In message jn3E9.6713$XN5.993183@wards, jo
writes
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),

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.

If the water is fairly alkaline then it's unlikely that the soil pH
would make any great difference to the final pH, and even if it did the
kit wouldn't necessarily be sensitive to measure the small change their
might have been.

You need to sue water that is neutral pH or you are wasting you time -
easiest just to use 'ready made' it's easily available for irons and
topping up batteries etc. Ice scraped from the inside walls of a freezer
is another option - it's condensed form airborne water vapour. Rain
watermayalso nearly neutral so as to be near enough as to make no
difference maybe

--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html