Guide to Successful Gardening

Soil Testing Kit Benefits

Some people believe that soil testing is an essential part of responsible gardening. This can be done yourself by purchasing a soil testing kit. The most common type of testing done is to check pH levels. If the pH levels in your garden are out of whack then your garden will not grown properly. These tests are very easy to conduct. You take a sample of the soil, put it into the container supplied with water and a tablet that acts as an agent to allow the levels to be shown. This tablet will allow a color separation to occur. After that you simply compare the color to the chart included with the soil testing kit and you will know the pH levels in your soil. Most charts will have a large number if tablets, often as many as fifty, so you can retest whenever you please.

There is also a lime requirement soil testing kit. This one judges not only the lime in the soil but the pH levels at the same time. It can tell you if there is enough lime in your soil or if there is an insufficient amount.

You can purchase a soil testing kit for many other needs as well. There are ones that can test to ensure that your soil has the right nutrients in it. This is useful in helping to determine what, if any, fertilizer you might require. These kits can determine how much nitrate nitrogen; potassium and phosphate are in your soil. These three are all necessary for good plant growth.

Sometimes what you are looking for is a soil testing kit that can do a complete analysis of your garden soil. This is a more complex type of kit but is certainly available to you to buy. It comes with a meter that can test not only the pH levels but the conductively of your soil as well. This kit is generally used by farmers who are concerned about salt levels in the ground they are about to plant their crops in.

A soil testing kit is available for just about anything you want to monitor in the earth in your garden. Once you have the results from your testing you can act on the information to improve your garden’s growing ability.

Advantages Of Soil Test Kits

The best lawns and gardens tend to have one thing in common – great soil. Testing the soil in your garden is an easy and relatively inexpensive task, and will allow you to select the right plants for your garden.

The ideal time to perform a soil test is typically prior to any major new planting, such as landscaping, planting grass seeds, or a vegetable patch. These test kits are easy to use and available in your local garden nurseries.

The soil testing kit is able to analyse the soil in order to diagnose the pH level, soil type, amount of organic material present, how much salt is in the soil, and any deficiencies in the nutrient levels that may exist. This will assist you in making the correct decisions regarding the addition of any supplemental fertilization.

You can pick up a simple do-it-yourself soil testing kit from your local garden nursery, in order to establish the soil pH, and also gain a rough idea to the nutrient levels. Having one of these kits in your garden shed can be a very useful cost saving tool to have.

If you in the need for more accurate data, than it would be wise to send off a soil sample to commercial agency or a university testing laboratory for a complete analysis.

All this involves is simply digging up a soil sample from each area to be tested, seal it in a bag and ship it to the lab. After a short wait, you will receive easy to understand test results, along with guidelines for any needed soil improvements.

The only way to be certain which nutrients are lacking in your garden is to carry out a soil test. Without the benefits that you would be gaining from using soil test kits, you could be applying too much, too little, or the wrong nutrients.