Soil Sample Bag

You may be asking yourself why do I need a soil test?  I always put the same fertilizer down at this time of year, so why waste the money?  Well, by not spending $15 for a soil test, you may be wasting a lot of money on the wrong fertilizer.  Worse, you may be poisoning the soil and making your plants sick.

Soil tests are important.  Soil tests measure the amount of nutrients in the ground.  The three most important nutrients are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K).  When you buy fertilizer, the numbers on the front of the sack are the amount of these nutrients in the fertilizer.  If your soil is low on Nitrogen, but is medium or even high on Phosphorus and Potassium, you can make plants sick by adding a fertilizer with a lot of Phosphorus and Potassium in it.  In my county, we have a problem with high Phosphorus and sometimes high Potassium, depending on what crops have been grown on that land and what fertilizers have been used.

Test every year.  Agricultural producers test their soil every year before they buy their fertilizer.  It costs them money to put down fertilizer that is not needed.  As I mentioned, a farmer can even make his crop sick with too much of one nutrient or not enough of another nutrient.

Soil tests are easy to do.  You can get the soil bags, forms, and instructions from you county Extension Agent.  They are usually free.

How to test soil.  Once you have your forms and bag, you get a bucket, go out into your flower bed or lawn, or whatever area you are trying to grow things, dig down two to three inches and put a shovel of dirt in the bucket.  Now sample four or five other places in your flower bed or lawn the same way.  Mix the dirt in the bucket good and put it into your soil test bag.  Fill out the accompanying form, being sure to list what types of things you will be growing in the soil that bag represents.  Keep a record of which bag is which when sending in your samples, as the results will only say “Sample 1” or “Sample 2”.  If you don’t remember what sample 1 is, you have a problem.  Send it to the soil lab on the label, and wait for the results.  In about two weeks, you will receive a print out in the mail with your soil analysis.

Interpreting soil test. So far, so good.  Now, what does the soil analysis mean?  The results will indicate the amount of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium in your soil, along with whether this is high, medium, or low for the crop you are growing.  It will also have an indication of how much of each nutrient, if any, you should put on your crop area.  You should follow these indications when you fertilize.  If you get hopelessly confused when looking at the results, call the county Extension Agent and they will explain it for you.

This year, wait to put that expensive fertilizer on your plants until you are sure they need it.  Have your soil tested and give your growing things exactly what they need to grow better.

For more help gardening, buy my book, Preparing A Vegetable Garden From The Ground Up
Available in print or ebook from Amazon.com or other retailers, this book walks you from choosing the site of your garden all the way through what to do after the harvest. Buy a copy for yourself or a friend today!