RADIO TRANSCRIPT
Donna Teasley
March 21, 2022

Hello, this is Donna Teasley, horticulture agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Burke Center.

Wow! Have you seen the price of fertilizer this year? It’s out of sight! These high prices are just in time for spring planting and gardeners are not happy.

Gardens need nutrients to grow and produce crops just as turf grass needs these same nutrients to maintain a green and vigorous lawn. Naturally occurring nutrients are also present in the soil that plants can draw from to meet these needs but in order to do that the pH of the soil must be within acceptable parameters. You can apply all of the fertilizer in the world but if the pH is too high or too low, the plant can’t access the fertilizer.

How do you find out what the soil pH is? A simple soil test will do the trick. It’s quick, easy to do and its free. Come by the Extension office located at 130 Ammons Dr. and pick up a soil test kit. The homeowner fills  the box with soil mails it to the soil testing lab in Raleigh and will receive his test results online.

Agents at the Extension office will be available to help interpret the results for the homeowner if needed. These results will give the gardener exact recommendations of how much lime and fertilizer is needed for his particular site

This is Donna Teasley with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Burke Center. If you would like more information about this program you can call us at 764-9480.