[pennsylvania planters]

Could anyone recommend a good soil tester.
I'm an organic grower, so looking after the soil is very important to me.
Santa is coming soon (27 days 14hrs 38mins),  and i want to drop hints to the wife as to what i want him to bring me.
I'm looking at the electronic type ones.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[gobs]

Others might have diff views on this, but I think you could spend your money better, unless you would enjoy playing with it and keep records of regular readings.

I mean I bought a few things in my life that seemed a good idea, but never got used more than once.

Garlic press is another one of them.

[pennsylvania planters]

I love gadgets

[mushroom]

Garlic press is another one of them.

This means you're not eating enough garlic

[frazzy]

they do look fun and not as expensive as i thought
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SOIL-pH-METER-OPTIMUM-PLANT-CARE-GARDEN-SOIL-TESTING_W0QQitemZ320185878559QQihZ011QQcategoryZ3186QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[gobs]

Then you should enjoy one.

Someone out there shall know about them.

[gobs]

Garlic press is another one of them.

This means you're not eating enough garlic

I shall take that as an offense. :evil:

I'm good with the knife :!:  

[milkman]

Garlic press is another one of them.

agree gobs, i find a knife does the job perfectly well.

same goes for runner bean slicer thingy-mi-jig, given to me by mother-in-law who swears by it.  haven't used it once yet and probably never will.  it stays in the drawer in case she will want to use it when she comes to stay...

getting back on the topic of soil testing, have never used one so cannot recommend anything. sorry!

[mushroom]

I love gadgets

Same here. The soil tester is for pH? or for moisture? or both?
Have you a max/min digital thermometer there?

I was considering getting a data collector with sensors - so, take laptop to the plot, download the data on a monthly basis - then i thought nooo i'm nuts thinking like that. A max/min thermometer is sufficient for me.

But if money is no object, you can set up an AWS there running off a leisure battery being recharged by a solar cell array. I'd have this arrangement if I had a few acres (in my dreams).

By the way, are you in USA? Put your (near location, it doesn't have to be exact) in your profile, because, otherwise, you'll always get asked this question, and also regarding growing advice might not be pertinent to your region.

[pennsylvania planters]

Location: sunny Doncaster.
I'm just looking for a ph/moisture tester, thanks.

[noshed]

I got a cheap one out of Homebase. The only thing is you are supposed to use distilled water not tap. So I don't exactly know what I measured the PH of. I will have another go.

[mushroom]

I got a cheap one out of Homebase. The only thing is you are supposed to use distilled water not tap. So I don't exactly know what I measured the PH of. I will have another go.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, it measures the pH of the soil, in order to do so, you add distilled water to it, in order to dissolve the salts contained therein affecting pH but you use distilled water in particular because regular tapwater will have dissolved salts of its own and this will influence the test.

[Rampant_Weasel]

i used a use once tester from the garden center, cost me a quid, and it said my soil was neutral ( clay soil )

i did use tapwater tho , how does this affect the result?

[mushroom]

i used a use once tester from the garden center, cost me a quid, and it said my soil was neutral ( clay soil )

i did use tapwater tho , how does this affect the result?

tapwater usually has hardness - dissolved calcium and mahnesium salts.
The concentration of these salts, and others, in the soil determines pH.

[noshed]

So really you end up measuring the PH of your tapwater, not your soil. Something to do in the winter though.