soil test kit?

Your county extension office will give you better results than any kit, but for a price.

I was afraid of that.

Nope , your county extension agent is part of the state's ag college (in most cases) and will test your soil for free . Mine does here in Arkansas ...

Here in Maine, you have a wide selection of tests available and, as they say, you get what you pay for with recommendations for soil amendments.

I've used kits I've purchased and still left wondering if I should trust them. But, it depends on the size of your garden too and what you have at risk. ;)

Your county extension service charges you for soil testing ? Are they not an "extension" of a state-supported agricultural college ? Here the testing is free , and you can submit several at once . Just fill out the forms and give 'em the dirt .

Snag, I didn't stutter. Go look it up.

We do not have one. But the State University may. I have an inquiry out to them. They have a local extension off in our county.

Starting at as little as $95:

i'm, late to party here by a couple weeks.

i bought this kit by LaMotte before the snow melted this year.

that LaMotte kit, which was originally sold as an educational tool, is consistent. how accurate it is i do not yet know. i analyzed and amended my soil per the results and provided documentation provided which is very informative. very accurate or not, it's several orders of magnitude better than guessing at a reasonable price.

next season, i'm going to do tests with the kit as well as send soil to the local extension and compare the results.

Does this kit give you results at home, or do you have to send samples off somewhere?

you get the results at home.

Sweet. Thank you!

read up on it before buying. it's for checking ph, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. LaMotte has test kits that are much more thorough, for professional use, hence they are significantly more costly.

if you want to check more than ph and N-P-K, suggest consult your nearest agricultural extension.