is self administered soil test reliable?
 

i bought a soil test kit at Lowe's. It tests for pH, nitrogen, and 2
others. It has 4 small bottles and what looks like a pill inside the
bottle. Are those reliable or should i take the
soil to my local extension?

Also, i just fertilized my lawn last week. Should I wait a couple more
weeks before doing the
soil test? I don't want to skew the results, because the fertilizer I
applied was nitrogen heavy.

is self administered soil test reliable?
 

wrote:
i bought a soil test kit at Lowe's. It tests for pH, nitrogen, and 2
others. It has 4 small bottles and what looks like a pill inside the
bottle. Are those reliable or should i take the
soil to my local extension?

Also, i just fertilized my lawn last week. Should I wait a couple more
weeks before doing the
soil test? I don't want to skew the results, because the fertilizer I
applied was nitrogen heavy.


IMO, these kits are OK for testing PH, but that's about it. I have one
of the Rapitest capsule based kits. The PH readings have been
consistent with what I've seen from agri ext tests, so I have some
faith in them. I've never seen it show any indication of nitrogen,
even a couple weeks after applying high nitrogen fertilizer.

However, it;s not all that bad, as PH is what I really use it for
anyway. I put down fertilizer by amount and schedule, spring/fall, so
I'm not that concerned with NPK.

Suggest you get a real test done too and let us know how it compares.