I agree that something isn't right. Possibly the first sample wasn't representative. Maybe it had a bit of something atypically alkaline in it. Maybe the lab test was screwed up. I really don't know.

Maybe you can find a garden store such as the one near me which offers free pH testing, to avoid the trouble and expense of another extension service test. Or verify your pH meter readings by testing a soil sample of known pH.

Jim

Distilled water [not bottled] is 7.0 ph so that could be a check for your tester.

That's true, Wayne. And also, there are standardized solutions which should be used for calibrating meters. I'm thinking more of the technique for testing soil, as opposed to testing liquids. I have a meter but haven't used it for soil yet.

Jim

Your pH depends a lot on where you are located and the type of parent material in your soil. Wetter areas normally have higher pH, soils high in lime also tend to have a higher pH. My soil runs 7.8 to 8.2 normally and the garden plants do fine. There are situations where a lower pH would probably help them do better, but a pH of 7.3 is nothing to be concerned about.

You could send in a second soil test and see what the results are. You can pick up relatively inexpensive pH testing kits in garden stores, or even in the pool care section of a store.

Lastly, to try to reference what to expect in your soil, go online to the NRCS website and find your soil survey, if it is completed, then find where you are located and your soil type. The soil survey data will tell you what the pH typically runs for your soil type, so you will know whether you should be reading closer to 7.3 or 5.5. It could be that the pH tester you have is inaccurate or, as jimster said, you got some alkaline material in the sample that was sent in so it wasn't representative of your soil.

Thanks Beeone for the website. The site shows that my area is around 5! Ok...that's 3 indications that the extension test was wrong. I think I should send another sample to the extension.