 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  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 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