buying soil ph tester?

[leechlake]

Instead of just sending off soil samples, does anyone have knowedge on what types of soil testing equipment work accurately so I can buy one. I don't want some piece of lab equipment in my garage but if it's some simple equipment I may just buy one, thanks if anyone knows what I should be looking for. Heck, I could start testing fm'ers soil for free...

[Beeber]

Leechlake,

If you want information on do-it-yourself soil testing kits go to the Ben Meadows web site. They have a good selection. To do you any good you need a test which tests for N, P, and K, as well as pH. The link is as follows. [sorry, this link is not approved. Please click the "contact us" button below if you would like to have a link approved, thanks! (jlm)] pH is only one factor in soil fertility.

Take it easy

[Dotch]

Agree Beeber. pH is one of the easy tests to do. To analyze for P & K it takes a lot more expensive equipment like an atomic absorption and a mass spectrophotometer machines. These cost boo koo $ and that's part of why labs charge what they charge. Also, soil testing labs have standardized procedures so reagents used, drying, shaking, extraction and analysis times are the same. Past experience, the little LaMotte kits are OK for a kids science project but they're not particularly consistent for use on farmers fields. For instance, the type of analysis used on phosphorus varies with the pH. Running a Bray P1 test on a soil with a pH of 7.9 and an abundance of free calcium carbonate may give you a low phosphorus reading and cause you to overapply phosphorus. That's why you'd also run an Olson bicarbonate test. It's designed to give a true reading under those conditions. The lab we're using will turn around our samples in 3 days time and that's not bad.

[Beeber]

Dotch is right on all accounts. There are tests you can buy (Cheapest will run you around $80 but they are only as good at the person running the test. It's just like anything else in life if you really want to do a good job and be happy with the results spend a little money and get it done right. The professional testing services which are available (Local Ag service/University/Private contractor) will do an excellent job. I would keep it local though as they will be more familiar with what you are working with and be able get you better testing results and recommendations. Sending your samples to an outdoors company may work for you but I would be real cautious. If their test does not include pH, N, P, K, and I would even say S, then don't waste your time and money.

My two cents

[leechlake]

sound like I'll be sending them off to be tested, Chemistry is not my stong suit. Thanks for the thorough posts.

[iffwalleyes]

Getting the soil tested one thing but knowing what to do with if after you get the results in the imporant part I found out. So send your sample and they will get results and tell you what you should do to get your soil where it needs to be.

[BLACKJACK]

If you're anywhere near Willmar there is a place called Eco-Agri labs that will do your soil testing and then they'll advice you on how many pounds of fertilizer you need to put on depending upon what crop you're planting.