# Soil ph test kit recommendations



## scooterism (6/9/16)

As per the title..

Cheers..


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## TwoCrows (6/9/16)

The kit I have is Manutec soil pH test kit. I use it for general garden pH, but mostly on my lawn.
Bunning's has them and they are selling for about $17.00

You tube linky thingy


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## MHB (6/9/16)

Are you planning to use this for gardening or brewing?
Mark


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## scooterism (6/9/16)

Sorry for my short post, the wife was summoning me to the dining room.

I looking into kits to test the soil for my hops plant.


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## MHB (6/9/16)

Good call, they do that job well.
Mark


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## good4whatAlesU (10/9/16)

Manutec is good. Alternatively you could use a digital ph meter in a 1:5 soil:water slurry. Make sure to calibrate (and or sterilise) the equipment before and after.


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## good4whatAlesU (10/9/16)

http://m.ebay.com/itm/172204174971?_mwBanner=1

Digital example.


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## wide eyed and legless (10/9/16)

Good to see someone is taking the time to consider taking the pH of their soil for hop growing, if you do go the way of the digital pH meter make sure to use distilled water to mix with the soil to be tested.


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## abyss (10/9/16)

wide eyed and legless said:


> Good to see someone is taking the time to consider taking the pH of their soil for hop growing, if you do go the way of the digital pH meter make sure to use distilled water to mix with the soil to be tested.


So rain water is not suitable? 
Or would boiled rain water be ok?


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## good4whatAlesU (10/9/16)

Rain water can sometimes be acidic. 
If you're not located near industry you should be okay. Calibrate your meter (with the solutions provided) and test the rainwater first, if it's neutral go for it.


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## MHB (10/9/16)

Rain water will always be a bit acidic just from dissolved CO2 (~5.6pH), so will distilled water if it's exposed to air for any length of time.
Use the buffer solutions to calibrate, you probably should use them every time you use the meter.
Mark


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## wide eyed and legless (10/9/16)

Rain water is acidic, around 5.6 pH, like us a plant can adjust its own pH but in the plants case, only very slightly just get a litre bottle of distilled water, I think Bunnings may sell them.


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## good4whatAlesU (10/9/16)

Having said that, it's rain falling on your plants not distilled water. So a 1:5 soil / rain slurry is not far off what's actually happening in the ground. It's only that all the literature and ameliorant rate applications will be advised on the standard laboratory derived pH values (with distilled water).
At the end of the day if your soil is a bit on the acidic side, build organic matter to increase buffer capacity and / or add some dolomite / lime.


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## Lyrebird_Cycles (10/9/16)

The buffering capacity of rain water is 3/10ths of **** all, so the pH is immaterial in real world applications.

Edit: As G4WAU said, rainwater is what the plants will actually see so it might as well be what you use for the test.


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## Danscraftbeer (10/9/16)

Yeah I.ve got the manutec soil tester too. As with everything. Test it under different techniques too. The powder puff way on wet soil is crappy in my opinion.
Mix various soil samples taken from shallow to deep of that area mixed with a little water (hopefully rain water that's neutral at pH 7). Then you can either drop some on the white area of the colour sheet to compare with the colour chart. Or mix in a clear vessel like as small as a shot glass and hold it up to get the color. The white powder you can mix into it as well if it helps.


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## wide eyed and legless (13/9/16)

That's a big hope Danscraftbeer for the pH of rainwater to be neutral,  mine is 5.6 and when using it for hydro the nutrients take it down to between 4.7 to 4.9 I raise my water to 7 then the nutrients will bring it down to just about the right level. 
As for using rainwater to test the pH of soil the result of the test would not give a true reading of the pH of the soil, rainwater will not alter the pH of soil unless the rainfall is of a significant amount.A happy hop is a healthy hop.
For the original poster.
https://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/HopFertilityManagementNE.pdf


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## good4whatAlesU (13/9/16)

Lol. All getting far too technical.

Use a colour indicator (Manutec/raupauch) a 1:5 soil slurry /digital meter and figure out where your at. Sample at 10cm increment depths. 

If your between 5.5 and 7.0 good to go. Below 5.0 add some lime / calciprill/ dolomite as per label instructions. If your above 7.5 look at a sulphur based product.

Try and encourage good soil structure, organic matter, free drainage. Whack on some blood and bone/ Charlie carp or whatever (NPK and trace elements) when it's growing season. Keep the weeds at bay.
If the soil is water repellent use a wetting agent to allow the rain/irrigation to infiltrate.


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## scooterism (8/10/16)

I bought the manutec kit from bunnings, measured 6.5

so happy.

tested garden, 8.5.

not so happy.


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