Garden soil samples
If there is one absolutely vital piece of growing a garden, it is doing a soil test. This post contains affiliate links and is brought to you by RX Soil.
All opinions are my own. Full disclosure can be found here. A proper soil test will act as a guide to reveal your soil organic matter, any severe nutrient deficiencies, PH level, and show its ability to retain nutrients. Not only does a soil test show soil deficiencies but it will also show excesses of specific nutrients.
If you were to fertilize blindly, without a soil test, you could easily make these excesses worse and cause toxicities and nutrient imbalances in your garden. There are costs associated with buying seeds, buying transplants, purchasing compost, and maybe even soil, but too often the soil is not tested before getting started.
Failure to test soil and implement the results can lead to crop failures across your entire garden. Thus wasting all your time and effort you put into the set up. A professional lab test soil test and results do cost money, but you will recoup the cost and save even more money in the end with a bountiful harvest.
And even if you have had a garden for years, you should be testing your soil at least once a year. You are legitimately throwing your money in the trash.
No one is going to get a good soil test result by using a pinch of soil and trying to read the color of the water. It may have a low cost or even be free but speaking from experience, it was not worth it.
My extension only took dry soil samples, making it so I had to wait a few weeks for the soil sample to dry indoors. Then I had to drive over an hour round trip to drop it off, and finally to top it all off, I waited for another month for the results.
My Cooperative Extension would only give recommendations for amendments that were conventional and I was organically gardening.
It was such a pain and hassle overall. The BEST professional soil test kit is made by RX Soil. RX Soil uses a professional laboratory, Waypoint, for testing that does testing day in and day out and is incredibly accurate.
The RX Soil kit makes it so testing is both professionally done and easy! The RX Soil kit ships you a provided box, a prepaid shipping label, a bag for soil, and easy to follow instructions. Once the results are complete, an email is sent to you with your results.
Another favorite part of the test is that when the results are received, they customize the fertilizer application rates to the size of the garden you have. I also have a coupon code for you! After you go through the process of checking out and creating an account, if you are performing a nutrient test, they will ask you some basic questions about what type of soil you are sending.
And preference for recommended products? Conventional or Organic FYI having an organic option is a game changer!! Another tip: You want to make sure you actually have soil in the test. The place I had taken it to, sent me a note saying add more actual soil next time.
Rookie mistake. You the actual cost of the soil test analysis fee is included in the purchase of the test kit. RX Soil gives you recommendations as to how to correct your soil and get it in the proper balance. The results here are easy to read, separated by color, green is optimum level, red is very low level, and the green, yellow, orange spectrum is everything in between.
The numbers are there for you to read, and the optimal range listed below each macro and micro nutrient. That is part of what makes Rx Soil so great. But at the same time gives you the professional results you need. By the way, all test results are in one easy to find location on Rx Soil and can be compared year over year.
And one last thing! Information Quality. Privacy Policy. New Farmers. Disaster Resource Center. An official website of the United States government.
CONTACT US. Home HOME TOPICS OUR AGENCY MEDIA Ask USDA CONTACT US More. Have a Question? How can I test the soil in my garden? Information Knowledge Article. If you happen to live near an extension office, you can drop off the sample in person.
But you might want to call ahead of time to be sure it takes in-person drop-offs. The second drawback ties directly into the time delay. Murphy said you can still and more effectively find out the correct amount of nitrogen fertilizer to add based on the plants you are going to grow, the time of year, growth stages of the plant, and the weather for example, if you experience a lot of heavy rain, it could wash out the nitrogen.
Combined, this information provides a formula for lawns. Rutgers calculated this ratio for me in its report, and it offers a fertilizer finder site that links required nutrients with commercially available fertilizers in New Jersey. A conversation with a representative from your local extension office will most likely yield similarly specific solutions.
When it comes to testing your soil, it may be a good idea to consider lead and other heavy metals, especially if you live in a historically industrial area or in an old building where lead paint might have fallen into the soil.
Luster Leaf is the big name in soil-test kits. But we found the Luster Leaf Professional Soil Kit and the Luster Leaf Professional Soil Test Kit a bit easier to use. Although these models are similar, the has more versions of each test: two extra test tubes, and a special soil-filtering device.
When we unboxed kits from Flinn Scientific and Rapitest , we found that they were clearly labeled Luster Leaf kits the and , respectively. Holbein told me that Rapitest is a brand under Luster Leaf that the company sells to other parties, including Flinn Scientific.
The results of the nitrogen and phosphorus tests showed up clearly and correctly during our control trial. But in all other respects, we had the same issues with the Mosser Lee kit as we had with the others.
Stephanie Murphy , director of the Soil Testing Laboratory, multiple phone interviews, lab visit, February Larry Holbein , chairman of the board at Luster Leaf Products, phone interview, February 22, Ellen Airhart is an associate writer at Wirecutter, where she covers cleaning and emergency preparedness.
Please email her with your biggest messes and most anxious thoughts. Has your carpet seen better days? We tested six carpet cleaners to find those with the best combination of stain-busting power and convenience. But what if your soil contains lead—or something worse?
Back to top Why you should trust me What a soil test measures How we tested home soil-test kits The best soil test: an extension service laboratory Should you worry about lead in your soil?
The competition Sources. Why you should trust me. What a soil test measures.
Download, print and fill out the Lawn & Garden Soil Analysis Request Sheet. Use one sheet per sample. For faster turnaround, include your email address and we Mix Samples. To get an average soil sample of a large area, mix a little bit from each pile of soil in a quart jar ($4, Michaels) or other clean You can purchase a soil test kit in Lowe's Garden Centers. These kits will Collect samples from different areas that'll be growing similar plants. Mix