Greetings! Please allow me to post some progress on my situation. I have
tested the pH and the N-P-K of my soil. I have used an inexpensive test kit
(called RapiTest or something). I am sure that the accuracy of that test
brand can be debated, but in my case it is quite obvious that: my pH is
somewhat ok (6.5 - 7.0) and that I have a big deficiency in N(Nitrogen). In
fact, my soil is totally depleted. I am ok with P(Phosphorus), and for some
reason have lots of K(Potash). Thanks to all that have assisted me! CHEERS!


Excellent to see you are getting this sorted out. Regarding the N
deficiency, does the test detect all forms of N? Some do not.

Along the same lines, I suspected my soil was probably very low on
N to begin with. I decided to grow brown and other beans beside my
desired plants to try to improve the soil during the growing season.
I speculate that the N would increase with the bean growth and
therefore would make more N available as my nearby plants start to
need more. Plants grown next to beans are mainly potato and pumpkin.
Anyone know if this helps or not?

Regarding bean root bacteria and innoculation, I am curious, how do
the bacteria manage to propogate from one year to the next? We pick
the seeds, but we do not pick the roots. Sometimes I find a lot of
rhizoids, other times very few. This gives me the impression that I
should innoculate the seeds every year. I was thinking to just break
up some rhizoids and spread the powder over the seeds for the next
year. Maybe someone could explain. It looks like both me and the
original poster might gain from a response....

Dominic