When growing a garden, it’s essential to know what your soil lacks so that you can amend it correctly. Fortunately, you don’t always have to rely on an expensive laboratory test to create healthy growing conditions that keep plants thriving. Here’s what you need to know about performing soil tests at home with or without a test kit.

Testing Your Soil Without a Kit

The following DIY soil tests are simple, inexpensive, and will give you fast results and a basic idea about the type of soil you’re dealing with.

Testing for pH

Before testing, it’s important to collect samples from different areas of your garden. Mixing these samples and extracting a composite sample helps to give you more accurate results. Once you have the sample, the next step is to determine if the soil is acidic, alkaline, or neutral.

 

• Test for alkaline soil. Add about 2 spoons of soil to a bowl, then mix with a small amount of distilled water. Then add ½ cup of vinegar. If the mixture in the bowl produces bubbles or fizzes, that means you have alkaline soil.
• Test for acidic soil. Add about 2 spoons of soil to a bowl, then mix with a small amount of distilled water. Then add ½ cup of baking soda. Again, if the mixture in the bowl produces bubbles or fizzes, that means you have acidic soil.
• Test for neutral soil. If nothing significant happens when you add either vinegar or baking soda, your soil is neutral

 

This test is based on the chemical reaction between acidic and alkaline solutions. The more strongly the mixture fizzes, the higher the pH. Once you have an idea of your soil’s pH, do your research to find out if the plants you have are more suited to an acidic or alkaline environment.

 

If you have alkaline (sweet) soil, you can adjust the pH by adding ground sulfur, and if you have acidic (sour) soil, you can adjust the pH by adding limestone.

Testing for Organic Matter

The presence of earthworms in your soil can indicate whether your soil has enough organic matter in it. Earthworms boost your soil’s health because they not only aerate the soil and increase water infiltration, but their castings provide the soil with plant nutrients and enzymes.

 

The best time to check for earthworms is when the soil is moist – not too dry or wet. Simply dig out about 1 cubic foot of soil and look for earthworms. Five is a good number of earthworms to find, but ten is even better.

Testing Your Soil With a Kit

You can get a soil test kit from various companies that sell landscaping supplies. Generally, a test kit is handy if you want more precise measurements. For instance, it can give you the exact pH of your soil, and most test kits can test phosphorous, potassium, and nitrogen levels.

Testing pH Levels

When using a soil test kit, it’s also important to collect samples from different garden spots, so you end up with a composite sample.

 

• To begin with, you’ll need a spoon’s worth of soil, which you add to the appropriate chamber of the pH test container.
• Add the test power that comes with the kit and mix it with distilled water.
• Cover the container with a lid and shake thoroughly.
• Let it sit before reading the results
• Compare your sample’s color with the color chart on the container to determine if the soil is acidic or alkaline.
• You can also read the instructions that come with the test kit to get a better idea of how this process works.

Testing N-P-K Levels

When testing N-P-K levels, it’s essential to mix your soil sample with distilled water, then let everything settle down for a few hours.

 

• When it’s time, fill the different chambers of your testing containers with water from your sample.
• Typically, the different containers have color codes. For instance, everything purple is associated with nitrogen.
• Add the test powder to each container, cover with a lid, and then shake.
• Use the color chart on the containers to interpret the results as seen.

The Bottom Line

Testing your soil at home can help your plants thrive and flourish. One last thing: Remember, amending your soil is a continuous process, so you may need to do several tests before achieving perfect, healthy soil.