North Texas Vegetable Gardeners Forum
Businesses => Texas Plant & Soil Lab => Topic started by: Frank on January 06, 2014, 02:49:53 AM
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In November, we had our 75th-year anniversary party down at the lab. I didn't mention it here, as I couldn't imagine anyone up here wanting to attend...
All of our tests are now available through www.SoilKits.com (http://www.SoilKits.com) - a third-party agency. We did this because we had some clients who sent - or thought they sent - samples, but never heard anything from us. We identified at least three problems:
1. We never received the samples - they were lost in shipment.
2. The client gathered the samples - but forgot to send them. In one case, a really annoyed client called wanting to know where his reports were. A week later, he called back to say that he had discovered the samples buried under the seat of his pickup...
3. We received the samples, but no paperwork was included and there was no return name or address. These samples got shelved until we heard something from somebody - then we had to do some detective work to find and identify them. We still have some of those samples that are rotting through the shelves.
Ordering through SoilKits.com gives all of us several advantages: They send us immediate notice that a test has been ordered. If we do not receive the sample in a timely order, we will send you an inquiry.
When we receive your sample, we'll send you a notification. We consider all tests to be time-sensitive - accordingly, we are very keen about getting out reports within the advertised turn-around times. SoilKits.com also provides many of the intermediate services between the client and us - they are in contact with us on an almost daily basis. In fact, Mirtha (mirtha@tpsl.biz (http://mirtha@tpsl.biz) (yes, she is a REAL person - she answers the telephone, most of the time) at our place is now our representative with SoilKits.
A NEW FEE SCHEDULE - Price changes in soil tests -
We've not had any price changes in over 4-1/2 years. We couldn't put them off any longer. ALSO - changes in descriptions of tests... Our signature (but unavoidably labor-intensive to perform) Comprehensive CO2 Extraction Method Soil Test has been changed to the the TPSL(r) Soil Test - BUT now also includes Boron as standard.
Why? Because over the years, we've seen soil Boron levels decline to the point where now Boron deficinecy is now one of the most commonly-seen deficiencies in the micronutrients.
Why does that matter? Boron is essential for the transportation of Calcium within the plant. Tomato Blossom End-Rot, anyone - even though your plants may be planted in lime?
Our other tests have had only modest increases - and some, actual reductions.
WATER has become of huge concern, as "What's In Your Water Becomes Part Of Your Soil"(tm). With falling aquifers, impurities are concentrated - specifically, Bicarbonates - hardness. It used to be that salt was the big problem - especially in the coastal area and deep wells...
Well (no pun intended), things have changed. We are now urging growers who are irrigating to, by all means, have a water test performed. If you are getting your water from a municipality or SUD, ask them for a water MINERAL analysis - they should provide this to you at no charge. Wanna know what it means? Just call us!
If you're irrigating, should you ever got a well, some municipalities or SUDs and even creeks or rivers, watch out! If you have highly-calcareous soil and your irrigation water is high in bicarbonates, you can be turning your soil literally into STONE - which can take years to remediate! We're now seeing irrigation water problems with the huge corporate ag operations in the upper Midwest!...
Are you in, or around Frisco? Several years ago, there was much ado in the news about contamination by the EXIDE plant. Well, did you know that we have a specific Heavy Metals testing package for you? If you're looking at purchasing property in the old Exide area, maybe you ought to test the soil for problems before you buy... Just a thought...
Other News - ACRESUSA - our two-day pre-conference Advanced Soil Fertility and Crop Nutrition workshop was a wild success! A near-record-breaker with 100 attendees!
If you've not seen it lately, we hope that you would care to visit www.TexasPlantAndSoilLab.com (http://www.TexasPlantAndSoilLab.com) (and don't forget to check out our FaceBook!). The interactive map was in the works for a year-and-a-half before we finally got it going. Play with it with abandon. It is updated about monthly (updated as it happens on FaceBook), or more often when we get in new samples from interesting places or unusual crops... The pins on it are taken directly from our accounting records with some kind of Google program.
Anyhow, happy and successful gardening to you in 2014! If you have problems, maybe we can help you fix 'em...