Soil testing

[MontyJ]

Just curious as to where folks send their soil samples to. Personally, I use A&L Labs, (Eastern).

 

[journey11]

Our ag. extension service agency through WV University will do soil testing for free. All it costs is the postage to mail your sample in. They return to you detailed results and recommendations and tell you the exact of amount of what you need to add to improve your soil. Most states have something like this. Definitely something to look into and take advantage of the service.

 

[thistlebloom]

Our ag extension charges 30 or 35 bucks for a soil analysis.

 

[Smart Red]

We once had soil testing done on our fields. Our AG extension handled all the testing for a relatively small cost.

The yard and gardens proper are made of 40+ years of pig field and fallow woodland. I figure that as long as I compost everything and add compost and manure back each fall, we shouldn't have any growing problems associated with soil. At least we haven't so far.

Love, Smart Red

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Our extension charges $15. I check one garden at a time two years apart. I'm usually surprised if I get back a recommendation to acidify the soil. But this past spring that was the recommendation of one garden. I tilled in gobs of pine needles and wood chips. I'll check that garden again in February.

 

[Sequoia]

I use one in Watsonville, CA. Last time I did it I think it was $30.

 

[hoodat]

My grandfather had his own way of testing the soil. He could walk onto any piece of ground and tell by what weeds were growing there what a soil test would show. He could look at the color of certain plants leaves and tell you which trace minerals needed to be added.
Skills like that are almost a lost art among modern farmers.

 

[MontyJ]

County extension offices are a good way to go. I prefer a more in-depth analysis though. Most AG services don't do micro-nutrients. I want to know calcium, boron, iron, etc... I want to know the CEC and base saturations. That's why I pay a professional lab. I used to do a lot of competitive growing and spent a long time learning about the soil and how to balance it for optimum growth.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

My grandfather had his own way of testing the soil. He could walk onto any piece of ground and tell by what weeds were growing there what a soil test would show. He could look at the color of certain plants leaves and tell you which trace minerals needed to be added.
Skills like that are almost a lost art among modern farmers.

Boy oh boy, I wish I could do that. A lost art indeed.

 

[MontyJ]

My grandfather had his own way of testing the soil. He could walk onto any piece of ground and tell by what weeds were growing there what a soil test would show. He could look at the color of certain plants leaves and tell you which trace minerals needed to be added.
Skills like that are almost a lost art among modern farmers.

You can also taste the soil. A sweet soil is alkaline, sour is acidic. Most weeds prefer an acidic soil, while others are more neutral. When looking at plants, interveinal chlorosis could be the cause of a pH inbalance, iron, zinc, or magnesium deficiency. Hollow cabbage leaf stems could be a boron deficiancy. Yellowing onions or peas could be a manganese problem. There are a lot of variables when using the art of visualizing the soil. Fortunately, most garden plants will survive under less than optimum conditions. That art takes years of trail and error and a mastery of gardening. Hats off to your grandfather. I don't doubt his skill for a moment. That's how it was done in the days before labs. I only wish I could have learned from a person as smart.