Savvy Gardeners Agree That These Top-Rated Soil Test Kits Are Worth Buying

If you're looking for a soil test kit, no doubt you'll want one that's highly rated by savvy gardeners who have used the kit and found it accurate and helpful. After all, testing the health of your soil is an important prelude to prepping it for successful planting. Before we take a look at the top-rated test kits that are recommended by gardeners, it's important to note that these kits can either have a limited function, such as just testing the pH, or multiple functions such as checking both the pH and the level of nutrients in the soil.

To help you select the best top-rated soil test kits, we did some digging to find out which ones were most recommended and offered somewhat accurate results. Although most university studies found that the outcomes weren't always as accurate as laboratory tests, these kits are a good starting point to help you understand your soil better. According to an analysis conducted by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, the most precise kits were the LaMotte Soil Test Kit and the Rapitest kit from Luster Leaf, although these do vary greatly in price. Both kits test for pH and the major nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, giving you at-home results without having to send the samples to a laboratory. However, if you just want to test your soil's pH, because you understand why soil acidity matters, a simple digital meter would be sufficient.

The Lamotte soil test kit is very comprehensive and allows you to conduct 30 pH tests and 15 tests each for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It offers rapid results and includes a comprehensive manual and handbook to help you interpret them. Once you have the kit at home, you can purchase additional solutions if you need to do more tests down the track. The University of California study concluded that the findings were 86% accurate when compared to laboratory testing.

As a less expensive option, the Rapitest kit also produced accurate results (92% compared to laboratory testing) although pH could only be measured correctly if below 7.5. With this kit, you can conduct a total of 20 tests, five each for pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. For home gardeners, this is a good starter kit as it includes detailed instructions and is easy to use. A more advanced version is the Rapitest Digital kit which provides a digital reading rather than relying on color matching. As another option, the MySoil test kit also received positive feedback from gardeners but with this one, your sample needs to be sent to a laboratory to get detailed analysis and recommendations for soil amendments. This type of testing, although not immediate, should give you the most complete results. Finally, don't forget that your local extension service can help you grow a gorgeous garden by offering soil testing, either free or for a small fee.