[harry]

I have never done a ph test on my soil and have decided to buy a test kit. How good is the tester where you push a probe into the soil, or is the chemical one better.

[JayG]

Cheap probe pH testers have a reputation for being wildly inconsistent and inaccurate, which doesn't necessarily apply to all of them but how would you know whether yours was telling the truth or not?

Chemical test kits are more fiddly to use, but much more likely to give the correct result.

[Mr Dog]

I have never done a ph test on my soil and have decided to buy a test kit. How good is the tester where you push a probe into the soil, or is the chemical one better.

I'd not waste money on an electronic one that you will use perhaps twice (and, as Jay says, likely to be inaccurate unless calibrated regularly) and TBH I'd not waste any on a paper/liquid kit either. Looking around at what is growing wild, what you grow successfully and what others on the site grow gives a pretty good idea of what the pH is. And, unless you are at the extremes of very acidic or alkaline, it doesn't make a great deal of difference.

[rowlandwells]

I had my allotment soil analysis done by a laboratory recommended by my farmer friends in 2014  it was a very comprehensive report I had back listing all comments of what was recommended there where 4 recommendation to improve the soil that where all low sulphur manganese boron very low molybdenum 

looking back  I think the £17.00 it  cost was money well spent it gave me a good insight of what was needed 

[Mr Dog]

I had my allotment soil analysis done by a laboratory recommended by my farmer friends in 2014  it was a very comprehensive report I had back listing all comments of what was recommended there where 4 recommendation to improve the soil that where all low sulphur manganese boron very low molybdenum 

looking back  I think the £17.00 it  cost was money well spent it gave me a good insight of what was needed 

How did you ensure the sample was representative of the whole plot?

[rowlandwells]

in answer to your question I took several samples from the hole plot also to add to that after adding some of the recommended additives to the ground I've had no probs

I suppose its that old cherry you get what you pay for 

[Yorkie]

If you do use a test tube chemical test, it is usually suggested that you should not test surface soil, but instead a few inches down.

[Mr Dog]

in answer to your question I took several samples from the hole plot also to add to that after adding some of the recommended additives to the ground I've had no probs

I suppose its that old cherry you get what you pay for 

You had problems growing things before testing?

[rowlandwells]

 yes Mr Dog a few and as I said that lab test assisted me in rectifying the problems and I found it very beneficial