“I get leaves, tree limbs and storm debris from the City of Asheboro,” said Morton. “I’ve been making mulch for six years and compost for three. This year I developed a soil mixture that I wanted to market commercially. I wanted it tested so my customers would know exactly what they were buying. I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it though.”

At the trade show, Morton was directed to a booth set up by the NCDA&CS Agronomic Division. There he found the information and materials he needed—instructions on how to take samples, sample boxes and forms, mailing addresses, etc. Best of all, however, was the news that someone would visit his operation, walk him through the sampling process and help him make sense of the results. Within the week, NCDA&CS regional agronomist David Dycus showed up at Gold Hill Landscape Supply to offer assistance.

Dycus toured Morton’s operation and advised him to submit separate samples of each ingredient in his soil mix as well as samples of the final mixture itself. Morton’s “super blend” consisted of equal amounts of finely decomposed leaves, topsoil and mushroom compost. Based on Dycus’ recommendation, Morton submitted samples of the blend and each of its components for diagnostic soil analysis.

“I made sure Morton submitted the soil samples for diagnostic analysis,” said Dycus, “so he would receive information on soluble salt content, which is not measured by routine soil tests. Soluble salts can be problematic in any product containing composted material.”

Morton also submitted samples of the mushroom compost for waste analysis. Mushroom compost is a product that Morton had heard good things about. A by-product of the mushroom production process, it is a blend of composted wheat straw, hay, corn cobs, cotton seed hulls, gypsum and chicken manure. Morton had paid top dollar and trucked it in from Pennsylvania.

“For a product like mushroom compost, waste analysis is the best tool for measuring nutrient levels,” said Dycus, “because it actually measures available nitrogen. Soil tests don’t typically measure nitrogen because it moves readily out of the root zone with normal rainfall. Organic composted materials that have been somewhat protected from the leaching effects of rain can still contain significant amounts of nitrogen.”

A few weeks later, the two men met again to go over the test results. The topsoil and decomposed leaves had nutrient values within ranges suitable for plant growth. The waste report for the mushroom compost, however, indicated excessively high values. The soil report for the final, blended product indicated a relatively high pH (7.0) and very high nutrient levels. If plants had been set straight into Morton’s “super blend” soil mix, the high salt content would have damaged, and perhaps killed, them.

Dycus suggested modifying the blend so it contained only 10 or 20 percent mushroom compost. Following this advice, Morton developed six new recipes. Within a few weeks, he had had them all tested and had settled on a new, agronomically sound formula for his “super blend.”

“David’s been a big help,” said Morton. “Now I know what ratio I need to use for my soil mixture, and so far, I’ve had good feedback from everybody that’s used it.”

“Our tests show that Morton’s product is very consistent even though he doesn’t have a bulk blender,” said Dycus. “He’s not shooting in the dark. His customers know what they’re getting.”

Morton’s intensive agronomic testing campaign this year showed that the nutrient levels in his topsoil and decomposed-leaf components are pretty consistent. The content and quality of the mushroom compost, however, is not under his control. Therefore, in the future, Morton plans to submit waste samples from every new batch of mushroom compost he purchases and soil samples from every new batch of “super blend.”