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  • Max Gallaway is the Oklahoma State Extension educator for agriculture for Stephens County. He can be reached by calling 580-255-0510.

    Max Gallaway
October 4, 2011

Soil testing is right first step

Max Gallaway The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN —

We all appreciate thick green lawns and lush productive gardens around the home.

To achieve a high level of lawn quality and garden productivity, it is necessary to add fertilizer on a timely basis. When lawns and gardens don’t receive the amount of fertilizer that they need, they never achieve the quality or productivity we anticipate. When too much fertilizer is applied, nutrients are wasted, which is money thrown away and eventually the nutrients will wind up offsite, usually where they are not wanted.

The true value of a soil test is to help insure that only needed nutrients are added in quantities which don’t adversely affect environmental quality.

The best time to test the soil is during a time when plants aren’t growing, although any time of year is satisfactory. In any case it is better to have the soil tested rather than guess which fertilizers to use and how much to apply. To make sure the test is accurate, sample the soil before fertilizers has been applied and follow proper collection procedures.

A soil test is only as good as the sample submitted for testing. Samples collected should represent the lawn or garden as a whole. The following steps will help in collecting good samples for submission.

Scrape plant debris from the soil surface before sampling

Sample lawns to a depth of 3-4 inch. Sample gardens to a 6 in. depth.

Use a clean bucket or other container and a soil probe or spade; collect cores or slices of soil from at least 10 different areas scattered throughout the lawn or garden and mix them together in the container.

Mix soil thoroughly and collect a pint of the mixture.

Bring samples the Stephens County OSU Extension Office, 2002 S 13th, on the south side of the fairgrounds. We will send samples in to the OSU Soil, Water and Forage Laboratory for testing and then help you interpret the results.

The benefits of soil testing are many — it takes advantage of nutrients already in the soil, identifies nutrients that are lacking, reduces fertilizer applications, provides a proper balance of plant nutrients, allows adjustment of soil pH to an optimum level, and reduces chances of excess nutrients getting into the water sources.



— Max Gallaway is the Oklahoma State Extension educator for agriculture for Stephens County. He can be reached by calling 580-255-0510.

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Agriculture
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