A website from UGA Cooperative Extension

In the past, I’ve talked about the importance of soil testing and how to take a soil test. If you have questions about how to take a soil test, I’ve posted videos on the Towns County Extension and Union County Extension Facebook pages in the past that you can go check out. Today I’m going to talk about how to interpret the report that you get back. The soil test report can be confusing if you’re not familiar with nutrient and pH requirements for plants.

Once the lab has processed your soil test, you’ll receive your soil report by email or mail. At the top, you’ll see your information – name, address, and email. Right beneath that is a line that says sample. If you are submitting more than one soil test you can give each sample a name so that you can keep them straight. If you’re only submitting one sample we’ll usually just call it “1” or your last name. Right underneath Sample is the heading Crop. When you bring in your soil sample, we’ll ask you what you plan to grow, or already have growing in that spot. That way when you get your report you’ll have results that are specific to your soil and specific to whatever it is that you’re trying to grow. Different plants have different nutrient requirements, so you will have customized results for your situation. We have many different crops that we can run a soil test for, so most likely we can find a crop that applies to your situation. You can put up to five different crops in a single soil sample.

Below the client information, you’ll see the results. The basic soil test gives results for phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and pH in a bar graph. You’ll see a line going through the bar graph, where the nutrients are. If the bar graph column goes above the line then you have enough of the nutrient. If it’s below then you need to add that nutrient to the soil. The amount of the nutrient present is reported in pounds per acre. pH is reported a little bit differently, because it’s measured on the pH scale. You will still see if your pH is below the desired line.

Now below the Results graphs are the Recommendations. The recommendations are specific to your soil and the crop that you’re growing. If you need limestone to raise the pH, the amount needed will be included. Below the limestone recommendation is the pH recommendation. This is going to be a range. Next, come the fertilizer recommendations. The fertilizer recommendations will satisfy deficiencies in your soil. The fertilizer recommendations also include timings so that you know when to apply the fertilizer. For some crops, there are recommendations for establishment and maintenance. An example is lawns. You will get a recommendation for putting in a new lawn or what you need to do you to keep your already established lawn healthy.

Sometimes the fertilizer recommendation includes a fertilizer that you can’t find. In that situation, approximate with another fertilizer that you can find or use the fertilizer calculator link on the report if it was emailed to you.

If you have questions about interpreting your soil report, email or call me. Currently (3/26/2020) the Towns County Extension office is closed. The Union County Extension office is open by appointment only. You can call me there at 706-439-6030 or email me at Jacob.Williams@uga.edu.

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