Soil type can be done with a glass jar. Take some samples from different parts of the garden and put them in the jar with an inch of water over the top. Let everything settle for a few days, then you can clearly see the 3 soil types and which one you have the most of.

These simple soil tests can supply the information you want.
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains� too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Thanks for posting. Great question and good responses. Will need to do some testing myself real quick-like while it isn't raining.

Rain (who hopes the scent of her soil does not offend)

Thanks never heard the Clear jar or worm rules of thumb before. I know most of my soil is terrible where I have grass, hardly any worms, lots of clay.
My garden an planters are getting good with all compost I have sued over the last five years.
Thats why I am up to five composter's and working on ideas for a sixth.

These simple soil tests can supply the information you want.
1) Structure. TEXTURE From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

One of these days, kimmsr will finally admit he's wrong and start using correct SOIL SCIENCE terminology.

Thanks everyone for your great, helpful responses!

The person from whom I originally got the simple tests above, a pHD in soil science, put that first test descriptor that way and several soil scientists I have talked with since about that say there is nothing wrong with that useage.

Why don't you invite this "person" onto GW so we can get to the bottom of this issue. Seems like there may be a discrepancy.

Whilst you're at it, would you please post a link to the;

"Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy."

claim, I'd really like to read that.

Lloyd

The person from whom I originally got the simple tests above, a pHD in soil science, put that first test descriptor that way and several soil scientists I have talked with since about that say there is nothing wrong with that useage.

Who to believe? Some random guy on the internet referencing other anonymous PhD's, or the NRCS itself?

Here is a link that might be useful: See TEXTURAL triangle

Why is it so hard to change your cutnpaste document and use the SCIENTIFICALLY CORRECT terminology, the on all soil scientists use?

kimmsr,

I'm sorry about those attacking you for using a word,supposedly incorrectly. Frankly, I don't care if it's TEXTURE or STRUCTURE. This isn't a scientific publication. It's an online gardening forum. I don't think we have to use the exact writing conventions proscribed by "science." Thank you for helping me, and actually posting something helpful while others post useless attack material.

Yeah, other than incorrect terminology and the fact that organic matter component is not a part of texture, what's the problem?

Piedmontnc, back off. This is a home made, 50 cent test. It is NOT meant to be compared to a test you would get from the extension, or any soil lab. It's for knowing the general make up of your soil, or structure.

Anyway, you aren't helping anybody by attacking kimmsr for using a different word, which he didn't even write in the first place. It was a copy/paste, so if you're really that upset about it, talk to the original source. Nobody likes bullies. Especially the internet variety.

Piedmontnc, back off. This is a home made, 50 cent test. It is NOT meant to be compared to a test you would get from the extension, or any soil lab. It's for knowing the general make up of your soil, or structure.

Structure isn't determined by that test. I wasn't debating the rigor of the test either.

Anyway, you aren't helping anybody by attacking kimmsr for using a different word,

Uh huh, words have meaning for reasons. Perhaps I'll head over to the organic forum and talk about how Miracle-Gro is organic because the nitrogen in it is natural.

It was a copy/paste,

Which he's refused to change for over a year now, despite having links provided to him by the official source for soil science in this country.

Nobody likes bullies. Especially the internet variety.

Cry me a river.

Tell ya what homer, if you are so interested, show us a reputable link that supports what kimmsr is saying. If piedmontnc and several others are wrong, then prove it. Until then, the onus is on kimmsr to post correct information when the errors are pointed out. I have seen this "test" posted hundreds of times and numerous people have pointed out his errors, yet he continues to post the incorrect terminology.

I have also seen so many completely wrong "facts" (no rubber in tires, compost piles freeze because they are too wet, it is safe to run a lawnmower up on blocks to shred leaves, definition of top soil is the top 4 inches, Theory of Relativity, etc etc.) spouted by Mr. Millar I now check almost everything he states (if I am the least bit interested). I will admit he is correct more often than when he is wrong, but when he's wrong, and it's pointed out to him that he is wrong, he ought to adjust his hymn a bit. Otherwise he just looks dotty.

And as a conclusion, I do not understand people who apparently don't seem to care if correct information is presented. Are they happy with incorrect information?
Lloyd

I have been providing that soil test list for many years now, not just one or two, and no one has had a problem with it until the past year or two. The professor of soil science that originally provided those tests, back in the 1980's, has gone on to the great garden somewhere else, but several other soil scientist have stated the useage is not altogether improper. I have no need to "prove" anything. If the two critics above do not like what I write they are free to disregard it, but i do provide it for those that wish to use it.
Are those tests wrong because maybe someone thinks a word is used improperly?

Are those tests wrong because maybe someone thinks a word is used improperly?

