Hoop house

Amber Anderson

Tomatoes in this hoop house were reported to yield less this year than the last several years. This hoop is located in central Iowa, and has had a hoop (see below) for approximately 6 years.

Angled view of three rows of tall tomato plants in a hoop house with straw laid out all over the ground covering the soil.

Soil samples for calcium and magnesium were the following (mehlich extraction):

Sample Id Ca Conc (mg/kg) Mg Conc (mg/kg)
In irrigation line 3-4″ 1 6326 95
Edge of row 0-1″ 2 6591 139
edge of row 0-4″ 3 6358 171
2-6″ 4 5188 80

 

Samples of the water came back with the following results:

Sample Id Ca Conc (mg/L) Mg Conc (mg/L)
R-1 159 104
R-2 156 10?3
  1. What additional questions do you have for this grower? What additional results would be helpful?
  2. How might you go about managing soil in this scenario?

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Introduction to Soil Science Copyright © 2023 by Amber Anderson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.