Knowledgebase

Dry soil #871752

Asked June 05, 2024, 3:20 PM EDT

My vegetables were not as plentiful or tasty last season as the year prior. Soil is very dry even though I purchased the so called best from the vendor. How do I get it tested?

Anne Arundel County Maryland

Expert Response

You an look for a soil laboratory and information on our Soil Testing page. There are directions on there on how to take and sample and send it for testing. It will probably take about 3-4 weeks depending on the lab to get results since this time of your is fairly busy. 

In the meantime you can feel the soil daily to make sure it is receiving enough water to percolate through to the entire root system. If you haven't fed your veggies, depending on what they are, they may need some added nutrients. You can refer to our Fertilizing Vegetables page for more guidance. Depending on the soil media and the growing area, you may need to supplement with compost as well. Feel free to send us a photo of the space so we can provide further help. 

You can use a type of organic mulch to help retain soil moisture and suppress weed growth as well. Something like pine fines, straw, weed seed and chemical free grass clippings, arborist wood chips, etc. 

Let us know if you have further questions or when you get your test results, you would like help reviewing them. 

Emily


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