On Apr 5, 6:05*am, Phisherman wrote:
Is there a test to get a percentage of organic matter in a soil
sample? * Anyone know how is this typically done in a lab? * I was
wondering if the sample is weighed, burned off, and re-weighed to
calculate a percentage? *I guess compost made from leaves, twigs, peat
moss, grass would be close to 100% "organic matter." *Sand, stones,
clay, perlite, vermiculite, water, nitrogen salts would be "inorganic
matter?" *What I am hearing is that good soil must have greater than
5% organic matter.

Many labs test for this......its just a matter of finding one locally.
The lab Victoria referenced is an excellent one and does go about it
differently, using chemical extraction rather than burning, which is
most common.

However, I tend to agree with Bill on this matter. It is difficult to
overapply organic matter as it continues to breakdown and gets
converted to other, essential elements. It simply doesn't last very
long :-) And few soils tend to have an overabundance anyway, so
routine applications of a compost or organic mulch of your choice or
growing cover crops is generally advised for most home gardens and
especially those that focus on harvested, edible cropping.