jo wrote in message ...
Hi all. I have recently had my garden restructured (ie new beds dug,
new
patio etc) and now have a blank canvass on which to grow. I bought a
soil
testing kit (from Homebase) to assess the pH of the soil and being very
careful not to contaminate my samples (I took 3 from different areas of
the
garden) I carried out the tests. All 3 samples showed a highly
alkaline
result (a very deep turquoisey colour), which seemed strange as my soil
is
very sticky and seems to retain water easily, which I assumed to be
more of
a clay consistency. I was under the impression that clay soils were
acidic.
So I tested the water I used for my soil tests and this gave exactly
the
same deep turquoise. The water is from a water filter so I assumed
this
would be fairly neutral. Surely the soil samples would have shown a
slightly different result to the 'pure' water.
I am completely confused by the conflicting textures and alkalinity of
the
soil. Can anyone offer some advice?
Jo


Best idea would be to use distilled water, that should be a very neutral
pH, water filters are just set to remove certain ions out of the water
and can leave them non neutral, they mainly remove Calcium.

You could also melt some of the ice from your freezer sides, that is as
close to distilled water as you can get. and cheaper.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk