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yes i think so. but soil should be somewhat moist and make sure you don't probe a rock.
also it's good to probe in quite a few places to get more of the overall average or mean.
Sarahn, I have been considering a ph meter. Could you post your source and ball park cost. I am in the Texas Hill Country and have very alkaline soil that needs to be amended.
The Rapitest Meter may not be all that accurate. I'm really sorry for saying that but for $15 it just can't be relied upon and to top things off, readings can vary from Rapitest meter to Rapitest meter. You can get some pretty wild fluctuations and there are people out there who have used their Rapitest meters to test lemon juice, baking soda, and water and gotten the same readings. Unfortunately, this is one of those times where I believe if you need to really know the pH of your soil for ammendments, I think you've got to move into a better meter...either that or use litmus strips.
I've used several scientific meters of assorted brands that had a high degree of accuracy but they required repeated callibration which is a pain in the rear. Fortunately, they weren't my meters but meters I was provided to use. The price range of these meters was well over $500 a piece. I've found them to be a waste of money. I don't use those meters personally. I use a BlueLab Truncheon pH Meter that was less than 1/4th the price of the others.
[HYPERLINK@www.getbluelab.com]
My friends borrow it all the time and everybody loves it because it's got a one touch callibration.
My experience with soil pH meters is also that the inexpensive ones aren't reliable.
You could send your soil out for testing. There is a lab at Cornell University that has the forms and directions online for you to print out, and then you send them your soil sample. They will do pH as well as various nutrients if you want.
Thanks NHBabs. I've read that state university ext. services do it too. The plants I'm selecting aren't fussy, but I still would like to know before I go to the trouble. EQ are the litmus strips easy to purchase, if so, where, garden center, big box DIY stores? I'm checking out BlueLab. Thanks for the link.
I agree with NHBabs about Cornell's lab. They do a great job and I've used them for other testing services and have always been pleased.
My BlueLab truncheon meter was about $180 plus shipping and handling when I bought it over a year ago but they've come down considerably in price since then. I think when I went online for you to see if they were still out there, I found a few in the $130 range. I was not happy to see the current prices that low ;( For what you described, I'd think the Litmus strips for pH would be the most economical. You can probably get around 100 of them online for around $10. If you find yourself becoming increasingly dependent on pH results, then go ahead and invest in an instrument. Seriously, if the plants you're working with aren't that fussy... start with the strips first. Don't know if they're available at Big Box stores because I always bought mine from online science supply houses. Who knows, those have probably come down in price too.
I got a cheap one, can't think them accurate. According to my probe my soil is PH 5.0 one one spot, 7.0 a 1/2" away, and 9.0 about 2" from there. I can't think PH can fluctuate that much in such short space. I ended up getting a liquid test kit, and my PH was 6.7, New England is known for being acid and I spread a little wood ash on my property the liquid kit made far more sense.
