Soil testing isn't imperative for home gardener

Sep 8, 2011

Writer Eve Kelley of the San Diego Reader contacted UC Cooperative Extension horticulture advisor Vincent Lazaneo when she was bent on a conducting a soil text to diagnose her garden failure. “When someone tells me they want to have their soil tested, I first ask, ‘Why?’” Lazaneo said. The UC advisor suggested some alternate approaches for getting a garden to grow, gave reasons gardeners would resort to a soil test and explained how to collect samples.

If you decide to submit your sample to a lab, Lazaneo told the reporter, “Make sure they will provide an interpretation of the results. A number, just by itself, doesn’t really tell you anything. It can vary, depending on what substance the lab used to extract the various nutrients from the soil.”


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Instead of a soil test, it might be cheaper to just add a little fertilizer and compost to the soil to help improve plant performance.

By Jeannette E. Warnert
Author - Communications Specialist