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Obtain a soil sample bag or bags from a Department of Agriculture extension office. (Listed under US Government in the phone book.) It will contain directions and labeling instructions. Alternatively, purchase the bag from a commercial testing lab. The cost for either should be around S10.00. Mail order businesses and garden centers sell home use testing kits. While they are useful in determining the soil's pH, they will not be as accurate or complete as a professional test.
1. Get a shovel, a plastic bucket or container, and a garden trowel. Be sure each is clean of any contaminating chemicals or dirt. Do not use a galvanized or any other metal bucket since it can screw up the results for zinc and iron levels.
2. Pick a typical spot six by six inches, remove any plants, scrape mulch and leaf litter from the soil surface. Dig out a shovel full of dirt about 6 to 8 inches deep, and set this aside to be replaced later. It is easiest to do this when the soil is not too muddy.
3. Use the trowel to scrape down one side of the hole--digging out a half inch vertical section of soil, and place it in the bucket.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 at least three times in different parts of the garden so that the soil sample represents your whole garden when mixed. If the plot is more than one quarter acre, you may want to divide it into sections and test each section separately. This is also necessary if different sections of the garden or lawn have different soil types. For example, if part is on an alluvial flood plain, and part is on a slope.
5. Remove anything that is not soil such as roots, worms, rocks. Then mix the soil together thoroughly.
6. Fill the soil sample bag or container with the necessary amount of mixed soil, complete the paperwork, and mail it all off to the lab.
7. You should receive an analysis of the soil's pH, nutrient levels and other characteristics with recommendations for improving the soil for gardening. This can prevent a gardening from using the wrong type or amount of costly fertilizer.
8. Soil can be tested at any time but fall and winter are the best. Do not test until four months after lime, fertilizer, or any other chemicals have been applied to the area. This will give a more accurate reading of the natural, unaltered soil.
Here is a fun way to get a rough estimate of pH that you and the children might enjoy. Gather three samples of soil, about a cup each, and place them in separate glass containers. Mix enough water to turn them into mud.
Next, add a tablespoon of
baking soda to one sample and a tablespoon of vinegar to another.
If the container with the vinegar begins to fizz, then you have alkaline soil.
If the container with the baking soda begins to fizz, then you have acidic
soil. If neither jar begins to fizz, then you have neutral soil. With the third sample, test the pH level with litmus paper, available at garden centers.
Other Regions:
Soil Tests in Australia
Soil Tests in Canada