Pat - I' ve never considered a tissue test - the soil samples I take go to Cornell University, I' d assume they could do a tissue test.

Just to play devil' s advocate for a moment - I could see where a tissue test might be beneficial if the Ph & Nutrient levels were perfect - and you wanted to maintain them.

But when you' re building up a plot - the Ph is the key - In my case the Ph is 5.0-6.0 normally with a very high buffer - for my soil to approach 7.0 we are looking at 8 tons/acre Lime - I plant 20 acres - thats 160 tons of lime required. So far I' ve put down less than 10 tons - in and around the better areas where I' m maintaining clover plots - I cannot even consider Alfalfa yet (tried 1 acre anyhow - failed miserably). So my point is I KNOW the plants cannot take in all the nurtients available to them, a soil test lets me know the lime is working, and how fast - I' m not sure how a tissue test can help me? Can you give me an example?

Thanks.