What happens if my CEC is more than 25?

If your CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) is much higher than 25, you might be able to reduce your fertilizer application rate because your soil is very good at retaining nutrients. For example, you might consider putting down .9 lbs of nitrogen instead of 1.0lbs N per 1000 sqft.

What happens if my CEC value is below 12?

Soils with lower CEC values usually require more frequent fertilizer applications (this is because fertilizer doesn’t hold in the soil as efficiently as soils with higher CEC values). If your CEC value is below 12..., be sure to have a soil test done with a complete nutrient analysis for further recommendations.

How do you measure CEC and exchangeable cations?

Methods, including pre-treatment, for measuring CEC and exchangeable cations are presented by Rengasamy and Churchman (1999) and described in detail by Rayment and Higginson (1992). CEC is conventionally expressed in meq/100 g (Rengasamy and Churchman 1999) which is numerically equal to centimoles of charge per kilogram of exchanger (cmol (+)/kg).