In Washington County, as in other Counties in Kentucky, gardeners don’t understand the importance of soil testing and then actually following the recommendations.  To combat this the Horticulture and 4H agents developed a contest on growing the largest and tallest sunflowers with an adult group and a 4H group.  Each participant attended a session on the culture and care of sunflowers, was given seeds of two varieties of sunflower varieties, and was given instructions on how to take soil samples for testing through the Extension Service.  Most participants chose to ignore soil testing, while a few did follow through with the tests.  Ninety days after participants attended the session on growing sunflowers the agents traveled to each participant's gardens to measure the height and flower diameters. The winners of the contest were announced and given coupons for garden supplies and a certificate for their growing achievements.  All four winners for height and flower diameter were those who obtained a soil test and applied the recommended amendments. This data will be used when discussing the importance of soil testing with future groups