Soil Chemistry Overview

This data reflects both the natural elemental composition at the site and the historical influence of nutrient management. Some soil properties such as organic carbon indicate overall soil health, whilst other such as Sodicity, Aluminium and salinity may indicate constraints to root growth and soil water extraction. Comparison between sites of the same soil type will help better understand the difference between these two influencing factors. High or low levels of some nutrients may indicate that some changes in nutrient management may be necessary and we suggest that you contact your local agronomist for their recommendations.

The A1 horizon is moderately acid at 5.7 _h20 and strongly acid in the subsoil at 5.0 _h20. The cation exchange capacity is very low throughout the soil profile, ranging from 12.0 meq/100g in the A1 horizon to 6.6 meq/100g in the B21 horizon. This indicates the soil has limited ability to hold and supply nutrients to the tree. The level of exchangeable aluminium in the subsoils range from 0.62 to 1.00 meq/100g which are above the toxicity level of exchangeable aluminium for apple trees of 0.4 meq/100g. The organic carbon content in the A1 horizon is high at 2.2 %. The soil profile is not saline and not sodic. Phosphorous levels in the topsoil are noted to be low.