Taylor County Agriculture & Natural Resources

Fillable WVU Soil Testing Form Printable WVU Soil Testing Form How to Complete the Form

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Soil testing is the easiest and most reliable method of assessing a soil’s nutrient status. It provides a basis for recommending the correct amount of lime and fertilizer to apply for crops and pastures. Soil testing also allows an expert to predict the probability of obtaining a yield or growth response to lime and fertilizer application.

How Often to Sample

• Row crops and hayfields: Every one or two years or when crops are rotated.
• Permanent pastures: Every 3 - 4 years.
• Vegetable gardens: Every 1 - 2 years.
• Lawns and turf: Every 3 - 5 years.

West Virginia University offers free soil analysis to residents. Your county Extension agent can assist you in your effort to collect good soil samples and also to understand the results of analysis.

Where to Sample

Adequately assess the nutrients that plant roots may encounter in soils, at least five to ten randomly selected soil borings should comprise the composite sample submitted to the laboratory. Five to eight borings will be enough for small areas such as lawns and gardens. If a field is large, subdivide it into 10-acre sections and take at least 20 borings from each 10 acres (or about two to three borings per acre). In West Virginia, it is helpful to divide the field into distinct slope/soil classes and take borings within each class to make a sample. Different slope classes generally have different parent materials and different soils.

Exclude or take separate samples from areas not characteristic of the field, lawn or garden such as wet spots, eroded areas, bare spots, back furrows, field edges. When the field has several soil types or crop conditions, take separate borings for each soil type or slope class and send a separate sample for each. No single sample submitted to the laboratory should represent an area larger than 10 acres.

How to Sample

Using an auger, shovel or spade and a clean plastic pail or container, take small uniform cores or thin slices from the soil surface to the recommended depth (see the following paragraph). Gently crush the soil and mix it thoroughly, discarding any roots or stones. Do not send wet soil, but air dry it on a clean surface in a shady spot before mailing. Not only does wet soil cost more to mail, but your results also will be delayed because the laboratory must still air dry the sample. Do not heat the sample.

Send at least 1 cup (a handful) of soil to the laboratory in a plastic bag. (The WVU soil test mailer contains a sandwich bag to fill and place in the cloth bag.) Remember to include your name and address and other information on the sheets provided by the laboratory.

How Deep to Sample

Sample the soil to the depth in which your crops are or will be growing.

• Permanent pastures: Remove organic debris from the soil surface; sample the top 2 inches.
• Hay fields: Remove organic debris from the soil surface; sample the top 4 to 6 inches.
• Row crops: Sample the soil to the depth of tillage.
• No-till crops: Sample the top inch and take a second sample from the depth of 1 to 6 inches.
• Vegetable gardens and planting beds: Sample the soil to tillage depth.
• Lawns and turf: Sample the top 2 inches in established lawns and turf and the top 1 to 4 inches in new turf plantings.

We’re growing

The WVU Extension Master Gardener Program provides people interested in gardening with the opportunity to expand their knowledge and sharpen their skills by taking part in Basic/Level 1 and Advanced/Level 2 training programs that provide in-depth training in various aspects of horticulture.

The program helps residents better understand horticultural and environmental issues through community engagement in gardening and beautification projects at schools, parks, public institutions, community organizations, and locations throughout the state.

Benefits of becoming a WVU Extension Master Gardener

Among the many benefits for getting involved with the WVU Extension Master Gardener program, here are the highest-ranking ones:

• Getting to know more about gardening and horticulture to expand personal horizons and be able to help others
• Significant improvements in quality of life, including physical activity, social activity, self-esteem and nutrition
• Offers opportunities for professional development through continuing training opportunities
• Meeting like-minded people and engaging in the garden activities you are passionate about
• Opportunities to assume responsibility
• Encourages individual independence
• Gaining respect in the community for your newly developed horticultural skills
• Flexibility to conduct volunteer work

How do you join?

The first step is to contact your county office and ask about the training program. Under normal circumstances, the WVU Extension Master Gardener Program is offered through our local WVU Extension offices. The training program has been migrated to an online-hybrid platform. You will still need to contact your local WVU Extension office to go over the registration, fees, paperwork and how to get the manuals.

The Winter/Spring 2024 training series will run from January 11 until May 2. Classes will be held every Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m.

Over the course of the 17-session online training program, you will receive 51 hours of instruction in a variety of topics, including botany, plant propagation, entomology, pesticides and pest management, plant disease, soil science and nutritional management, turfgrass management, vegetable gardening, tree fruits, small fruit, pruning, landscape design, woody ornamentals, indoor plants, herbaceous plants, garden wildlife management and West Virginia native plants. 

From there, pass a test and complete 40 hours of initial volunteer work and you’ll have earned the right to call yourself a WVU Extension Master Gardener.

Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Application

Extension Master Gardener Policy Statement & Guidelines

Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Agreement

Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Code of Conduct