Just a Reminder...it's Soil Sampling Season!

 Soil testing is a great way to understand the current nutritional status of your production space. When taken properly, the sample will give information on which nutrients are already present in the soil, the degree of nutrient availability (through CEC and pH values) and make suggestions on lime applications where needed. This information can then be used to determine the best inputs for efficient and economical crop production in the upcoming year. 

Soil sampling can be done any time of year, however most producers opt to take them in the fall immediately following harvest. The results generated through soil analysis can vary depending on the time of year, but they typically don't change a lot from the fall to the following spring. This timing also allows for a larger window to develop the fertility plan for the following season, and allows slow-acting amendments such as lime, and elemental sulfur to work their magic before the next batch of plants move in. Whichever time of year you chose to soil sample though, it should remain consistent over the years. Outdoor crops see a recommended interval of testing every 2-3 years, but protected soils (tunnels, greenhouses, etc.) should be tested on a yearly basis as it is more susceptible to big changes from year to year compared to a field soil. 

Unsure of what test you should be submitting? The field soil test is suitable for all soils, including those contained in tunnel/protected spaces. If you are a hydroponic producer, with crops grown in containers or grow bags containing soilless substrate (Ex. Sunshine mix, Promix etc), or are looking to get your potting mix tested for nutritional breakdown, then you are looking for the greenhouse soil paste analysis, listed as G1P on the general submission form for Nova Scotia's lab. 

For information on how to take a soil test, check out Perennia's latest guideline here. 

Once we have our soil test, what do all these values mean?

There are a handful of resources available to you to help interpret your soil results:

• Perennia's Soil Test Report Interpretation for Nova Scotia
• Nova Scotia's Analytical Lab's Soil Test Interpretation Ratings for Nova Scotia Crops

As always, if you have any questions regarding your soil test, feel free to reach out to your commodity specialist for further discussion.

Happy sampling folks!

-Talia 

Protected culture fertility survey!

Growing crops under cover is a separate skillset compared to growing under the open sky.  Fertility management, integrated pest management, environmental management are all very different.  Last year a survey went out to find out more about the protected culture industry in Nova Scotia.  To drill deeper on the learnings from that survey, Rosalie Gillis-Madden, Perennia's Vegetable Specialist, Talia Plaskett, Perennia's Protected Crop Specialist, and Caitlin McCavour, Perennia's new Soil Specialist would like to identify where there are knowledge gaps and pain points in protected crop production, specifically targeting fertility management.  Our goal is to determine where outreach and support might help the industry move forward and how we might serve you better.  This applies to growers who grow in soil or in substrate, who use conventional fertility or organic nutrient sources (composts, manures, organic fertilizer, etc.)  Please take the time to complete this survey to help us determine how we might best support growers, it should take you about 10 minutes to complete.

The mission of Perennia is to help farmers, fishers, and food processors be prosperous and profitable.

Soil Salinity in High Tunnels

Drought stress on tomato leaves. Soil salinity can cause
increased susceptibility to drought stress in plants. 
Photo: Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center

Soil salinity can occur in high tunnel production due to some of the characteristics unique to this type of growing system. High tunnels are often used as a season extension tool, meaning that they are in production for a longer period of time and managed more intensively than a typical field. This management can include fertilizer applications, irrigation, and heavy traffic leading to compaction and poor drainage, all of which contribute to salt buildup in the soil.

The other major difference between tunnel and field production with an impact on soil salinity is that the ground under tunnels is protected from the elements, most notably precipitation. In a field situation salts would have more opportunity to be flushed through the system by rainfall, while tunnels aren’t able to take advantage of this type of natural cleansing. 

Soil salinity is a concern for a number of reasons including that plants in saline soils are more susceptible to water stress, which is particularly prevalent in a year with so little excess water around anyway. Saline soils can also lead to salt injury in plants and adverse affects on soil structure. It is important to monitor the salt levels of your soil and take preventative measures to avoid excess buildup. Some strategies for preventing or managing saline soils include utilizing mulch to reduce evaporation from the soil, deep tillage, and exposing the soil to rain by removing the plastic from the tunnel. As you start to think about coming to the end of the production cycle, it might be a good time to employ some of these strategies or plan preventative measures for next season.

For more information, check out Perennia’s factsheet: Soil Salinity in Nova Scotia High Tunnels.

Getting Into the Weeds - November 19th, 2019

This winter, Perennia Horticulture Specialists Rosalie Gillis-Madden and Jennifer Haverstock, are planning a workshop series called "Getting Into the Weeds."  This series will offer an in-depth look into certain aspects of horticulture production.

In collaboration with NSDA Regional Offices, the inaugural session is taking place on Tuesday, November 19th, from 10:00 - 11:30 at locations across the province.  Topics for discussion include: High Tunnels – site selection and preparation, and long term nutrient management, as well as soil-less substrate and different potting technologies. Using remote technology, we are excited to welcome guest speakers from across North America.

• Elizabeth Buck, Extension Vegetable Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program Avoiding a “Tunn”-el of Trouble: Site Selection and Prep
• Judson Reid, Extension Vegetable Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Program High tunnel soils: Long term nutrient management for crop health
• Shawn Mallen, Sales and Hydroponics Manager at A.M.A., Horticulture Inc. Substrate and Potting Choices in Tunnel Production

Admission is free, but space is limited, so we ask that you register in advance.  The deadline to register is Nov 18th at noon.  For details on how to register and to find the location nearest you, please click here!

Upcoming Perennia events

The Dirt on Dirt: Sustainable Soils on the South Shore  
Please join Amy Sangster, Perennia Soils Specialist, Rosalie Gillis-Madden, Perennia Vegetable Specialist, and Brian MacCulloch, NSDA Agriculture Resource Coordinator, for an afternoon focusing on soils, potting mixes, and transplant health.

