Soil Test Results

[Eugene]

$14.00 for soil test. Money well spent in that I do not need to buy fertilizer. All results were in the medium to high level with the exception of organic matter, which is 3%, low for a vegatable garden. PH 6.7 which is good.

Test indicates that I need to continue with the green manure and incorporating as much plant material into the soil as possible to get the percentage up to 5 or 6.

[Don McCombs]

If you can get mushroom soil in your area, it's a good quick fix.

[Bill Hudson]

Eugene,

To quote Bigdog, "You are my hero." That $14 test just saved you a lot of needless expense and no loss in production. As they say, "don't guess, soil test."

Bill

[Eugene]

No mushroom soil in this area.

High clay content soil here. This is my 3rd season on this garden plot. I have a green manure crop to plow under. Also, I have about 4 bales of wheat or oat straw that I will be putting in the bottom of furrow when plowing.

It may take 2 or 3 years to get the organic matter up to standard.

[bob in CT]

I have heavy clay too and put many truckloads of composted horse manure and wood shavings to build up the organics. I submitted 4 samples last week for free analysis from different areas: kitchen garden, blueberry patch, lower corn patch and upper corn patch. Looking forward to the results.

[Don McCombs]

Bob, where do you get free soil tests?

[Carm]

I sent some off to the University of Maine. You can get them right off their web site. $15 for basic test.

[bob in CT]

Bob, where do you get free soil tests?

State Ag extension station. I dropped mine off last week at the location in Windsor CT where the commonly used "Morgan Test" was developed. I do pay for these tests in taxes. It should paid for by the user...

[DanR]

Fertilizer commercials to would be gardeners is like candy commercials to a kid. You might be surprised at how many people fall for this and buy brand named amendment products. Fact is that over half of soil samples come back in the normal range. Adding organic material to clay is essential for good tilth and most clays already have an abundance of nutrients. So, with a soil test done by a lab you can save big bucks and add the right stuff to your soil. BTW don't waste money on soil test kits. The only accurate measure is the pH.