Soil Test Kits - Why Do You Need Them?

Are your plants not growing as well as you expected? Lawn looking off, shrubs withering, sick vegetables and you have no idea what to do? Proportions of nutrients in your soil can be off balance. Adding wrong fertilizer can make it even worse. Blind guesswork or asking for help on forums won't cut it. You need a Soil Test Kit to diagnose a problem and choose a correct treatment. Once you know what is wrong, it's easy to fix it.

Important soil parameters You should know

• SOIL pH determines if plants are able to absorb nutrients. If it's too low ot too high, plants are starving. Any fertilizer you add is wasted, as nutrients are inaccessible to plants. Test pH to see if that's the problem.
• NITROGEN is essential for the growth of a green parts of the plant, like stems or leaves. Lack of nitrogen makes plants more prone to the diseases and injury. You would think the more, the better. That is not the case though. Too much nitrogen makes plants grow too fast. They are more fragile and weaker, develop less flowers, fruits or seeds.
• PHOSPHORUS allows for quick growth, helps with blooming and development of seeds and roots.
• POTASSIUM stimulates development of roots and tubers. It is particularily important for underground veggies. Too much potassium will slow down plant maturing, make it more sensitive to droughts and frost harm.

When and how to use a soil test kits?

You should test the soil in the fall, at the end of the gardening season. Testing in the spring, before planting, allows you to adjust soil parameters for plants you plan to grow. You can test during season if you observe any problems and suspect that nutrient imbalance is the reason.

Collect a soil sample from a depth of a few inches. Do not touch the soil, use a spoon to gather it. Mix it with some water, transfer some of the solution to the color comparator, add powder from capsule, shake and watch the color develop. Then, note your test results. It's easy and quick!

This soil test kit includes 4 color comparators, 40 test capsules, 10 each for pH, N, P and K, complete instructions for adjusting soil pH, fertilization guidelines and pH preference list for over 450 plants for the home, yard and garden. Get Soil Test Kit now on Amazon and check essential parameters of your soil!