soil tester

storm123 · « **on:** October 22, 2012, 11:52 »

hi anyone know of a good soil tester at a resonable price have been looking on internet but a lot of the reviews have not been that good

moose · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:21 »

If you mean a probe type I was given quite an expensive one of these but it always showed a Ph of 7.5-8.0, in tap water, stuck into a lemon or in my soil. Some people have found ones that work. Much better to get one of the soil testing kits where you put a small sample into a test tube and follow the instructions. Alternately if you look at the following link there is a quick way to get a rough idea.
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/gardening/ht/Soil_Test.htm

There is (I think) a way of checking using beetroot juice but I can't find the method.

JayG · « **Reply #2 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:25 »

If you Gurgle how professional pH meters are constructed, calibrated and deployed, you will quickly find out why the chances of buying a cheap meter which you can just push into the soil and get an accurate result from are almost nil.

Chemical pH test kits using indicator dyes are cheap, and although more faffy to use the principle is simple and they don't pretend to do something they can't actually deliver!

mumofstig · « **Reply #3 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:33 »

I agree the probes are next to useless.
You can buy simple PH test tube kits from somewhere like Homebase for about a fiver if you just need to know whether to add lime.

The more detailed kind give you more info about nutrient levels etc cost about a tenner, also from gargen centres or DIY sheds

gremlin · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2012, 19:10 »

and for a tenner (a couple of years ago) you can get a professional agricultural test lab to give accurate pH, phosphate, potassium and magnesium levels. You do have to send them a pound or two of soil, so that adds a bit to the cost.

But having discovered I have a pH of 6.5, but three times the level of P, K and Mg in my soil that is needed I have saved at least �30 on Growmore

storm123 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2012, 19:34 »

hi thanks for all replies i am going to give moose,s post a try

bainsk8 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 23, 2012, 22:48 »

One thing they fail to say in the test they recommend on the frugalliving website is make sure the water is demilitarized water.

I live in a hard water area and this test does not work if I use tap water. Instead I use demilitarized water used for topping up car batteries, this gives me a more accurate indicator of what my soil is.

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soil tester

storm123

soil tester

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gremlin

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storm123

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bainsk8

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