Episode 17: Soil Testing 🌱🔬 | LIVE from the Lab at Gardin

Ever wonder what’s really in your soil? 🌱 From pH and nutrients to texture, minerals, and even microbes—understanding your soil can make or break your garden!

In this episode of Live from the Lab at Gardin, we’re putting soil to the test—literally! We’re taking live soil samples, testing them using a LaMotte Professional Soil Test Kit, and prepping those same samples to send to three different labs to compare DIY results with public, private, and biological lab testing.

We’re preparing samples for:
🔬 LaMotte Pro Soil Kit
🔬 UMass Soil Lab – a public university lab using Modified Morgan extraction
🔬 Logan Labs – a private lab offering in-depth mineral balancing (Mehlich-3)
🔬 Earthfort – a biological lab that tests living soil: fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and more

With the LaMotte Kit, we test for:
🧪 pH
🧪 Nitrogen (Nitrate & Ammonia)
🧪 Phosphorus (P)
🧪 Potassium (K)
🧪 Calcium (Ca)
🧪 Magnesium (Mg)
🧪 Sulfate (SO₄)
🧪 Iron (Fe)
🧪 Manganese (Mn)
🧪 Aluminum (Al)
🧪 Organic Matter
🧪 Soil Texture

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🚀 In this episode, we cover:

✅ How to Take a Proper Soil Sample – Tips for complex yards, slopes, and diverse zones
✅ DIY Soil Testing Methods – What you can learn at home and how accurate it really is
✅ Lab vs. Home Testing – How results compare and what’s worth sending to a lab
✅ What the Labs Test For – From minerals and pH to active microbial life
✅ Fixing Soil Issues – Adjusting pH, nutrient strategies, and improving structure and biology
✅ Live Q&A – Bring your soil questions—we’ll dig in together!

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🌿 Whether you’re a backyard gardener, homesteader, or just curious about what’s under your feet, this episode will give you the tools to truly understand and improve your soil.

🕖 Join us live at 8 PM EST!
🎥 Live from the Lab at Gardin – Soil Testing Edition
🌱 Chemistry. Biology. Real results.