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Location

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Knopp, Germany

Ok, so I have just read about the possible use of an EC-Meter in our patches.

I have no idea about them, I did google and the basic prinicple I get.

Questions: They cost between 50-1500 dollars from what I saw, what would a grower expect to spend for one to get the job done in a pumpkin patch?

Anyone have a link(s) to a resource to learn more about them, how to use one ect?

thanks,
owen

10/13/2014 2:24:32 AM

Belgium

http://www.hanna-de.com/applications.asp?langue=de

10/13/2014 6:13:09 AM

Knopp, Germany

Thanks for the link.

Any other links to resources that explain better what to look for, which measurements are important, how to adjust the soil levels?

Is anyone using a EC-Meter for anything not just pumpkin growing? I think I have nearly 2400 pounds of questions...LOL

Would really like to interact via email, if you want you can reach me at giantsquash@gmail.com.

thanks,
owen

10/13/2014 11:44:49 AM

Belgium

you can find every anwser on that website, you just need to read true all the stuff lol

10/13/2014 12:46:24 PM

Deer Park, WI

"Soil EC has no direct effect on crop growth or yield. The utility of EC mapping comes from the relationships that frequently exist between EC and a variety of other soil properties that are highly related to crop productivity. These include such properties as water holding capacity, topsoil depth, cation exchange capacity, soil drainage, organic matter level, soil nutrient levels, salinity and subsoil characteristics. With adequate field checking or field calibration, soil EC can be used as a “surrogate” (substitute)way to measure soil properties that affect crop yield. In general, the correlation between soil EC and
yield will be the greatest when yields are primarily influenced by the soil’s available water holding
capacity. The patterns of soil EC within a field do not tend to change significantly over time (Lund et al.,
1999). Generally, once an EC map has been made, it will remain relatively accurate unless significant soil movement occurs such as with land leveling, terrace construction, or some type of natural occurrence."

http://www.soils.wisc.edu/extension/wcmc/proceedings01/Doerge-withPIX.PDF

10/15/2014 10:38:50 PM

Deer Park, WI

and...

"Although EC does not provide a direct measurement of
specific ions or salt compounds, it has been correlated to concentrations of nitrates, potassium, sodium,chloride, sulfate, and ammonia. For certain non-saline soils, determining EC can be a convenient andeconomical way to estimate the amount of nitrogen(N)available for plant growth"

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_053280.pdf

10/15/2014 10:42:27 PM

Deer Park, WI

I'd like to learn more and talk to agronomists about their experiences...however...at the surface it appears as this could be useful as a means to monitor fluctuations in macro nutrients when there's a lot of water movement through the soil profile via rain and irrigation. to be continued.

10/15/2014 10:44:38 PM