Hey everyone. I really need to find a PH test that works for my heavy clay soil. We live just within the Missouri Ozarks, and I’ve tried the test strips and a probe, but the strips don’t work because the clay colors them all brown, and the probe only worked one time before I guess our rocky clay soil damaged it. I sent three samples to My Soil with their $35 test kit, and once to our local extension office for $30, but I cannot keep paying those high prices.
The PH from My Soil came back as 6.94 on the Eastern hillside, and 5.28 and 4.94 just 100’ away on the hilltop, where our orchard is (the last two were taken from the same area two different years). The local office tests came back at 5.7 in our garden near our grapevines, which is roughly 75’ from the orchard. Last year, my oldest grapevine died, and a local expert said it was showing signs of potassium definitely, but the local test said the area is very high in it.
At this point, I’m at a total loss. I want to get the PH right for my plants to uptake nutrients properly, but to do that I need to find an inexpensive test that actually works. I especially need it because I also want to grow blueberries.
Sorry for the rant. Any advice on PH tests are welcome.
You’re probably aware that different plants have different pH preferences. It is how they filter nutrient uptake.
There are crops that would be very happy on your hilltop and others that would be pleased with the pH on your eastern hillside.
Unfortunately I’ve yet to find an inexpensive means of frequently testing soil pH. As you’ve found out, the labs have commercial customers and charge $30 to $60 depending on the desired details. Alternately you can buy a professional grade tester + reagents (e.g. Hanna) but it will take 10 or more tests before you start to break even.
Universities run soil tests for whatever you are trying to grow and always include pH. They range from $10-13 for the ones we have used. Highly recommend it.
Yes, I am well aware that different plants need different PH; that’s why the cost is such a problem for me. The Eastern hillside is unfortunately somewhere I cannot grow things. I was planning to put some large nut trees there, but there isn’t enough soil, so they died. I mentioned it to show how much the PH ranges on our property, thus why I need an inexpensive way to test it.
With the probe in moisture setting mode. Push it down until it reads NORMAL (not WET or DRY). Then without moving the probe switch to PH to get your reading. This is the most accurate way to test soil PH with a probe meter.
Ensure your using a probe that is certified and can be sent back the the mfg to be recalibrated.
Be aware, a pH probe needs to be calibrated with three solutions EVERY time you use it or the results are very inaccurate
Then stored back in the buffer
You’ve gotten results of 4.94 to 5.7 in the areas where you can actually plant something. That’s not really a big range. Blueberries will probably do fine on the hilltop. Most trees will do fine at 5.7. Add a bit of limestone for the orchard and a bit of sulfur or other acidifier for the blueberries and you’ll be fine.
Trying to parse it in finer detail than that is probably a waste of time and money.
Thank you. I read that even half a PH is a big deal and can kill plants, but hearing this (and seeing how many people “liked” and therefore probably agree) relieves me greatly. I do have limestone and sulfur, so I’ll do as you suggest and see what happens.
Our soil ph is 7. I just use the rapitest cheapo kit. Give it a couple minutes to settle, it seems to work.
Sounds to me like your problem is more one of micronutrients.
Son turned me on to liquid micro fert really mfg’d for hydroponics, cannot Believe the difference.
Had some trees I thought were possibly diseased, or just rather than expletive, let’s just say, “not good” trees. Turned out it was clorosis. Iron deficiency as they couldn’t absorb iron, despite there being ample iron available. (took me a few yrs to figure it out )
Micro’s zinc, manganese, sulpher and iron, Bob’s your uncle, last yr had more growth than the previous 4. From buds expecting flowers this year. (EC Sask, going to blizzard tonight/tomorrow, couple weeks from flowers).
BTW, I gave up on blueberries. Just can’t get the ph consistently low enough for them. Yes, we produced them but they, “survived”, they didn’t, “thrive”.
That being said, a properly ripe saskatoon is a fine, fine Fine hair off the best bluberry, although they grow like molasses flows.
Best of luck, you’ll get it figured, we’re all just too soon old, too late smart.
Thanks for the info! I plan to do one more soil test for each area, probably next year, specifically looking at nutrients. The MySoil and local extension tests disagreed with each other on nutrients, so I plan to send it in to the extension office; I trust them more than MySoil. I did do a bunch of natural, slow-release fertilizers last year and year before, including chicken bedding from my chickens, so I’m not really focused on nutrients this year.
Unfortunately, I cannot grow saskatoons here, as research says they’re all prone to cedar apple rust, which is crazy out here (it killed a semi-susceptible apple tree in one season). Since our native soil is about right for blueberries, and I know people who are growing blueberries, I decided to go that route. If you still want blueberries, you could try raised beds. I’ve heard many people are successful with that. It sounds like you found a nice alternative, though!
Edited because I forgot to ask a couple things. What kind of soil do you have? Heavy clay, sandy, something else? If you have clay, I may just try the rapitest; it’s certainly cheaper than the other options!
Why couldn’t your trees uptake iron? I thought lack of uptake means a PH or watering issue (too much or too little). Is there another thing that prevents it?
Our soil is black vegetable rich topsoil with heavy yellow clay below. From what I’ve read the lack of iron uptake is just due to ph, but I’m far from an expert as you could possibly get.
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