Soil Testing
Do you want to test your soil but don't have a soil testing kit. Lets do it old school. All you will need is a glass jar with a lid, a marker, water and you soil sample.
1. Gather your soil sample - Dig a hole down to about 8" and collect about 1-1.5 cup of soil and place in glass jar.
2. Mark on the outside of the jar the soil level, next add water to make jar 2/3 full and shake.
3. Allow soil to settle for 30 second and draw a line at the top of the soil, 3 minutes later draw another line at the top of the soil (should be lower than the last one)
4. Examine the layers. The bottom layer will be sand, middle layer silt and top layer clay. Calculate the percentage of each section with the original soil line and then compare the percentages to the following chart below.
Gardener's soil of choice is within the loamy soils.
1. Gather your soil sample - Dig a hole down to about 8" and collect about 1-1.5 cup of soil and place in glass jar.
2. Mark on the outside of the jar the soil level, next add water to make jar 2/3 full and shake.
3. Allow soil to settle for 30 second and draw a line at the top of the soil, 3 minutes later draw another line at the top of the soil (should be lower than the last one)
4. Examine the layers. The bottom layer will be sand, middle layer silt and top layer clay. Calculate the percentage of each section with the original soil line and then compare the percentages to the following chart below.
Gardener's soil of choice is within the loamy soils.
