I have been reading the web site of the Miss State Univ. AG Department and a couple of other sites and have read the same thing about not applying lime and fert together and should occur months apart. Normally lime is added to the soil in the fall which gives it time to alter the acidity (raise the pH) and the ferts are added months later in the early spring.
I also read on one site that lime additions should not exceed 5# per 100 sq ft. and on another site the recommended rate to raise the pH from 5.5 to 6.5, basically what I need to do, is 7.5 lbs/100 sq ft. which would have me adding 45 lbs. just about the rate the soil test lab recommended I add.
Confusion is setting in! I am debating on whether to just to add the lime to my in ground garden area now and wait until next year to plant it. And just do a couple of raised beds this season.
Perhaps the best course is to not expect optimized perfection and proceed with what you can do. Plant, fertilize.
Adjust ph this fall
I called the Master Gardener office this morning to discuss the test results. I was told the MG would call me back sometime this week . . .
One other thing I decided to do different this year. After spending a day searching online, I ordered some “water crystals” to add to the soil. I have looked every spring for a few years for the stuff and finally I found a place where they were somewhat reasonable in price. I think it will help if I can stabilize the moisture content in the raised beds.
Your soil test was similar to mine in one respect, I had 5.5ph also, but had no nitrates. He advise me to put down about 2lb of calcium carbonate to bring up the ph, and about 1.75lbs nitrogen for my 175sgft plot. I got confused reading your results and advisory of adding lime, especially so much. All this being new to me, I looked up calcium carbonate to see if it raised ph also.Dummy me, it is the primary active componate of lime. He never said anything about not adding at the same time, so I(my wife) spread it all and turned it in. I guess he knows, he is the teacher over the master gardener program in Montgomery County. Our plants all seem to be happy.