Spent $180 on a fancy soil testing kit only to get results that told me nothing I didn't already know

I grabbed one of those digital soil testers from a gardening supply website back in March. Paid about $180 for it, thought it would tell me exactly what my raised beds needed for tomatoes and peppers. First test said my pH was fine but the nitrogen was off the charts, second test a week later said nitrogen was low. Now I'm wondering if those cheap $15 chemical test strips are actually more reliable. Has anyone else had this happen with electronic testers or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby4502d ago

My buddy Dave spent like $200 on a digital pH meter for his garden and it told him his soil was super alkaline. He dumped a bunch of sulfur in based on that reading, then a week later the meter said his soil was more acidic than a lemon. Turns out the probe tip was just dirty and he never cleaned it right between uses. He ended up tossing the thing and now swears by the cheap chemical strips from the hardware store, says they at least give you consistent numbers even if they take a bit longer.

alexw752d ago

You mentioned the results changing that fast from one week to the next. That's usually a sign the tester is junk, but it could also be that you didn't clean the probe properly or let the soil settle right. I'd say try mixing your soil sample with distilled water before testing to see if that helps, because tap water can mess with the readings too.