded with
minerals and energy that the farmers dont need to look for anything extra -
Quartz crystal that I have seen from there is the best energetically.
Tell us what they are doing that makes testing irrelevant
Cheers
Lloyd Charles
