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

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

"jo" wrote in message
news:jn3E9.6713$XN5.993183@wards...
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

Hi Jo,
The acidity / alkalinity of your soil has little or nought to do
with whether it is clay or not. I heard recently on a gardening prog that
distilled water is the best to use in order to find out what kind of soil
you have - apparently bottled water and so on can confuse your reading,
because the water you are using to mix up with the soil may be contaminating
your results. If all else fails, ask a neighbour with a nice looking
garden - they'll probably be delighted to share their knowledge (or lack of
it!)
Chris S

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

Clay soils can be alkaline - I used to have alkaline clay in Hove.

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?

You could try looking around nearby gardens and see what they grow. If
there are rhododendrons, lots of heathers, pernettya (which show up
easily at this time of year as bushes with red, white or pink berries)
then you are on acid soil

To see how clayey you are, take a walnut sized piece of soil and roll it
into a ball - if you can do this easily, without it falling apart, then
you have clay. If you are really cleye, you should be able to roll it
into a worm.

Clay is good - if you mix in lots of humus (eg garden compost) you end
up with a very rich fertile soil which doesn't dry out in summer.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

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

jo wrote in message
news:jn3E9.6713$XN5.993183@wards...
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

Hi Jo,
Having filtered water won't normally alter the PH, they are just there to
remove certain impurities that are there and mostly just to remove
particulate.

Distilled or deionised water is the best trick as pointed out in this
thread. You can get the small bottle that are used with steam irons
relatively cheaply or the local garage will have battery top up water. If
you can't be bothered to hunt around for it, just catch the steam from the
spout of your kettle, be careful though. You only need a small amount for
the soil sampling so an upturned cup over the spout to catch the steam and
another one held underneath to catch the condensate would surfice. Not
perfect, but simple and quick.

HTH

Pete

www.avara.co.uk
www.skydat.com

"Nothing is impossible", remember professionals built titanic and amateurs
built the Ark !


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