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  • Corey McCain

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    November 26, 2021 at 10:46 am
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    I’ve had some similar questions on sulfur management. I’ve seen some agronomists say ideally sulfur and phosphorus should be close to a 1:1 ratio on M3 soil test. Sulfate seems to disappear quickly in my Sandy soil with 6-7% organic matter and pH in the mid 6.. I have some higher pH soil around 7.5 with 4% organic matter and I have applied elemental sulfur. In one section it brought my sulfur level up to 53ppm but in a section where I applied it in less quantity it only came back at 23ppm. The test was done 4 months after application. 15-20ppm is normal for most of the tests I’ve done on my plots. I’ve since reapplied sulfur and will see what happens over the next year. In one section I’ve done a test adding diatomaceous earth to see how it effects silicon levels on my soil test. I’ve read it can raise pH thus it’s potentially working against my sulfur application somewhat. I’ll find out in future tests how the DE effected things vs the area without DE. Is it possible a certain amount of both sulfur and DE applied together could cancel each other out as far as pH is concerned? I don’t know. If it did work one could probably get needed silicon and sulfur. Now I’m working with a very small area so it may not be practical for large areas. I also wonder if the 400ppm sulfur I have on my total soil test is good enough to not worry about sulfur on a M3 test. Just things I’m experimenting with.