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Credit: Joseph Blumberg
Technicians at the Rutgers Soil Testing
Lab determine soil’s mineral content and
pH levels to help gardeners and farmers.
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Stephanie Murphy got more than 10,000 bags of dirt in the mail in the last year – soil, actually. These small parcels, addressed to the Rutgers Soil Testing Laboratory, carried the return addresses of New Jerseyans who couldn’t grow grass in their yards, veggies or flowers in their gardens, or crops in their fields.
Murphy directs the soil testing lab, which is part of the Cook College/New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Resource Center. The modern testing facility is fresh from its move into the newly renovated Administrative Services Building (ASB II) on U.S. Route 1 at the edge of the Cook campus.
Technician Stephen Griglak and graduate student Sung Won Yoon work with Murphy, using sophisticated instruments and methods to analyze the samples that appear in their mailbox. The lab determines the levels of elements, such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, manganese and zinc, as well as the soil’s pH (acidity or alkalinity) and physical characteristics. Murphy and her staff put together user-friendly recommendations so laypersons can implement these practices to improve the fertility of their soil and its potential yield.
“Beyond our initial recommendations, we encourage callers to follow up with their county extension agents. These folks are our frontline interface with the public,” Murphy said.
While many appeals for help arrive from backyard home gardeners, the lab performs analyses for researchers at NJAES research and extension farms where horticulturalists work with turfgrass and ornamental plant management.
The soil lab’s work also extends into economically important sectors of the state. The lab helps commercial farmers, landscapers and nurseries, as well as engineers and developers who are creating or improving sports fields and golf courses. It also is engaged in some large-scale environmental projects, carrying out extensive soil analyses prior to the seeding of closed landfill sites in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
The soil testing lab is closely associated with the NJAES Resource Center’s Plant Diagnostic Laboratory. “Soil testing is a good first step, but you may want to consider the possibility that your plant has a disease or there is an insect problem,” Murphy added. “This is where people come when their
plants are dying.”
Soil test sampling kits are available for a nominal fee from most of Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension’s county offices, which are listed in the blue pages of the telephone book under county government. Kits are also available directly from the Soil Testing Laboratory.
Helpful hints on how and when to collect your soil samples can be found at www.rcre.rutgers.edu/services.
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