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Questions tagged [soil-test]

Tests for various soil characteristics including nutritional and contaminant content.

Soils can be tested for a wide range of characteristics. These can be used to help diagnose problems (eg. due to a mineral deficiency), guarantee safe crops (eg. no heavy metal contaminants in the soil), or provide pointers as to the best kind of plants to grow (eg. according to acidity).

Many soil test kits are available from nurseries and big box garden stores. Specialist tests and services are also available.

Some of the tests that might be considered:

  • Major nutrients (NPK) - fix with fertilizer
  • Minor and secondary nutrients (Ca,Mg, Fe, Cu, etc)
  • Acidity (pH) - different plants prefer different acidities
  • Contamination (from air, ground water, industry, gas stations, dry cleaning, etc)
  • General composition (humus,sand,mud,clay)

Use this tag for all questions about soil tests and testing.

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Soil chemistry problem -- too high conductivity

I'm a tree farmer near Edmonton, Alberta. My entire operation is in pots ranging from 100 ml to 40 liters I just got a new load of compost from City of Edmonton. I performed the following test: Packed a pot solidly with compost to a level similar…
Sherwood Botsford
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What should general PH and nutrient levels be for new planting bed after amendments?

I am planting a salad garden with lettuces, kale, spinach, root crops, pole beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. So many different PH level requirements and such for different plants are confusing me because I have grown them all together before…
TauraBird
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Can good soil turn bad?

I bought potting soil well over a year ago, and left it open (inside the plastic bag) in my rooftop. I live in the Caribbean so it would receive strong direct sun every day. The soil was relatively dry and had clumps. It’s been there so long that…
rbhat
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What is my apple orchard soil type?

It's about three month that I have bought this orchard. I have have done Bottle test on my orchard soil. But my test results did not look like what I have seen in internet. So I decided to post my pictures here to get help. I can't figure out…
Mehdi Azizi
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Is there any way to have soil (humus) tested by a lab for toxins and pesticides?

I'm running a leaf compost. It's a pretty big scale. I pick up leafs from all the neighbors chop them with a special purpose tool and then store them for a year in multiple 250 gallon bins. The end result is about 150 gallons of humus per bin after…
Evan Carroll
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What is the average Haney Test composting results for a pile of wood chips?

I've heard a lot about the Haney Test from different soil scientists, and was wondering how the Haney test average results look for wood chips that compost for 6 months-5 years.
black thumb
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