SOIL TESTING determines the AVAILABILITY of NUTRIENTS which in turn tells us how much FERTILIZER to apply

NUTRIENTS can be :

DEFICIENT - growth and productivity is affected

SUFFICIENT - satisfies plant needs

HIGH – plant yields are at the maximum

TOXIC – plant yields decline

GROWERS can determine nutrient shortages by: VISUAL INSPECTION

Symptoms of deficiency SOIL TEST

Confirms suspicions as to deficiency

TISSUE TESTS Important if seeing

deficiency and soil test is negative, may see something soil test missed

SELECTING the SAMPLING AREA SOIL MANAGEMENT UNITS

Uniform TEXTURE

TOPOGRAPHY – lay of the land If there’s a LOW SPOT where water accumulates, treat that different

than a HILLSIDE or a BERM or a RAISED BED

CROPPING HISTORY – what’s grown there? Different types of crops

LAWN vs. BED? VEGETABLES vs. SMALL FRUITS vs. ORCHARD? PERENNIALS/GROUNDCOVERS?

DEPTH of SAMPLING Related to the TYPE of

CROP, DEPTH of ROOTS and TILLAGE

ANNUAL CROPS with TILLAGE

LANDSCAPE LAWN SHRUBS TREES

SAMPLING PROCEDURE Gather samples

RANDOMLY throughout the sampling area or SOIL MANAGEMENT UNIT to give a COMPOSITE SAMPLE

15-20 SAMPLES/UNIT sample at the RIGHT

DEPTH

SAMPLING PROCEDURE

SCRAPE away LITTER or GRASS

CORE and REMOVE SAMPLE from TUBE, AUGER, or SHOVEL and drop into a CLEAN PLASTIC BUCKET

MIX and REMOVE 1 CUP of soil for testing

Allow to AIR-DRY and label with SMU

TEST YOURSELF or mail sample to lab

TESTING FREQUENCY DEPENDS on the CROP

ANNUAL FARM CROPS PERENNIAL FRUITS and VEGETABLES GREENHOUSE CROPS LANDSCAPING GOLF COURSES

Anytime you CHANGE your practices or how you manage or crop the land, you SHOULD TEST

TIMING

FALL is a GOOD TIME to TEST TIME to RESPOND to test results ORDER FERTILIZER or AMENDMENTS APPLY (especially for LIME to react)

SPRING is GOOD if you ANTICIPATE needing FERTILIZER, but not AMENDMENTS

STANDARD TESTS in LABS

TEXTURE OM pH P K Ca Mg

SOIL AMENDMENTS and FERTILIZER recommendation are based on SOIL TEST RESULTS and CROP GROWN

PLANT TISSUE TESTING tests NUTRIENTS within plant Can show TRACE ELEMENT PROBLEMS May distinguish NUTRIENT PROBLEMS from

DISEASE or other problems Can show a SOIL CONDITION that HINDERS

NUTRIENT UPTAKE If soil test shows sufficient nutrient available, but plant

shows deficiency, something is preventing uptake by plant

Tissue test confirms deficiency of nutrient

TISSUE SAMPLING Take sample from the

RIGHT PLANT PART at the RIGHT STAGE of DEVELOPMENT

INDIVIDUAL to type of plant

SELECT 10 -15 plants CLEAN off SOIL AIR – DRY TISSUE SEND to LAB in paper

bag

GREEN TISSUE TEST Can be performed in the

field using PLANT SAP and TEST KIT

STEM or PETIOLE SAP used

COMPARE TEST RESULTS between DEFICIENT and HEALTHY PLANTS

Refractometer – solids

PH Meter

Electrical Conductivity Meter