While you might feel obligated to use Rutgers since it is local the general concensus is that Umass offers the best test for the money ($13). Logan Labs offers the same test for 20 dollars and is probably more accurate. That is a lot of land to test, and if you are confident that most of the area is consistent then you will only need to do one test of all the samples mixed together. A soil test should include pH, base saturations, CEC, organic matter content, levels of the following: P, K, Ca, Mg, Al, Pb, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, S. A buffer pH is nice to have but definitely optional. You can do the sand/loam/clay/silt analysis yourself at home.

"A buffer pH is nice to have but definitely optional. You can do the sand/loam/clay/silt analysis yourself at home."

What is a buffer ph test and how do you do the soil texture analysis at home?

Looking at the samples, some turn to clay after an inch or so, some after 4 inches. The clay it self is hard and forms rocks in parts of the part, in others it seems to break apart and be grainy.

Logan seems to be the same price as Rutgers, but UMass is cheaper: $9 vs. $20, $13 vs $35. However it seems UMass, which charges $60 for soil texture, is more expensive unless their test is differet:

Rutgers:
Sport Turf

Golf/ Sports Turf Fertility Test:
Nutrients, pH, estimated CEC & cation saturation, recommendations
$20


Golf/ Sports Turf Total Fertility Test:
Nutrients, pH, estimated CEC & cation saturation, soluble salt level, organic matter content, soil textural class, recommendations
$50


Sand-based Root Zone Test:
Nutrients, pH, estimated CEC & cation saturation, recommendations, soluble salt level, organic matter content by loss-on-ignition, percentage fines, recommendations
$50


*Organic matter content would be determined by Loss-on-ignition for golf course greens, as described by USGA guidelines.

UMass:

Soil

Soil Testing Brochure as Adobe PDF document

Standard Soil Test .....................................................................â
¦â¦â¦.....$ 9.00

Includes pH, Buffer pH, Extractable Nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B), Extractable Heavy Metals (Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr), and Extractable Aluminum, Cation Exchange Capacity, Percent Base Saturation.

Soil pH ......................................................................
..............â¦â¦â¦.â¦...$ 5.00

Soil pH w/ Buffer pH .............................................................â¦â¦...
......... $ 5.00

Standard Soil Test w/ Organic Matter ....................................................$ 13.00

Same as Standard Soil Test with the addition of Percent Organic Matter by Loss on Ignition.

Soluble Salts ......................................................................
.....â¦â¦â¦........$ 5.00

Includes a measure of the Electrical Conductivity of a 1:2 (soil:water) extract.

Soil Texture ......................................................................
.â¦â¦â¦.......... $ 60.00

A determination of USDA Textural Classification by combined Hydrometer Analysis of silts and clay and Dry Sieving of sands. Title 5 Parameters also determined upon request at submittal. Results presented in Tabular Format.

Soil Texture for Determination of Title V Sand.......................................$ 70.00

Soil Texture w/ Graphical Representation .............................................$ 70.00

Same as Soil Texture with the addition of a Grain Size Distribution Curve.

Go to the Organic Lawn forum and search for kimmsr's posts about testing soil. There is a jar test you can do at home to tell you how much sand, clay, and silt you have. If you have the "right" mix of sand and other minerals, near pure sand can act like clay but would show up as sand in the jar test.

Buffer pH is a measure of stored acidity in your soil. You can have two different soils with the same pH but different buffer pH's. The lower the buffer pH the more lime you will need to raise your soil's pH. It's nice to know, but unless you are trying to correct pH with one lime application (not recommended) it's not that useful for the average lawn grower. Yearly testing will reveal the progress of your liming. Soil composition is also nice to know and can be helpful in troubleshooting your lawn, but in reality you can't do much about it unless you are willing to buy hundreds of cubic yards of topsoil (for your acre and a half). The jar test is sufficient and is a lot cheaper.

New Jersey, not saying anything against soil tests but may I ask you 'WHY'. did you decide the area needed testing, did the growing of 'whatever', tell you something that maybe something is going awry and needs to be addressed by a soil test.
Again, I'm not saying soil tests aren't a valuable tool but the old adage "if it aint broke"....and if what you plant is growing alright and the neighbors aren't having any problem, why the 'fix'.

So who am I to challenge a laboratory for charging what you will probably avoid anyway.....do you have knowledge of all the chemical imbalances they'll mention and how to fix the problem and of course, putting a chemical into the soil takes time, what happens in the interim, do you stop planting until the soil --wait a minute, another soil test will have to be done to make sure the fix has worked.

I'm interested what sort of planting you did or are contemplating and did past results give you indication that a soil test is what was needed.

I guess it comes down to....I go by the adage...I plant, and if something happens I try to figure out what hoppen'd...I frankly haven't had a soil test done in ...well, its not polite to ask a lady her age...

Its like the speedometer/tachometer in your car. It tells you where you are and if you make change, such as pressing the gas pedal, what the effect was.

My feeling is that many areas, especially medicine, under tests. People with different weights, behaviors and genetics are prescribed the same dosages. Rarely adequate follow up.

The first step sets a baseline. It implies there will be regular tests. Each of different areas has different characteristics (open turf, shaded, etc), Is in a signficiantly different physical location, or has exhibited different growing patterns.

The first round of tests will identify which of those are similar, and which are different. Subsequent tests will determine what is needed on an ongoing basis. And yes, the indicated amendments will be added.

Remember, planting new grass is a 40 hour/$1000 project. Fertilizer is expected to run at least $1000 and take 25-40 hours over the year to apply. If another $500 and 10 hours gives a big improvement, it is worth it.

So goren, when you go to the doctor for a physical, do you tell him/her to not do bloodwork because you are reasonably healthy? I did some renovations in 2009 and spring 2010, and while my grass looked OK, it wasn't living up to it's potential. Turns out my back and front pH's were 4.5 and 5.5 respectively. So did I waste my money on testing? Sure the grass was growing, but why do all that work, and spend all that money while being "blind" about what is going on in my soil? Those low pH's were also wasting my money as nutrients I applied weren't as available to the grass as they could be. The cost of a soil test is basically negligible and it can only help you attain the best lawn possible. As far as not knowing how to interpret results, most tests are pretty straight forward, usually some instructions are provided, and there is this thing called the internet where you can find tons of info on correcting soil imbalances. As an example, let's say you are going to add lime to your lawn without using a soil test. Which one would you use, dolomitic or calcitic?

I've been assisting people with interpreting soil test results for years, and with the exception of a few "lawn crazies" that will kill a perfectly good lawn just to try something else (yeah, I'm one of them), here's my conclusion:

Most people re-do their lawn because they are not happy with how the existing lawn is doing. A soil test is an excellent way to identify many of the reasons that grass doesn't do well. As Tiemco also points out, it gives you excellent information for choosing between similar products to make your money go farther. I would guess that 80% of the people that get a soil test save more money by avoiding the purchase of things they don't need.

The question then becomes how many samples to test separately (we have over 60k sqft) and where to do the test. At Rutgers, the test can be $35 with organic matter content. Or send it to UMass? Lump the samples into 2 or 3 mixes, or do the 15 tests? At Rutgers, that could be over $500.

I have 43000 sq ft. I take 6 samples from my front lawn, mix them and submit that as one test, and 6 samples from my back yard, mix them and submit as another test. Two tests at $13 each. The jar test works well enough for your purposes, and is free for soil structure.

Get someone who knows how to interpret it to help you when you get results. Don't use the printed results and recommendations from UMASS - they make a couple of mistakes on certain items.