Soil Testing and Interpretation
Resources for Soil Testing
Soil Testing (properly done) can give a grower important information about a soil’s texture, its ability to hold nutrients and moisture, its quantities and ratios of plant nutrients, and more. Yet the results of soil tests can also be misleading or outright wrong and laboratories may differ widely in their interpretations of those same results. There are many different opinions on how often to test your soil and how to go about it. And that’s just part of this puzzle. Soil labs may get varying results from the same sample of soil, with each being “correct” according to their differing criteria! Still, it is our position that soil testing is important enough to be worth spending the effort to do the test properly – and the time to understand the interpretations correctly. Below, we have accumulated some resources that we think will help in that effort.
The “How” and “Why” of Soil Test Interpretation
Soil Testing should yield practical, usable results. We have laid out some of our thoughts on the how and why (and even why not!) of taking and interpreting soil tests in this 8 part series.
Introduction – Why take a soil test?
What sort of soil test should be taken? How many? How often?
Why is it important spend time selecting a good soil lab and then use that same lab year after year?
What is meant by pH, CEC, Soil Texture, OM, PPM, ME, etc.?
Should both the amount and quality of organic matter in the soil be tested?
What is the difference between available minerals and total minerals in the soil?
How does plant testing fit in with soil testing?
Resources for Further Study
The soil that you grow in affects every aspect of plant growth – it has a major impact on your bottom line. If you understand its strengths and limitations, you can achieve your best yields with the least inputs. The more you know about soil testing and interpretation in general, (and how it relates to your soil in particular) the more valuable your test becomes. There are many “nuggets” in the resources below – check into them as you have time!
(New Mexico State Univ)
Soil Test Interpretation Guide
(Soil Test) Result Interpretation
(New South Wales Extension, Australia)
Soil Salinity Testing, Data Interpretation and Recommendations