Soil Sampling Tips in Georgia

Laboratories.

For starters, why should a person soil test? I think the answer is simple. You take out the guesswork when you submit a properly taken soil sample to the lab. A soil sample report should give you exact recommendations so when you show up at the store to buy lime or fertilizer, you know what you need. In addition, knowing what you need should have you more economical also. I will admit, if the nutrient status is low for items such as phosphorus or potassium or if the soil pH is low or acidic, you may have to spend more money to get things corrected. The end goal is to have a soil that grows whatever item you choose to grow more efficiently and better.

When should a person test soil? You can test the soil any time of year, but we suggest to conduct the sampling in plenty of time to allow for you to apply the fertilizer or lime. For example, lime reacts fairly slow with soil and ideally will need to be applied two to three months before planting. A lot of people will like to sample in fall months because the ground is normally drier and you can prepare for the next growing season.

How often should you sample soils? We suggest that once medium or high fertility levels are established that lawn and ornamental planting spots should be sampled every 2-3 years. We also suggest that vegetable gardens need to be sampled every 1- 2 years.

How quick do I get results back and how much does it cost? First, locally you go through our office to send soil samples to the UGA Soil Test Lab. We mail samples weekly and normally results are back in 5- 6 working days from the lab. Reports come back to us and we can either mail or email the results to you. The cost is $ 9 per sample.

The rest of the article will be on how to take a proper sample.

Clients are responsible for taking their own samples. This is not a tough practice, but there are recommended procedures in sample collection. If you take samples wrong, we will get you a report back, but the correctness can be questionable.

Start with the correct tools. You will need a clean plastic bucket for the samples. Do not use a metal bucket due to potential sample contamination. You will also need a digging tool. The tool can be a trowel, shovel, spade or a hand probe for example.

Next, you need to know the proper sampling depth for the intended purpose of the spot. For home lawns and pastures, you sample to a depth of four inches. For gardens, ornamentals, mixed fruit trees and wildlife plots, you sample to a depth of six inches.

For the sake of an example, let’s say you are sampling your home lawn. In a zigzag pattern, you need to go across the lawn and randomly stop eight- 10 times to collect samples. Each sample collected will go in your bucket for mixing on completion. When you are taking each individual sample, you need to clear the ground surface of grass thatch. You will then push your digging tool down in the ground to the recommended soil depth. Remember for lawns, it is four inches. Then push the tool handle forward with the tool still in the ground to make a wide opening. Then, cut a thin slice of soil from the side of the opening that is of uniform thickness. The slice should be ¼ inch thick and 2 inches in width with the slice going from the top of the ground to the 4- inch depth of the cut. When you complete taking samples, you will need to mix the samples for the lawn and bring us in one pint of the mixed soil.

If your soil is wet, you need to air dry overnight on a flat surface lined with white paper. If you are sampling on larger tracts of land such as pasture land, a procedure should not represent more than around 15 acres, so you may have to split larger tracts up.

When you bring samples in to the office, we will transfer to official soil sampling bags. In addition, we can code the sample for the specific grass or crop you are growing. For vegetable gardens, the samples are coded for vegetables, but the results will come back giving more specifics for certain vegetable groups.

For more information, contact UGA ExtensionGordon County at 706- 6298685 or email gbowman@ uga. edu.