I did ... an Open University course ... soil sedimentation test ... needed no specialist equipment, just some straight-sided glass jars (I used ones from pasta sauce), water, a ruler and the soil types chart. I think I've posted pics on here at some point.
I remember your pics, they were most helpful and timely (at the time). If you could repeat those pics for this thread, that might be helpful. In fact bring them out often.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Not sure it's helpful here because the question was about pH rather than soil texture, but here it is
Organic matter floats, rock particles settle into layers, largest particles (sand) at the bottom, then intermediate (silt), then clay at the top. The thin pale layer (clearest in sample A) is the clay. You measure the depth of each layer, work out the percentages (depth of layer x 100 / total sediment depth if I remember rightly), and use a chart like the one here to determine the soil type.
For anyone who's interested, sample A was from under the grass, probably uncultivated since the house was built in c. 1950 (and maybe not even then), B was from the front garden and C from the back.
Results: A sandy loam (very close to boundary with loamy sand, B sandy loam,
C silt loam (fairly close to boundary with sandy
loam)
In practical terms its just sandy well-drained soil, which I knew anyway just from handling it .
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Talking of new builds, @Liriodendron, there used to be a trick that builders were infamous for. They'd bury all sorts of rubble and other building detritus in the garden, run a bulldozer over it to flatten it, then sprinkle a thin layer of soil over the top to take some turf.
When I bought my house (built in 2001), the previous owners had decked and block paved the garden. I took it out to turf it over and came across all kinds of crap when I dug it over. Not just rubble, but broken bottles and even the front half of a kiddie's trike. When I was a kid, my dad dug over the back garden of our Victorian terrace and found all sorts of interesting trinkets. I guess they had a better class of junk back then.
Another question that all these very comprehensive answers throw up is ... just how accurate are shop-bought pH meters anyway ? Most that I've seen, going back over a few years, look very much to be of the 'cheap-and-cheerful, made-in-the-Far-East that you don't dare drop from more than a couple of inches in case they break' kind of devices.
Any recommendations for reliable makes that can don't need calibrating and are accurate ? Or are the test kits better, and if so, why ?
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
When I bought my house (built in 2001), the previous owners had decked and block paved the garden. I took it out to turf it over and came across all kinds of crap when I dug it over. Not just rubble, but broken bottles and even the front half of a kiddie's trike. When I was a kid, my dad dug over the back garden of our Victorian terrace and found all sorts of interesting trinkets. I guess they had a better class of junk back then.
Part of my garden used to be an old boat yard so we are forever digging up bits of old iron nails, chains and such. The soil was still PH neutral to slightly acidic when last tested but no real difference to the rest of the garden.
Another question that all these very comprehensive answers throw up is ... just how accurate are shop-bought pH meters anyway ? Most that I've seen, going back over a few years, look very much to be of the 'cheap-and-cheerful, made-in-the-Far-East that you don't dare drop from more than a couple of inches in case they break' kind of devices.
Any recommendations for reliable makes that can don't need calibrating and are accurate ? Or are the test kits better, and if so, why ?
I don't think you need lab levels of accuracy for gardening.
If your tap water is hard/alkaline (or acidic but I think that's quite unusual), you'd also need some pH-neutral distilled water or deionised water but it's fairly cheap from a supermarket (try laundry aisle or car bits & bobs section) or car place (Halfords and similar). Or if you have a dehumidifier, the water that it collects will do the job.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Good ideqa, @seacrows . It's not like the ground is likely to be polluted with battery acid on the one hand or caustic soda on the other so 'Ye Olde Red Cabbage' method should be sufficient.
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
Different indicators have a change-colour point at different pHs. Hence mixtures for Universal Indicators.
Litmus is made from lichens and changes at pH 7.0. I don't know at what pH red cabbage changes. Nor black currants, strawberries or the like. But mabe good enough for testing for ericaceous soil.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Litmus is made from lichens and changes at pH 7.0. I don't know at what pH red cabbage changes. Nor black currants, strawberries or the like. But mabe good enough for testing for ericaceous soil.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."