Soil Nutrient and pH Testing

Used in

• Chapter 5 Making Ground

The rows that check it

• 4 confirmed
• 1 amended
• 1 unresolved
• 2 marked for safety

• G1 confirmed Safety Sanitation rule: 55 °C held three consecutive days in an aerated static pile, or fifteen days with at least five turnings in a windrow
• G5 amended Safety Immature compost carries ammonia, acetic, propionic and butyric acid and kills seedlings; cress germination index 60 % usable, 80 % clean; phytotoxicity gone by day 56 with …
• G40 unresolved Fizz tests: vinegar on a rainwater paste fizzes above about pH 7.5 (free carbonate); bicarbonate fizzes well below 6; tap water gives false readings
• G41 confirmed Red cabbage anthocyanin: red at pH 1 to 3, purple to violet 4 to 7, blue to blue-green 8 to 11, yellow above 11; extract by boiling; calibrate against buffers; poor resolution …
• G43 confirmed Heinz Ellenberg, Göttingen, indicator values 1974 (R 1 to 9 for reaction, N for nitrogen); sand acid indicators sheep's sorrel, corn spurrey, heather, silver grass (Corynephorus …
• G44 confirmed Deficiency signs: N yellowing from the oldest leaves, P purple and stunting, K scorched margins on mature leaves; potash on sand leaches and >90 % of soil K is locked in feldspar, …

In the Index

Soil and compost The field and the rotation The kitchen garden Nutrition and the year's food