# Soil Testing procedures



## TravisT (Oct 20, 2019)

I am trying to get my first sample sent off, but want to make sure I'm doing this right. My plan is to use Logan labs. I've read their instructions, but still not 100% on the process.

I have sampled several areas of my lawn using a large plugger, and have approximately 6" of depth on each sample. The instructions say that you should remove surface debris, but I'm not sure exactly how much of the 6" deep plug this should amount to. Also, I'm curious how much of the substrate I should care about. From what I can tell, I have very little topsoil, and the rest is mostly rocks or clay. Should I knock the top and bottom inch off the samples to leave about a 4" cross section? These would then be mixed together we'll and the 2 cup requirement would be bagged and sent for analysis. Does this sound reasonable, or should I try to keep as much of the 6" depth as part of the sample?

Below is what I'm currently working with:


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## daniel3507 (Jul 31, 2018)

I think I did 4" plugs on mine and just tried to remove as much grass as I could. I probably wouldn't bother going much deeper than 4" since the majority of your roots will be in the top 4". If you are going to take some off the existing plugs just do it from the bottom and not the top.


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## TravisT (Oct 20, 2019)

Thanks, my soil sample was sent out today. Looking forward to a better lawn over the next couple years.


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## Ridgerunner (May 16, 2017)

For future reference:


Ridgerunner said:


> 4" down from the soil surface (0-4") Remove the top of the plug. This means the organic matter, this likely will include the top 1/4" of actual soil at the top in order to accomplish removing the organic matter at the top. It's not a big deal, but it will save you a lot of time when your trying to remove all of the organic matter (grass leaves, roots, twigs, stolons, rhyzomes) and fertilizer prills, etc. in the bucket during mixing.
> Here are a couple of YTs showing taking the top of the core off.
> See this one at about 1:10
> 
> ...


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## TravisT (Oct 20, 2019)

Thanks, that is practically what I did, but that video would have been helpful!


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