Question about soil test

19 years ago

I know I've been posting a billion questions, but I'm planning for my spring planting. I kind of obsess over this stuff during winter. :)

The only soil testing I've done was one of those four dollar home kits, so this year, I want to do real soil testing. Unfortunately, Illinois Extension no longer does testing.

They recommended a local lab, but I'm inclined to go with the Missouri Extension. (I don't know if they test non residents, but if not, I can put it in a relatives name and address who lives in Missouri)

I need to test three areas, so I need to go with the lower priced places...I know there are more extensive labs online, but for three areas, the price is too much.

So my choices, and I'm wondering what people think, are the extra tests I'll get in Missouri worth the time and money I'll spend on shipping the samples. If I stay with the local lab, it's five minutes away. (The Missouri lab is a three hour drive, so cheaper/easier to mail)

Local private lab: cost: $10.50

tests: organic matter, PH, potassium, phosphorus and gives recommendations

Missouri Extension: cost: $10

Tests:

Regular analysis, $10

* pHs, neutralizable acidity, organic matter, Bray-I phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, cation exchange capacity, fertilizer recommendations

* $5 per individual nutrient analyses

Neither of these seems to test for nitrogen levels. Is this important or do I just assume I have no nitrogen?

If it matters, here are the three areas I'm testing:

1. My veg. garden that was lawn. I tilled a garden in 2005.

2. A plot of crap about 30 x 15 that was dumped full of construction leftover, rocks and concrete chunks. I got all the concrete chunks out, plus the bigger rocks, but still full of gravelish rocks/small bits of concrete. (They built a garage on the land and the construction crew just dumped their junk apparently) It's probably about 6 inches higher than the rest of the yard and it's real bad soil. I've been able to get some things to grow, but others simply refuse. When I started with it, it was overgrown in weeds, mostly sheep shower and wild strawberries. I've gotten all that out of there and have some day lilies (ditch lilies) growing and dahlias did real well for some reason.

3. Side yard that grows nothing. Not even a weed. Just dirt, and I'd like to know what's wrong with that dirt so I can amend and get something growing. Grass won't grow.

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Comments (4)

ixnod
19 years ago
I apologise early if have nothing constructive to contribute. 99% of the time there will be some recomendation of nitrogen in the analysis, as for theside of the yard that grows nothing not even weeds, the soil may be too compacted for a seed to establish,water may run off too quickly before it can saturate the area. the missouri extension may give you a more broad range of information, but the local lab may give you a more detailed range I honestly do not know.
peter_6
19 years ago
julianna: try for Missouri; you have to know calcium, and c.e.c. is nice to have. As for 2. and 3., compost never did any harm. #3. sounds sour; add some shredded leaves and compost, it will come about - eventually. As the Chinese say: "No bad soil". Regards, Peter.
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bob_r_soils
19 years ago
Hi Julianna,

Looks like the Missouri soil analysis report is a bit more thorough than the local lab.

Including CEC in a soil analysis report is helpful in knowing the nutrient-holding capacity of the soil. In other words, it determines the quantity of cation nutrients that a given soil can hold.

Some soil analysis reports also include base saturation percentage for each individual cation nutrient (calcium, magnesium, and potassium). This tells us how well balanced each nutrient is in respect to others present.
Too much of one cation nutrient can restrict the uptake of others, so like most things in life, balance is the key.

Good luck!

Bob
Kimmsr
19 years ago
No good soil test lab will test for Nitrogen anymore because the availability of N is too dependant on soil temperature to give a reliable result. A test for organic matter is real simple and you can do that your self, what you are really interested in knowing is your soil pH, and why it is where it is (the CEC helps here), and the macro as well as many micro nutrients as possible since the micro nutrients affect a plants ability to uptake the macro nutrients. Michigan State University CES now charges $12.00 per sample for about the same test.
This test is an indicator, not the end result. A soil test now is the base from which you begin and if you amend your soil and retest in 5 years you should see where you are going. There is no good reason to test the same plot every year, or more often, but you can test different beds, different years, to see what is going one in them.