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Any gardener worth her salt knows that the best way to grow healthy plants is to provide them with healthy, nutrient-rich soil. Being proactive about the quality of the soil that you use for your crops or garden is the only way to ensure that it meets your standards. One way to standardize your substrate quality is by getting samples analyzed regularly in a soil testing lab. With soil testing, you will get an estimate of the vital nutrients the substrate contains. This is essential to help you calculate which fertilizers and chemicals you need to add to it and how much, to get a healthy yield. When it comes to fertilizers, more is not necessarily better. Too much fertilizer is like taking too many vitamins. The excess is simply washed away with the runoff. This is not just a waste of money and effort, but also creates environmental pollution of rivers and streams. Fertilizer runoff from farms is known to boost the biological oxygen demand and cause overgrowth of algae and other microorganisms in nearby lakes, making the water unfit to drink. The key to getting it right is to determine the exact nutrients required for the crop you are growing, depending on how much yield you want to achieve. Then it's a matter of balancing each nutrient and adding the precise amounts necessary to boost your harvest. Manure is one of the best fertilizers a farmer or gardener can use. However, because it is not factory processed, it cannot be standardized as far as nutrient content is concerned. Samples will vary from batch to batch and contamination can occur. So, even if you use manure, testing it is important to ensure it meets the needs of your crops and does not introduce pathogens or heavy metals into the farm or garden ecosystem. If you want to get more accurate results, it is recommended that you gather the manure sample for analysis during hauling when the substances are mixed and settled. This is better from the point of view of safety and ease of sampling, but it means that you cannot use this year's results to calculate the manure application rates for this year. If you sample manure before hauling, you can use the results to determine application rates. But to get an accurate estimate of what nutrients the plants have already been given, you should collect samples during the process of application. You will learn what nutrients the crop received in the fertilizer and be able to calculate the manure nutrient content required for next year's crop. Soil testing in a professional lab can help you get better yields and more profits from your crops and farm, or maintain a beautiful garden estate. It will help standardize and maintain healthy sod and ensure that your plants are getting all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. Healthy plants are better able to fight crop diseases that can wipe out small farmers or damage a beautiful garden patch. Taking the scientific approach by hiring the services of a professional soil testing lab will take the guesswork out of your farming and gardening activities and ensure you get a lush crop and garden every time. No need to guess when it comes to fertilizing your crops or garden. Find out exactly what fertilizer your plants need and when with services from professional soil testing companies. Midwest Laboratories offers soil testing online at www.soiltestingonline.com.
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