Home Soil Test Kit

KCMO_Don · February 28, 2006

anyone have any experiance with a Home Soil Test Kit?

If so, any recommended brands?

I was going to use my county extension but it takes 6 weeks, and it's the same price as kits I see online.

thanks a lot!

bcday · February 28, 2006

For basic info, I just use one of the soil test kits found in many garden centers, Lowe's or wherever. It might be interesting to also use the county extension's service and see how close the garden center kit comes to matching their results.

Innoma · February 28, 2006

I tried one of those home test kits, but the results seemed odd to me. It showed a very heavy phosphorous content, but all other tests were unreadable (clear). I tried it 3 times and let the sample settle down over at least a week, and the results were the same.

I eventually opted for a more thorough test from a local extension, and the results differed in that it showed a calcium difficiency and an excess of sodium where everything else was more or less in the normal/acceptable range.

bully · February 28, 2006

my experience was very similar to Innoma's.
The extension was a very thorough analysis.

KCMO_Don · February 28, 2006

I'll go with the extenstion!

MsCowpea · February 28, 2006

I go with a commercial laboratory. It happens to be nearby and it it not very expensive. Most of the time I get it back the next day or day after. They will fax the results for a faster turnaround and then mail them to you.
(ps I have tried those little kits--I found them to be totally worthless.)

February 28, 2006	#1
KCMO_Don Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: KANSAS Posts: 223	Home Soil Test Kit anyone have any experiance with a Home Soil Test Kit? If so, any recommended brands? I was going to use my county extension but it takes 6 weeks, and it's the same price as kits I see online. thanks a lot! __________________ GIGGITY - GIGGITY

February 28, 2006	#5
KCMO_Don Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: KANSAS Posts: 223	Thank you I'll go with the extenstion! __________________ GIGGITY - GIGGITY

February 28, 2006	#6
MsCowpea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S. FLorida / Zone 10 Posts: 369	I go with a commercial laboratory. It happens to be nearby and it it not very expensive. Most of the time I get it back the next day or day after. They will fax the results for a faster turnaround and then mail them to you. (ps I have tried those little kits--I found them to be totally worthless.) __________________ "When we kill off the natural enemies of a pest we inherit their work." Carl Huffaker

February 28, 2006	#2
bcday Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NY z5 Posts: 1,205	For basic info, I just use one of the soil test kits found in many garden centers, Lowe's or wherever. It might be interesting to also use the county extension's service and see how close the garden center kit comes to matching their results.

February 28, 2006	#3
Innoma Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: CA, Zone 9 Posts: 33	I tried one of those home test kits, but the results seemed odd to me. It showed a very heavy phosphorous content, but all other tests were unreadable (clear). I tried it 3 times and let the sample settle down over at least a week, and the results were the same. I eventually opted for a more thorough test from a local extension, and the results differed in that it showed a calcium difficiency and an excess of sodium where everything else was more or less in the normal/acceptable range.

February 28, 2006	#4
bully Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: S.E. MI Posts: 794	my experience was very similar to Innoma's. The extension was a very thorough analysis.