On Sun, 26 Jan 2003 09:53:16 -0000, "William Anderson"
wrote:

Hiya all,

Many thanks to the people who replied to my last posting about my soil PH.
After reading the replies it seemed a bit odd that everyone said that i
should go back and re-test my soil. Well ive taken their advice.

The first time i tested it with one of those meter and probe things which
you just stick into the ground and the reading was 4. I then went to the
shop and bought a chemical test kit, the reading with this is 5.5 to 6. What
a difference.

You should still repeat the test on soil from different parts of
your garden. Because nutrient and pH levels vary so widely from
point ot point even over a small area, it is actually quite
tricky to get a reliable measure of them.

IIRC, the scientific protocol involves digging a hole and taking
out a rather large soil sample, drying this, crushing it, and
mixing it very thoroughly, then taking a small sub-sample.

Perhaps Google might unearth more precise instructions.


The meter and probe has now gone in the dustbin.

!

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada