Thursday, May 7, 2015

Soil Testing for Home Gardens



If you're a gardener, you're gearing up for the growing season.  You're planning your garden, buying seeds and plants, containers, tools and fertilizers, doing your best to have all your gardening ducks in a row.  If you want to make sure you get the highest yield from your vegetable (or flower) garden, do what your local farmers do, and have your soil tested.


Here at Whitman's, we'll test your soil's pH for free - just bring in a sample.  We can make recommendations on what amendments you'll need to bring your soil's pH balance into the optimal range.  And while the soil's pH is a vital component in plant growth - blueberries and potatoes, for example, prefer a more acid soil (around 5), while other plants like tomatoes, cukes and herbs prefer a pH around 6 or 6.5 - it's only one part of the overall picture.  If you want a more comprehensive analysis of your soil, you can send a sample to the University of Vermont for testing.  Here's how it works:

You stop in at the store and pick up your free soil test kit.  Next, you take a plastic bucket (don't use metal, as it can skew the test results) and take samples of your soil from several different spots around your garden.  Dig down about 3-5", put a trowel full of dirt in your bucket, and move on to another spot.  When you've taken 3 or 5 or 8 or 10 samples (the larger the area, the more samples you'll want to take), mix them thoroughly together so they're very well-incorporated, and put about a cup of the mixed soil into the plastic bag that's included with the test kit. 

Next, fill out the submission form.  It's pretty straightforward:  you supply your contact info and tell them which crop you're going to be growing.  The cost is $14; if you want recommendations for more than one crop, each additional crop is $2.  (There's a comprehensive list of fruits, vegetables, trees and flowers on the back of the form, with the code for each.  You can also request a heavy metals analysis for an extra $10.)  You package up the form, soil sample and payment in the pre-addressed mailer provided, and send it off to UVM for testing.

In just a couple weeks, you'll have the results.  You'll find out the pH of your soil, as well as the levels of phosphorous, potassium/potash, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, micronutrients and organic matter, as well as the soil's overall fertility.  You'll also receive recommendations for fertilizers/amendments to add for each crop you've listed, so you can pinpoint what and how much you'll need, rather than going "by guess and by gosh."

So don't let the farmers be the only ones with all the inside information!  There's still time to have your soil tested before the gardening season really gets under way, so stop in and get your soil test kit. And happy gardening! 

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