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Does each bed need its own test?

16 years ago

I have 6 different raised beds that I've been growing different things in for two years. All of them are for veggies, but for ex, some beds got tomatoes, and others got beans, lettuce, carrots - you name it. I also have some plants directly in the ground.

I really want to get a soil test b/c I've never had one since I built the beds. But I'm wondering, do I have to get an individual soil test for each bed? Especially since I imagine tomatoes must change the nutrients in the soil differently than say, peas. I also put different amounts of fertilizers in different beds (yes, pretty hapazard!), although not huge amounts.

It would be a lot of $$ to get 7 soil tests, so I'm hoping I could just take a sample out of each one and put them together. But I suspect that won't be good enough...unless maybe in just two years it wouldn't change the soil that much? I used the same kind of soil (topsoil) for all but one of them when they were built.

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