Testing Your Soil

LSU AgCenter Soil Testing Lab

What's the Dirt on Soil?

Understanding and Improving Soil Fertility

Remember to Soil Test

Soil is more than just a place for your garden plants to anchor themselves and to get water. Although plants make their own food in the form of sugars, they also need minerals that they bring in through their roots with the water that they absorb. If your soil does not contain the essential nutrients that your plants will take in through their roots, as they absorb water, then you would be wise to fertilize them. If you are gardening in your back yard, you might want to consider getting your soil tested.

This QR code will take you to the links and topics featured in this section (Testing Your Soil).

• Some plants like acidic soil (like hydrangeas); some plants like basic soil (like lavender); but most like the soil pH around 5.5-6.5.
• Some of the major plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are not available if the soil pH is not in the correct range for that plant.
• Get your soil tested at a reputable soil testing laboratory before planting. If your soil test indicates deficiencies for certain elements, add fertilizer as needed before planting.

Use the QR code to the right to get to the LSU AgCenter’s Soil Testing & Plant Analysis Lab

Resources that you will find in this section (Testing Your Soil):

• County Agent Clark Robertson’s article about soil testing
• The LSU AgCenter’s Home Gardening webpage article: “Understanding and Improving Soil Fertility” (This article helps a gardener understand better the importance of soil fertility and how pH affects the availability of many of the nutrients that your plants need.)
• The LSU AgCenter’s article by David Pichon, “Remember to Soil Test” (This article explains the LSU AgCenter’s soil testing program. It has a nominal fee and gives a gardener the information on their soil’s fertility and what it HAS and DOES NOT HAVE in it that their plants will need. It explains how the collection process works and discusses a few of the important nutrients that plants need to be healthy.