SOIL TEST RESULTS
If you’re interested in getting to know your garden soil a little better here in PA, the Penn State Extension office allows you to send in a soil sample and a couple of bucks in exchange for a soil nutrient test. You can learn a little more about it here. It’s very easy - all you do is collect soil from multiple parts of your yard, put it in a baggie with a check for $9, and send it off. I got back my emailed results very quickly as well.
I’m not going to lie and say I fully understand what these test results mean, but they kindly offer some recommendations for how to fix the obvious problems. Also, google and Espoma are your friends.
Test results from my October 2020 soil sample
After reading through their recommendations and doing some googling, my main takeaways are:
Bring down soil pH using a soil acidifier. I have this one from Espoma.
Stop using gypsum because it could add to my already high calcium levels. I was previously adding a small amount of gypsum when planting trees and shrubs as a soil conditioner in an attempt to help break up some of the clay soil that I encounter when digging ~6in down. This article has an easy-to-understand explanation of gypsum & calcium.
Increase potash and phosphate levels. Espoma also has individual solutions for this, or I can use a 5-10-5 fertilizer as recommended by the soil test. Those numbers are the N-P-K ratio for the fertilizer (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium)
I initially did this soil test because we were starting our 2021 vegetable garden plans and I didn’t know if I would be planting directly into the ground or if I would have raised beds. I’m going the raised bed route this spring and will most likely use a combination of compost and raised bed mix, so these test results will mainly help me get the rest of my garden beds to the right levels. I’m not the best at remembering to fertilize seasonally, although I do always use Plant-tone or Biotone Starter Fertilizer when planting everything, so this might take a few tries to get right. Side note: I also would like to get my hands on some slow-release fertilizer for my annuals this year since, once again, I’m not great at fertilizing after the initial planting.