DonÕt Forget the Soil Test

No, a soil test is not about how much dirt a particular brand of laundry detergent can get off your clothes. It’s a basic to healthy gardening. You can use fertilizer to makeup for deficiencies in nutrient-poor soil, but you need to know what the deficiencies are. If you will be using organic fertilizer and other organic gardening techniques, you will be helped immensely by having a baseline on the soil’s health before you begin.

Soil health is not the same thing as soil consistency. Whether the soil is heavy in clay or very sandy, it will need to contain various organic particles for plants to grow well. Healthy soil is its own ecosystem, with worms, insects, fungi, decomposing plant matter, and minerals all part of it. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are all important for plants. Testing the soil will also tell you the level of acidity, which will help you choose what to plant or what to add to balance the acid to the desired lever.

What to Do if the Soil is Poor

If your soil flunks the test, you can amend it and also use fertilizers to give the plants the nutrients they need. Some kits for soil testing will give recommendations. Amending the soil, especially with organic amendments, is not the same as fertilizing. Fertilizing gives the plants a boost of the nutrients they need while growing. Amending the soil, by adding compost or peat or manure, contributes to long-term changes in the consistency and composition of the soil, which will make it easier to work with.

Both organic and chemical fertilizers are available. Chemical fertilizers are formulated precisely to give the plants the nutrients they need and work more quickly than the organic ones. However, over-application can kill the plant and harm the soil. Organic fertilizers will actually improve the soil so that less fertilizer is needed in the long-run. Whichever fertilizer you choose, be careful to avoid run-off so that ground water and other water sources do not get contaminated.

top