Pay for a soil test or just add compost to a bed that underperformed two seasons

Question

One bed out of five gives me half the yield of the others. Same sun, same watering schedule, same seed. Brassicas go purple and stall, beans are fine. A full…

root_rot_rex · Accepted Answer

Test, in your specific case. One bed behaving differently from four identical neighbours is exactly the situation a test resolves and guessing does not. Purple brassicas with fine beans hints at phosphorus availability or a pH problem, and if your pH is off, adding compost changes almost nothing while lime or sulphur…

metronome_mel · Answer

Before you spend anything, dig a hole 30cm down in the bad bed and the same in a good one, and compare what you see and smell. I once spent 40 on a test that said my soil was fine, when the actual answer was a slab of builders rubble 25cm under one corner.

label_reader_lo · Answer

Get the test with the micronutrients and pH, not the cheap NPK only version. The three week wait is annoying but the report is good for four or five years and it stops you buying amendments on vibes.

batch_bea · Answer

Compost is never wasted, so if you truly cannot wait, add it and test in autumn when the lab is not busy and the results will guide next spring. Just do not add blood meal blind, extra nitrogen on a phosphorus problem makes the purple worse.

Pay for a soil test or just add compost to a bed that underperformed two seasons Soil & Compost

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