Healthy Soil

Soil Nutrient Testing Program

All soil samples must be THREE POUNDS.

King Conservation District provides basic soil nutrient tests for all residents and municipalities in our service area (see sidebar). KCD’s soil nutrient testing program covers commercial farms, pastures, parks, home yards and community gardens.

Soil samples can be mailed to KCD’s office Monday through Thursday or put in our drop box outside KCD’s office door located inside the building at 800 SW 39th St, Suite 150, Renton, WA 98057 during the hours of 8:30am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday.

Each resident in our service area is eligible for a total of five free basic soil nutrient tests for properties they either own or rent. Additional soil tests can be ordered for $40 each.

KCD Soil Sample Submittal Form

Translated Soil Documents

Soil Nutrient Testing Fact Sheet	Understanding Your Soil
Soil Testing – ADA English	Understanding Your Soil – ADA English
माटोको जाँचसम्बन्धी कार्यक्रमका निर्देशनहरू – Nepali	माटोको जाँचसम्बन्धी व्याख्या गर्ने गाइड – Nepali
Инструкции по программе тестирования почвы – Russian	Руководство по интерпретации результатов анализа почвы – Russian
Tilmaamaha Barnaamijka Tijaabada Ciida – Somali	Tusmada Turjumaada Tijaabada Ciida – Somali
Instrucciones del programa de pruebas de tierra – Spanish	Guía de interpretación de pruebas de tierra – Spanish
土壤檢測計劃說明 – Traditional Chinese	土壤檢測解讀指南 – Traditional Chinese
Інструкція до програми тестування ґрунту – Ukranian	Посібник з інтерпретації результатів аналізу ґрунту – Ukranian
Hướng Dẫn về Chương Trình Xét Nghiệm Đất – Vietnamese	Hướng Dẫn Đọc Kết Quả Xét Nghiệm Đất – Vietnamese
မြေ􀀯ေဆီီလွှာာ􀅰စစ််ဆေး�းမှုု အစီီအစဉ်် – Burmese	သင့ေြမဆလာအေြခအေနက နားလညြခင – Burmese
Kupima Udongo – Swahili	Kuelewa Udongo wako – Swahili

We will send your soil samples to A and L Western Laboratories to test for Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Organic Matter, pH, and Cation Exchange Capacity. The laboratory will analyze your soils and provide recommendations specific to your plant needs.

KCD pays only for basic nutrient tests. Additional tests for heavy metals or other soil properties are charged separately. See the Analytical Services section of the A and L Laboratories website for general information and the additional testing sheet for available tests. Email soiltesting@kingcd.org with your request, to attain current pricing and payment information.

It’s easy to collect soil samples. See our Soil Sampling Instructions and Submittal Form for details. Read the instructions carefully and fill out the submittal form so we get complete information about your soil sample. Be sure that:

• Each sample has at least THREE POUNDS of material
• You sample is free of debris (rocks, sticks, etc)
• The forms are properly filled out
• The sample bags are filled out on the outside of the bag

It’s important that soil samples are fresh, so please don’t mail them on Friday or Saturday so they don’t sit at the Post Office for a few days. Soil nutrient test results are generally available within two to three weeks from when we send them to the lab.

KCD recommends testing soils regularly. Whether you are growing forage for livestock, gardening, maintaining an orchard or managing a woodlot for wood production, proper soil sampling will allow you to:

• Apply the correct amount of fertilizer for the plants you are growing.
• Prevent surface and ground water from being contaminated by excess fertilizers.
• Ensure that soil nutrients and other conditions (such as soil acidity) affecting plant growth are present in the right amounts.

Results of proper soil nutrient management can include:

• Increased plant growth, yields and quality.
• Less purchased livestock feed and fertilizer.
• Better utilization of manure on your pastures, lawns and gardens.

For more information contact soiltests@kingcd.org.

Learn about the Tacoma Smelter Plume and your soil

King County Dirt Alert: Outreach and education for the Tacoma Smelter Plume Project

What is the Tacoma Smelter Plume (TSP) Project?

About lead and the Tacoma Smelter Plume

The plume of smoke from an old copper smelter in Tacoma polluted more than 1,000 square miles in the Puget Sound basin with arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. Washington Department of Ecology and Public Health — Seattle & King County are providing educational materials and free soil tests for lead and arsenic for residents of communities in the Tacoma Smelter Soil Safety Service Area.