Managing soil pH is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of soil health and crop productivity, says Marla Riekman, a land management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
Tag Archives soil ph
Soil pH levels can help make planting decisions
Levels in Manitoba tend to be on the higher end of the scale, with most soil testing in the neutral to alkaline range
Alkaline soil promotes soil fungus
Verticillium is more severe when pH is 7.4 to 8.6, according to Alberta research
WINNIPEG — Verticillium stripe is a more common and troublesome disease for canola growers on the eastern half of the Prairies, particularly in Manitoba. Meanwhile, verticillium isn’t a huge issue in Alberta. There may be a simple reason for this geographic variation — soil pH. Researchers at the University of Alberta have learned that Verticillium […] Read more
A little less acid can boost crop nutrition
Altering soil pH may reduce fertilizer needs by reclaiming residual nutrients and increasing use efficiency
SASKATOON — With farmers in Western Canada facing another year of expensive crop inputs, a soil amendment that helps cut these costs by using what’s already there could be attractive. “We’ve been over-fertilizing for 50 years,” said Morgan Duggan, sales agronomist with NorStar Agriculture, which specializes in amendments to deal with pH, salinity, toxicity and […] Read more
Adding silicon to soil can help control clubroot
Scientists have found that adding silicon to soil can boost resistance to clubroot in canola by up to 46 percent, adding to known benefits for plants such as improving resilience to extreme heat and drought. “There are significant canola crop losses in the Prairies due to clubroot,” said Nataraj Kav, associate dean of the Faculty […] Read more
