Garden Soil Analysis

Knowing your soil is crucial for being able to work with it and give it what it needs. It all begins with garden soil analysis.

We'll look at a variety of different ways to assess the quality and properties of your garden soil so that you know exactly what you're working with.

Soil Ph Testing

To test the pH of your soil and find out if you're in the right range, any digital pH tester such as this works great.

Litmus paper or color change kits also work, but can be more difficult for soil than they would be for plain water pH checks. Soil stains, afterall, and can muddle the colors of your test kits. This is why I prefer the accuracy of an inexpensive digital pH tester.

Measuring Soil Moisture

For testing soil moisture levels, a simple moisture meter works great. You can probe around with this and understand how moisture is moving and diffusing through different areas and layers of your soil.

Soil Infiltration Test

The infiltration rate of soil describes how quickly water can be absorbed.

Dry soils become hydrophobic and take much longer for water to infiltrate into them, whereas moist soils can soak up water much faster and more readily because of water's cohesion property.

Soils with more organic matter act like sponges ready to soak up water, while depleted soils low in organic matter are much slower to uptake water.

How to Check Water Holding Capacity of Soil

The holding capaciny of your soil is how much water it can hang onto, in terms of volume.

Think of it like soaking a kitchen sponge until it's fully saturated - and then seeing how much water you can wring out of it as a ratio to the volume of the sponge itself.

Measuring Soil Texture

Soil texture is the 'feel' of the soil. Texture affects drainage and infiltration rates, water holding capacity, and stability for rooting in.

Each of the main types of particles found in soil are differently-sized. Because of this, their ratios to one another drastically change the properties of the dirt.

Coarse sand –> diameter 2-0.2mm
Fine sand –> diameter 0.2-0.02mm
Silt –> diameter 0.02-0.002mm
Clay –> diameter less than 0.002mm

To learn about the textural components and identify your soil texture, check out Soil Texture Triangle (Soil Composition).

How to Measure Soil Structure

To read all about soil structure, click here.

Assess Soil Tilth

Test Soil Drainage

Testing Soil Compaction

Soil Percolation Test

Soil Permeability Test

Dynamic Cone Penetration Test

Soil Nutrient Testing

To find out what macro and micronutrients your soil has and in what amounts, I love these soil test kits. They run your dirt @ the lab and give you digital soil composition results.

You can also give your local Cooperative Extension a call for a soil test, and compare what it measures and costs againts the commercial options.

No matter what you use to check your soil composition, it's important to gain as much understanding as you can about your dirt. This gives you valuable insight into what it might need, what's lacking, and how any of your soil-building efforts are paying off.

How to Test Soil for Heavy Metals

Heavy metals can show up in soils for a long list of reasons, ranging from previous industrial pollution, chemical dumping, lead paint from buildings flaking off into tho soil, and more.

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Because heavy metal can be pulled from soil by many plants, it's a good idea to send some soil samples to a lab when starting to grow on new land or in a new spot on your property.

If you do encounter heavy metals in your garden, you might try to remediate the soil yourself using bioaccumulator plants such as sunflowers to pull up the metals and disposing of the plants properly (without consuming or composting). After a series of grow cycles doing this, test again and see how much your soils have improved.

Soil Biology Testing

Measuring Soil Erosion