Soil test: Go home and boil some of the distilled water for 5 minutes
(to remove the co2) after the water cools. Place a coffee filter in
a small dish, then place some garden soil into the filter(no organic
matter). With a plastic spoon dip and slowly pour the distilled water
into the soil, continue to do so slowly until after a few minutes the
water will begin to seep through the filter. As soon as there is
enough water to test, use your test strip EXACTLY as instructed on the
package. Pay particular attention to the "read" time, after duncking
the test strip in the water. WALLA! if it is above 8 or below 5 (7
being neutral ) you must correct this problem first.

This poster clearly knows his stuff! Nice response!

I might add to this that the pH will likely change with water content,
and I would think a weak buffer would be helpful if the soil is clay.
Not sure how this is done, really. I am not sure the pH will be very
stable from DI water added to a soil that binds ions tightly. Maybe
waiting a while would help. I see this measurement being very complicated.
Regarding the iron deficiency I posted, I guess you could also try adding
some iron nails in one of the trenches. That made a difference in my
case and soil pH (essentially 100% clay) was slightly acidic.


Dominic-Luc Webb