
Check with your individual county extension office for specific details and fees. Lab testing can be done at most extension offices.Some lab tests will go down further showing you trace mineral levels, like calcium, etc. You'll find out what your major nutrient levels are on: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Lab soil testing will not only test for ph level, but also for different nutrient levels and composition. The most accurate soil testing is to take samples from several different areas of your garden and send it to a lab. Learning to test the ph of your soil takes out the guessing of what your soil needs. Testing lets you know what to amend your soil with so you're not wasting your time or money. Blueberries like acidic soil and won't do well at all in neutral or alkaline dirt.īut what about other levels in your soil, how and what exactly should you be testing in your dirt. Most plants will still grow in slightly acidic to neutral soil without major issues. But there are a few plants that won't thrive or grow well at all if they're in the wrong type of soil. It needs to be taken care of and, with just a little bit of forethought and work, it will reward you with lush tomatoes, nutritious greens and bushels of other harvests.

Your dirt is what enables all of the glorious gardening process to happen, it is the food for your plants, and eventually, the food for your family. Seeds, seedlings, and the harvest tend to get all the glory in the gardening world, but there's one thing we shouldn't overlook, the soil.

While it's not warm enough for us to sow any crops outdoors, there's a lot to be done in the garden come late winter and early spring.
HARVEST SUPERPOWERED ORGANIC GARDEN SOIL HOW TO
Listen to (or read about) the 6 Natural Fertilizers to Improve Garden Soil, Episode #134 of the Pioneering Today Podcast, where we teach families how to grow, preserve and cook their own food using old-fashioned skill sets and wisdom to create a natural self-sufficient home, with, or without, the homestead. While beans might be a little finicky, they don’t have many disease problems, making them a nearly carefree perennial.6 Natural Fertilizers to Improve Garden Soil Podcast Snip off the affected areas and spray plants with insecticidal soap. Aphids like to feed on bean leaves too, and while they won’t kill your plants, they can transmit a mosaic virus that will. Keep them under control by picking off these pesky beetles when you see them. Look for copper-colored, hard-shelled insects that eat entire leaves, leaving only the veins.

If you have an infestation, spray the plant periodically with an insecticidal soap.

Shake your vines to see whether adult leafhoppers start hopping about. Signs you may have a hopper problem are curling leaves that yellow at the tips. Leafhoppers are tiny, lime-green pests that won’t kill plants but can stress them out, making them susceptible to disease and other pests. pests & DISEASEīean plant leaves are more vulnerable to bugs than their pods. This makes them hard to grow in most of the United States, where peak summer days run at least 12 hours. These tropical plants flower only in places that get fewer than 12 hours of daylight. Scarlet runner beans are a cinch to grow, but Asian winged beans can be tricky.
