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Vegetable Gardening Soil, Compost & Mulch

Garden soil test laboratory recommendation?

last year

I'm looking for a recommendation for one of those places I've heard about where you can send them some soil, and tell them what vegetables want to plant, and they'll give you an analysis and tell you what you need to do.
I'm in Sunnyvale, CA, and unfortunately my local county extension provides a list with no recommendations. I've spent some time trying to figure out out from websites etc, and these companies are sure making it really difficult.
The more information the better I guess, because I'm suspecting some kind of soil problem; and I specifically want one of the professional ones that makes recommendations.

Featured Answer

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)

last year

last modified: last year

Actually, the main purpose of a soil test in a new bed is to identify serious deficiencies. Once you know what they are, you can take steps to mitigate. The testing lab will probably tell you what you have to do to do that. Beyond that, it's hardly necessary to test every year. One regular criticism of soil testing is that people think they have to do it every year. That's nonsense.

You send a second sample to the same lab, and the same people will test it. So whatever mistakes you're anticipating will just get made twice. Better just to trust a reputable lab to do it right the first time.

It's about being smart and not planting in soil that is desperately deficient in some nutrient. There are many places that are. For example, the deep south is often seriously deficient in phosphorus and potassium, and intermountain west is often low in nitrogen. But there can be local spots that are fertility challenged. Cheap fertilizer is usually OK, in that NPK is just NPK, but uber expensive fertilizers abound.

Comments (7)

vgkg Z-7 Va
last year
Check with your local library first, in my state they have soil testing collection kits to give out and a local university (like Va Tech) analyzes the samples for a modest fee.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
last year
last modified: last year
I believe the California ag extensions do NOT offer soil testing, which is kinda ratty, and they point you at high priced private providers. But many states do offer it. Here's ours for Texas. http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/ They will do it for anyone from anywhere, and they do excellent work. You don't need to be in Texas. The particulars are on the "soil submittal forms". They charge $12 for "routine analysis", which is pH, NO3-N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S and Conductivity. That's pretty much all you really need to worry about. You can get the results back by e-mail. Now, on top of that there will be shipping charges which, for a pint of soil, will cost some extra bucks. You may find some closer ag extension lab, but the shipping charges will be pretty much the same.
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anntn: thank you for your comprehensive answer! I'm in Ontario, Canada (not California) and we're on Canadian Shield bedrock. Pretty uniform! According to soil maps of the region, I should expect clay till soil, and that's pretty much been my experience. michealg: yes, I expect that the kit wasn't particularly reliable. LynnT: Thank you for the tip about universities. An excellent idea! There's a service through the University of Guelph, which is a big aggie school not too far from here. subk3: Thank you so much for the great information about phosphorous and the link to that wonderful essay. I also navigated to the Dr Chalker-Scott's website and am looking forward to reading up on soils and other gardening practicalities in more detail. Cecily: I assume that was a rhetorical question, but even so I'm going to answer it! lol. Julia Child looked great all season last year - plentiful, healthy green foliage and great repeat on her blooms. She's truly a star. Wild Blue Yonder also grew well, though was stingy with blooms and hardly repeated at all. The rest (Blue Girl HT cl., Bolero, Carefree Beauty are a few) were pretty leggy and sparse, though they're all young plants (1 - 2 years, 3 for BG) so that's not necessarily indicative of anything. In any case, I really appreciate all the help! Please, keep it coming! :) Happy New Year, Karen
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yep. part of hte GTA. While i have had raccoon problems I haven't had problems with them digging out the soil I don't think it would be an issue. My problem with raccoons has to do with my veggie garden but in the past couple of years they haven't caused problems. I do have problems with rabbits and sometimes finches which ate up my kale leaves but I find them cute and don't mind at all.
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daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
last year
I vaguely remember, from thirty years ago, when I gardened in Santa Cruz (not that far from Sunnyvale), that recognized deficiencies were N and Fe. Now N is highly mobile,and leaches readily, so even a soil test won't report it that accurately. But if you are deficient in mainly that, then just lawn fertilizer is your answer. Fe is not part of the TAMU soil test I reported on. Symptoms of that are chlorosis, where the leaves of the plants turn yellow, but the veins stay green. If you see that, you can ask at a nursery what appropriate local solutions are.
robert567
last year
Seems like you should do this every year, and send more than one sample to verify results. All that matters is what the "base" soil chemical content is in the first place?

Is this all about being "smart" and saving money on fertilizer by using the cheapest fertilizer?
Aaron La
Original Author
last year
OK, I shipped some soil to TAMU for their deluxe test! Let's see how it comes out.

I'm working through some irrigation problems, so I specifically wanted a 'soil texture' analysis that is not in the typical basic analysis. Hopefully that will clarify things.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Soil texture analysis is one soil test that can be done easily at home for no cost and with a high degree of accuracy. Google it. And while it may be helpful to know, you can't do anything seriously to change it. It is pretty much a "deal with it" situation.

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