Yes, because it neither tests structure, nor is organic matter component a part of texture classification. And it's not "maybe someone thinks", it IS used improperly. Why is it so hard to change when you've been shown you are wrong? I'm not saying it's not a helpful test,just change the word to the one that the soil science community uses. IS IT THAT HARD?

lol, kimmsr, you are so full of it your eyes are turning brown. Would you like me to post the threads where I have pointed out to you your incorrect information (complete with links to the actual USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service? I have one back to Feb of 2008.

Remember the "digging oneself out of a hole" advice I gave you? You might wanna follow that advice anytime now.

Lloyd

If the last two posters think they are being helpful to anyone, they are mistaken. A person asked a simple question, received a simple answer. You two want to have some kind of talk board war over a word. This is a forum about organic composting, not a political forum. Get a grip on yourselves.

WADR buford, attempting to correct misinformation is helpful to some people. Perhaps not all, but some do appreciate being given correct information. Clearly, some do not care if the information they get is wrong, I suppose that is totally up to them.

And just how are you "being helpful"? Are you able to refute any of the corrections brought up? If so, please post the links, I know I'd like to read them.

Lloyd

P.S. This is actually the Soil, Compost & Mulch forum, there is no "organic composting" forum. If you meant Organic Gardening, that is over here. I have no clue where you got politics from but nice try anyways.

A person asked a simple question, received a simple answer.

And if that simple answer cannot get the terminology correct, how useful is the rest? How is the uninformed questioner supposed to judge whether it's good information or not?

piedmontnc and pt03,

Even though I am quite sure this post will have no effect on you whatsoever, other than to perhaps provoke yet more attacks, I nonetheless will try.

If I were studying to become a soil scientist, and thus needed to know correct terminology, I would find your information helpful, but nevertheless I am only trying to become a better gardener by testing my soil. If kimmsr's information is incorrect, why don't you post your own answers to my question? Your attacks are not germane to this discussion, and therefore I would appreciate it if you would take them somewhere else other than my thread.

Thank you

..
Umm. Based on the way I use the words texture and structure, that test tells me neither. The test seems to reveal to me soil (dirt?) composition as alluded to in piedmontnc's link, slide 5, where it talks of the 'component definition' of soil.

I can certainly concur with the usage of structure in the link but I don't get texture. Actually I could just as easily call what they refer to as structure, texture.

In my weak mind, I think of the two as cause and effect where a particular structure may result in a certain texture. A further nuance in my mind is texture is more of a surface quality while structure explains how the components fit together internally to determine certain properties.

So, in the context of soil science, what is the difference between structure and texture and what difference does it make in the context of the handy dandy test Kimmsr has been sharing?

I nominate calling it a down and dirty composition test and then calling it a day.

to sense
..

Here is a link that might be useful: piedmontnc's link

The terminology, Texture vs Structure, is fairly irrelevant in this discussion. Again, you are just being petty and vindictive. And not adding to the discussion. Frankly, it's people like you that ruin forums such as this. And that's my contribution.

..
Actually, I like words and I'd like to know. Sometime nuances are telling and maybe the nuances don't really make any difference in the context of the test being discussed but knowing the differences might inform me in some other way.

I've accused no one of anything. I'm asking questions.

Get away from me buford, ya bother me.

to sense
..

Soil texture has to do with the relative size of the constituent parts of your soil, how it feels. Soil structure has to do with how your soil is put together, what it is made of. So that simple soil test could be a test for soil structure or soil texture, but in the end does it really matter what it is called if it helps someone see how much organic matter (what the testor is looking for and all that really matters) is in the soil?
No one doing that test is going to be all that concerned about the structure or texture of the soil, just how much organic matter is in the soil which is what that test is meant to show.
Does whether that test shoe structure or texture really warrent all of the time, energy, and space it has engenderd? Not to me, although if those two desire to continue wasting their time and energy that is fine, others probably shouldn't.

Or you could just replace the word in the text document you always cutnpaste from, or relabel it as an OM test. And the closest you get to testing for structure in your 5 items list is the tilth test, the jar test would destroy any structure.

If kimmsr's information is incorrect, why don't you post your own answers to my question?

There's good visuals on soil structure, the last page has the field test I use every day for determining soil texture at work.

Also, to do the jar test correctly you need a deflocculating agent or else a good amount of clay will settle out with the silt size particles skewing the test.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Primer

"Also, to do the jar test correctly you need a deflocculating agent ".

Somewhere I was lead on to use a surfactant. What (if any) readily available deflocculating agent could one find in the home as I have clay-a-plenty?

tj
(who appreciates correct terminology)

Calgon, laundry/dish detergent, and salt have all been recommended for the home test version. Since the removal of phosphates from detergents, we generally don't have access to the compounds used in the lab. If you have some older dishwashing detergent lying around you might still have one with phosphates as they were recently removed from those products.