Tuesday March 27, 2018 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Provincial Building Boardroom, 312 Green St. Lunenburg, NS

More details can be found on the Facebook event here.

Registration is required, please contact Gail Walsh 1-877-710-5210 (toll-free) or 902-678-7722 to register by March 23, 2018.

Pest Management in the Hopyard

There are many factors to consider when managing pests in a hopyard: life-cycle of the organism, good Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, mode of action and efficacy of the products, and pesticide application efficiency. Pesticide Points will be available.

April 5th from 2-4 pm

This workshop is designed for growers with existing hopyards and will be informative for organic, conventional, and spray-free growers.

A session will be held in-person at the Perennia offices at the Kentville Research Station (32 Main Street, Kentville, NS) OR you can join remotely from

• The Truro Perennia offices (199 Dr Bernie MacDonald Drive, Bible Hill, NS)

• The Antigonish NSDA offices (190 Beechhill Road, Antigonish, NS)

More details can be found on the Facebook event here. Please contact Gail Walsh 1-877-710-5210 (toll-free) or gwalsh@perennia.ca to register by April 3, 2018, so we can be sure to accommodate numbers.

Fall rippping

Penetrometer

Deep tillage can be a great way to break up subsurface soil compaction and has become a common practice.  It is always worth it to determine if compaction is the problem at hand however.  Each Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture office throughout the province has a soil penetrometer that you can use for free to help you identify compaction.  These handy tools are very easy to use, just contact your local NSDA office or Agriculture Resource Coordinator (ARC) to borrow one.  Compaction layers where resistance exceeds 300 PSI (pounds per square inch) are very difficult for plant roots to penetrate and would indicate that compaction is a limiting factor in your field.

Keep in mind that ripping is only a temporary fix for compaction, and there are best management practices that can help you avoid future compaction.  This can be done by

• Avoiding operations when the field is wet
• Minimizing tillage
• Reducing axle loads
• Controlling and concentrating traffic patterns
• Decreasing contact pressure (using wide flotation tires)
• Traveling less over the field

Forces of heavy loads are transferred deep into the soil, especially when the soil is wet.  Image from Building Soil for Better Crops by F. Magdoff and H. Van Es

Soil salinity in Nova Scotia high tunnels

When evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration from plants exceeds water input, salts can start to accumulate at the soil surface. This is because when water from the soil surface evaporates, it wicks salts that are suspended in the soil solution to  the soil surface.  This is particularly a problem in high-tunnels that are in production year-round.  

Accumulating salts are not just sodium (Na⁺) and chloride (Cl^-) ions, but are also essential plant nutrients... calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), potassium (K⁺), ammonium (NH₄⁺), hydrogen (H⁺), phosphate (HPO₄^2-), sulfate (SO₄^2-), and nitrate (NO₃^-) are all salts. Nitrate accumulation is particularly frequent in high tunnels as high-value crops are well fertilized, and since there is no rainfall to leach the nutrients, they accumulate year after year.

To learn more about soil salinity, how it happens, and what you can do about it, please read Perennia’s factsheet: http://www.perennia.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Soil-Salinity-NS-Hi-Tunnels.pdf 

Integrated Weed Management in Cucurbits

Plywood separators used to partition a grain drill seed box.

In the Fall of 2016, Perennia, in conjunction with local growers and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, undertook a new on-farm trial that demonstrates the use of mulched cover crops to suppress weeds and promote soil health in cucurbit production.  

Partitions expertly secured with a suitable application of duct tape.

In a previous project (Cover crops and zone tillage for reduced risk weed management in field vegetables in Eastern Canada), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists evaluated weed control methods in cucurbits using cover crops and generated recommendations for using certain techniques to manage weeds in squash production. The technique that we are trying in Nova Scotia integrates the use of fall-seeded rye and banded fall-seeded oats.  

Two rows of oats seeded for eight rows of rye, September 30, 2016.

Oat and rye establishment on October 19, 2016.

The oats will winter-kill, leaving a clear narrow band into which squash can be planted.  The surviving rye is left to grow until late spring at which point it is rolled down to serve as a weed-controlling mulch. This technique has been shown to reduce weed pressure and the amount of herbicides needed, as well as increase marketable squash yield. Squash that is grown on the rolled down rye mulch should be cleaner at harvest, have less disease symptoms, and require less cleaning prior to heading to market.

 

Another added benefit of this system is the organic matter that the cover crops will add to the soil.  This, along with the season-long soil cover provided by the mulch, will contribute to improvements in soil health.  The mulch will protect the soil from erosion and will also preserve soil moisture should we have a repeat of last year's growing conditions!

We intend to hold a field day this summer to demonstrate this technique, stay tuned for more details!!  

Winter-killed oats alternating with fall rye, January 31, 2017.

Building Agriculture Resiliency from the Ground Up! - March 16, 2017 - Yarmouth, NS

Join Perennia specialist Rosalie Madden for this free workshop on building agriculture resilience from the ground up! Topics discussed will be soil health, cover crops, soil management, maximizing fertility, and the importance of organic matter.

Building Agriculture Resiliency from the Ground Up!

Thursday March 16, 2017

Rudders

96 Water Street, Yarmouth, NS

11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Don’t be late, because we plan to cover a lot of ground!

Please contact Terry McKay at 902-638-2396 or Terry.McKay@novascotia. ca, or Gail Walsh 1-877-710-5210 (toll-free) to register by March 13, 2017.

Lunch is not included in the workshop but can be purchased on site.