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mcjaredsandwich · #1 02-15-2012, 01:04 PM

Never hurts to send off a soil sample to lsu or tex a&m, find out what nutrients you have and whats lacking. I understand for most its a hobb, but why not make your hard work to maintain it pay off with more product. Liebigs law....plants can only grow as much as the most limiting nutrients allow. Planning on planting a few in some planters myself.

Garfish · #2 02-15-2012, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcjaredsandwich

Never hurts to send off a soil sample to lsu or tex a&m, find out what nutrients you have and whats lacking. I understand for most its a hobb, but why not make your hard work to maintain it pay off with more product. Liebigs law....plants can only grow as much as the most limiting nutrients allow. Planning on planting a few in some planters myself.

Got some info on how to do this?

I live much closer to College Station than LSU nowadays.

Shawn Braquet · #3 02-15-2012, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garfish

Got some info on how to do this?

I live much closer to College Station than LSU nowadays.

do a search on their ag department, think LSU charges like $10 and you send it to them so distance from them isn't such a big deal

mcjaredsandwich · #4 02-15-2012, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garfish

Got some info on how to do this?

I live much closer to College Station than LSU nowadays.

http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/webpages/forms.html

Click on soil submittal form. Dont know how big your garden is, but with a spade did a "v" and take a sample 6-8 inches down from several area...helps if you do an "m" or "z" sampling pattern across your plot. Need a little more than a pint from all areas. The basic test is $10 and covers your pH, n, p, k, as well as other micro nutrients. The reason that you take the sample at that depth is because that's the depth most plant roots absorb nutrients. If you wanted to know soil texture and make-up (sand/silt/clay ratio) its a little bit more money but it will give more detail. Or you could do the basic and determine texture for yourself. If I cant find the graph online I will try to upload one on here from my class.

Hope this helps, because if you add the right fertilizer in the correct amount, it will increase your yield and you will have more to eat

. The pH is also important, some crops require a different pH range than others...and remember the more nitrogen you add, the lower the soil pH. The test will tell you.