Soil test kits

[repete]

Anyone ever used a soil test kit? Either the mail in the sample or the test yourself type? What are your experiences with them if you have?

 

[ponytug]

Well, it has been hashed through here recently, but for what it is worth, I have had poor success with the low cost kits available around here at garden centers and home improvement stores.

If your county offers soil testing, I would start there, and if not they should be able to recommend a lab.

Good luck!

All the best,

Peter

 

[Wakey]

I used my county extension office to get the kit and if you follow their directions you will have good results. You take soil samples and mail it in to a lab. I’ve done the same with my well.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've tried both, and will stick with going through my county extension service.

 

[K5lwq]

We sent one in from the farm in Mississippi with sand from Florida. They sent it back and said you need everything but more sand.

 

[Wakey]

We sent one in from the farm in Mississippi with sand from Florida. They sent it back and said you need everything but more sand.

 

[repete]

We sent one in from the farm in Mississippi with sand from Florida. They sent it back and said you need everything but more sand.

But it was accurate...

 

[K5lwq]

But it was accurate...

Definitely!

 

[RalphVa]

I've used the simple kits bought at like Lowes. Have also volunteered at extension office and handed out soil sample "kits". The kits were just a folded up small box and instructions on how to take the soil sample. Around here, one could also take soil in a plastic bag into the local Southern States store. They used another lab from what the county used.

I've never compared the simple kit results with what I got from the extension office. Seemed to work okay.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have several piles of old, rotted down stumps which have returned to soil. Using a home test kit it shows that I have no nutrients and the pH is neutral. I plan to send a sample from the same piles to our Extension Service to see how it compares.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The Co-Op soil test kits are good for soil pH, but not much else. They are cheap and won't break the bank testing your garden soil. For commercial operations, stick with careful soil sample collection and a testing lab.

 

[Jstpssng]

I took a course a few years ago and they suggested collecting the soil in fall, then allowing it to dry to save on postage. Then told about a sample they'd received a few years earlier which had nitrogen way off the scale.
Upon investigating they discovered the client had collected the sample the previous year and stored it behind the woodstove. Apparently the family cat had used it for a litter box.

I find that hard to believe yet they claimed it as truth. At the very least it made a good story.

 

[newbury]

One of my many first jobs in the Army was running soil tests. If you can approximate a decent laboratory (cleanliness, measuring) and spending ~ $70 for a test kit you can easily do the minimal tests yourself. And the $70 should cover quite a number of tests. I'm thinking 50 or more. linky

If sending it in is your preference, many places will do it. Virginia Tech does it for $10 a sample. Some places do it for free.

 

[bunyip]

The test kits here only measure the Ph, the outfits that spread whatever is needed do soil sampling which tells you what you need to balance the Ph and also what trace elements are needed, we did ours, cost $165 and got back an eight page comprehensive report, we are waiting for the rain to stop so we can put in 25 tons of lime then the trace elements, goodbye about $3000 but should be good for the next 5 years and give us some decent grass.
Nothing has been touched here for about 20 years.

 

[Oaktree]

I took a course a few years ago and they suggested collecting the soil in fall, then allowing it to dry to save on postage. Then told about a sample they'd received a few years earlier which had nitrogen way off the scale.
Upon investigating they discovered the client had collected the sample the previous year and stored it behind the woodstove. Apparently the family cat had used it for a litter box.

I find that hard to believe yet they claimed it as truth. At the very least it made a good story.

How big of a sample do you need to send in? I can't imagine you'd need anything near to what it would take to fill a litter box. Sounds like a fish story to me.

 

[repete]

The test kits here only measure the Ph, the outfits that spread whatever is needed do soil sampling which tells you what you need to balance the Ph and also what trace elements are needed, we did ours, cost $165 and got back an eight page comprehensive report, we are waiting for the rain to stop so we can put in 25 tons of lime then the trace elements, goodbye about $3000 but should be good for the next 5 years and give us some decent grass.
Nothing has been touched here for about 20 years.

Do you recall the name of the company you used?

 

[Montana Rick]

Hey replete, glad to see you are still kicking. You helped me in the past with some tractor concerns. Montana Rick
Stay well!