SOIL SAMPLING AND TESTING WHY TEST SOILS SOIL

SOIL SAMPLING AND TESTING

WHY TEST SOILS? 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

WHY TEST SOILS? GROWERS can determine nutrient shortages by: VISUAL INSPECTION Symptoms SOIL of deficiency TEST Confirms suspicions as to deficiency TISSUE TESTS Important if seeing deficiency and soil test is negative, may see something soil test missed

SOIL SAMPLING � SELECTING the SAMPLING AREA � SOIL MANAGEMENT UNITS � Uniform TEXTURE � TOPOGRAPHY � If there’s a LOW SPOT where water accumulates, treat that different than a HILLSIDE or a BERM or a RAISED BED � CROPPING � – lay of the land HISTORY – what’s grown there? Different types of crops � LAWN vs. BED? � VEGETABLES vs. SMALL FRUITS vs. ORCHARD? � PERENNIALS/GROUNDCOVERS?

SOIL SAMPLING DEPTH of SAMPLING Related to the TYPE of CROP, DEPTH of ROOTS and TILLAGE ANNUAL TILLAGE CROPS with LANDSCAPE LAWN SHRUBS TREES

SOIL 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

SOIL 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

SOIL TESTING � 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

SOIL SAMPLING � 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

SOIL TESTING � STANDARD TESTS in LABS � � � � TEXTURE OM p. H 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

PLANT TISSUE TESTING 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

PLANT TISSUE TESTING 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