{"id":882,"date":"2026-04-20T15:01:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/?p=882"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:02:17","slug":"uga-extension-soil-test-frequently-asked-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/uga-extension-soil-test-frequently-asked-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"UGA Extension Soil Test Frequently Asked Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Question: How do I know how much fertilizer to use when looking at the bar graph on my soil test report?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: Read the information below the bar graph under the heading \u201cRecommendations\u201d.\u00a0 Fertilizer and lime recommendations are customized for your soil sample based on the lab results reported in the bar graph.\u00a0 Keep in mind that these fertilizer recommendations are on a per year basis<\/strong>.\u00a0 For vegetable gardens, we encourage splitting the fertilizer recommended into two or three applications during the growing season.\u00a0 Apply one-third to one-half of the fertilizer at planting and the remaining amounts three to four weeks apart.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: Why is Nitrogen not shown on the bar graph of the soil test report?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: Nitrogen recommendations are not based on a routine soil analysis. This is due to the many climatic, chemical and biological factors that influence the amount of nitrogen present in a soil at any given time. Instead of a soil analysis, nitrogen recommendations are based on research results from field experiments to determine the best application rate to attain optimum growing conditions for selected crops.\u00a0 All soil test reports provide standardized annual nitrogen recommendations based on current research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: I submitted a soil sample for a lawn or pasture, but the results provide two completely different recommendations.\u00a0 Which recommendation should I use?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: These recommendations are broken down into two categories for \u201cEstablishment\u201d and for \u201cMaintenance\u201d as noted in bold print at the bottom of the report.\u00a0 You should follow the \u201cEstablishment\u201d recommendation only if you are putting down new grass seed or sod.\u00a0 This fertilization program should be followed only for the first year of establishment.\u00a0 For lawns or pastures that are already established, you should follow the for \u201cMaintenance\u201d fertilizer recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: I can\u2019t find the exact fertilizer recommended at any local garden store.\u00a0 What can I use as a substitute on my lawn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: The soil test recommendations are guidelines, not absolute quantities. If you cannot find a fertilizer grade that matches the recommended ratio, use the fertilizer grade that is closest to that ratio.\u00a0 See our Extension publication, \u201c<\/strong>Turfgrass Fertility<\/a>” for more information.\u00a0 You can access a fertilizer conversion calculator online.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: I want to use an organic source of fertilizer instead of synthetic fertilizers.\u00a0 How do I convert the soil test recommendations to organic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: See the following online publication \u201cHow to Convert an Inorganic Fertilizer Recommendation to an Organic One<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: I can\u2019t open the soil test report attached to my email.\u00a0 What should I do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: Acrobat Reader or similar software must be installed on your computer to read our (.pdf) files.\u00a0 If you are unable to open the document, you can download the Adobe Reader software for free online.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: What nutrients do plants need?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: Out of the 18 nutrients known to be essential for plant growth, there are three that are most often lacking in soils.\u00a0 These three nutrients are nitrogen<\/u><\/strong>, phosphorus<\/u><\/strong>, and potassium<\/u><\/strong>, and every fertilizer product sold is required to have a guaranteed analysis of these nutrients in that order.\u00a0 The three numbers on the bag represent what percent of the total bag weight contains these nutrients.\u00a0 For example, a 10-10-10 fertilizer contains 10% of each nutrient by bag weight.\u00a0 So what\u2019s in the rest of the bag?\u00a0 The remaining percentage is \u201cfiller\u201d which enables you to apply the fertilizer evenly over a large area.\u00a0 Each of these nutrients may be needed in different amounts depending on the types of plants you are growing and how your soil has been treated previously.\u00a0 Of all the nutrients, nitrogen is the most limited and mobile in soils and must be reapplied annually.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: Why do plants need these nutrients?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: The \u201cup, down, all-around\u201d catch phrase is a simple way to remember why plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.\u00a0 Very simply, the nitrogen in fertilizers makes plants grow \u201cup\u201d with new leaves, shoot growth, and turning their leaves green.\u00a0 Phosphorus makes plant roots grow \u201cdown\u201d and is important in establishing new plants or seeds.\u00a0 Phosphorus also improves the quality of flowers, fruits and vegetables.\u00a0 Potassium is an \u201call-around\u201d important nutrient for plant growth, fruit development, and resistance to diseases and other plant stresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: Which fertilizer should I use?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: The easiest way to determine which nutrients your soil is lacking is by taking a soil sample for testing.\u00a0 Soil tests provide recommendations on the fertilizers needed for ideal plant growth.\u00a0 Soil tests also determine your soil pH and how much lime to apply, if any is needed.\u00a0 Maintaining your soil pH is critical to making sure that the fertilizer you apply can actually be taken up by plants\u2019 roots, otherwise you are wasting your time and money on fertilizer!\u00a0 Applying the correct amount also protects the environment from being polluted by excess nutrients.\u00a0 Soil tests should be done once a year for the first few years after planting anything new.\u00a0 After you have a couple of test results to compare from year to year, you can more easily predict future fertilizer needs based on your soil type.\u00a0 Go to our soil testing website<\/a> for more information about soil sampling or contact your local Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: Is more fertilizer better?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: All fertilizer applications should be based on the amount of nitrogen applied since this is the most important nutrient.\u00a0 Nitrogen is also the easiest nutrient to misapply and excess nitrogen will increase over-growth, water demand, and plant susceptibility to insects and diseases.\u00a0 A good rule to follow is to never apply more than 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet at any one application.\u00a0 To quickly determine this maximum rate, all you have to do is divide 100 by the first number on the fertilizer bag (percent nitrogen).\u00a0 The result is the number of pounds of that product you’ll need to supply 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.\u00a0 For example, if you are using a 12-4-8 fertilizer, then divide 100\/12 = 8.3 pounds.\u00a0 Therefore, 8.3 pounds of 12-4-8 fertilizer would provide exactly 1 pound of actual nitrogen over an area of 1,000 square feet.\u00a0 Depending on the plant\u2019s needs, this rate could be applied every 4 to 6 weeks during the growing season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: How do I know how much fertilizer to use when looking at the bar graph on my soil test report? Answer: Read the information below the bar graph under the heading \u201cRecommendations\u201d.\u00a0 Fertilizer and lime recommendations are customized for your soil sample based on the lab results reported in the bar graph.\u00a0 Keep in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1000,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions\/1000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/bartow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}