[len]

Hi Everyone.

I'm new to this forum, so I'm not sure if I've posted this question in the right section (apologies in advance).

I would like to take some soil ph readings on my allotment plot, and wondered if anyone has used the soil ph kits or meters & how they got on with them?

I've read that the meters can be somewhat inconsistant but I don't know if the kits are known to be anymore reliable.

Many Thanks
(Len)

[m1ckz]

hi strangley,,i bought 1 last week, did a test an my ph was 7 in parts an 6.5 in others,i think it should be 6.5 so mine is good,seems to work ok

[Donnay]

I have recently used a soil testing kit to take the ph of my soil. It was really easy to use and as a result of the reading and some advice fom other members on this site i will be adding some manure and compost into my beds once the weather improves.

This will be my first year on my allotment so I found the soil test very useful and it enabled me to know what types of soil I have and any improvemtnts I need to make.

[JayG]

Amazon list quite a few pH meters but not many of the cheap ones get very good ratings -
chemical pH test kits are cheap and although a bit of a faff should be accurate because you're only performing a very simple chemical test, whereas a meter needs to be a quite a sophisticated piece of electronic equipment to work accurately (and how do you know whether it's telling porkies or not?  )

[Yorkie]

I have generally read reports that the metal probe versions are less reliable than the test tube kit versions, but of course cheaper because you should do several tests across the area and not just one.

[Trillium]

My ears must have been buzzing today because I just bought a soil testing kit today. It comes with 4 different containers, and a total of 40 little enabling tablets, so the modest cost will definitely offset the amount of readings.

Neither the kits, nor probes, give complete readings but home gardeners don't need detailed percentages of every mineral and element. Its merely a good guideline for which direction your soil sits and how much you need to add of corrective items to get it where needed.

[angeltreats]

I'm attending a "grow your own" class at the weekends and last week the teacher brought a chemical test and one of the little probe things so we could all test our soil samples.  The chemical tests seemed to be pretty accurate, but the probe tested everything as pH neutral when we know very well that our soils are all alkaline in this area. 

Aldi have probes next Thursday for £3.49 if you want to try one out.

[savbo]

a cheap probe that doesn't work is actually a very expensive probe....if you're going by pence per result...

sav

[len]

Thanks for responding angeltreats:

I was starting to think that the chemical test kits were the way to go as they seem the most reliable, even though they are more of a pain to use, and thanks also for the Aldi tip. ''happy growing''

 
Just as a general observation.

I'm really surprised that ph Meter readings seem to be more irratic than the chemical kits.
I had hoped they would if anything be more accurate, and allow me to zip around the plot taking loads of readings and letting me know whether to lime or not. ''Are Well'' I have'nt given up hope just yet.
If anyone has come across Meter Heaven please don't hessitate to let me know, and thanks again to everyone for their advice.

[savbo]

I suppose what is comes down to is that acidity/alkalinity (at least in terms of soils) is about things happening to water chemistry...the cheap probes don't have any water, whereas the test kits (and if I remember from my undergraduate lab days, the expensive probes) do...

unless there's a real chemist who can put me right?

sav

[Yorkie]

I think you're right; with the chemical test kits you are advised to use distilled water for best practice too, I think - particularly if you're in a hard water area, otherwise the limescale in the water may affect the results.

[JayG]

pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in water - no water, no ions, so pH meters cannot give an accurate reading in dry soil, and cheap ones will probably give an inaccurate reading however and whatever you test them with, as in this collection of reviews for one particular meter.

Chemical test kits are like the old-fashioned litmus paper test, but using special indicator dyes which have a broader range of colour changes over the chosen pH range for greater accuracy. The only problems I can see with them is that the tests obviously take longer than just sticking a probe in the ground, and that the very small soil sample used might not be representative of the rest of the soil in the area it came from.

[gremlin]

I read around the subject when I got my lotty and decided to send samples off to a big commercial soils lab.  They gave me pH, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium levels for a tenner

I have recovered the cost because I wont need to buy any bonemeal (phosphorous) for the next 1,000 years.  

They don't make any recommendations, and you do have to read DEFRA guide RB209 to find out the optimum fertiliser levels, but it isn't too hard because it is written for farmers

I won't name the lab, but will just say "Bracknell".