I have not tried this, but here's a link that will give you another link to a simple method using purple cabbage extract! http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg0210391416995.html I don't know how fine the scale is, you can read the method which is the first post at the link in the first post on the thread linked above. The probe type meters may or may not be OK, problem is calibrating them, or if the one you have isn't adjustable, at least knowing the error at whatever pH you're at.

First of all, and no disrespect to OSU's soil lab which I am sure is excellent (you can find them by googling Oklahoma State University Soil, Water and Forage Lab), but if I were having a soil test, I'd use the independent Texas soil lab Jay recently used. They are excellent and give you great recommendations that include natural products you can use to make any needed 'fixes'. Most university-affiliated labs tend to lean towards recommending chemical fixes although I do think that is slowly changing. I've linked that lab below. Secondly, I think everyone should have their soil tested at least once every 5 years or so and that is especially true for less-experienced gardeners or for newly-built beds. Because I already know my soil tends to be incredibly low in naturally-occurring organic matter (it is mostly very dense red clay), and has a high pH, I amend with organic matter for two or three years and then have a soil test done to see what, if anything, is lacking. By that point, the soil is usually in pretty good shape and I only have to make minor adjustments. Once you have been gardening a while, the appearance of certain diseases often will tell you that your soil has either a deficiency or an imbalance, as Dorothy noted above with potato scab. Also, once you've gardened a while, you'll learn how to diagnose some deficiencies either by the appearance/performance of some plants, or by the types of weeds that sprout. (Weeds can give us great clues about what our soil has too much of or lacks.) Once you know your soil that well, you generally can diagnose your soil issues yourself, unless something catastrophic like a wildfire or flood causes major damage to your garden. In that case, you would desperately need a soil test to help you get the garden soil back on track. Some of the most important things a soil test tells you is your soil's pH (those store test kits you buy and use to do your own pH tests give unreliable results), percentage of organic matter and Cation Exchange Capacity. If you have a good pH, good levels of OM and a good CEC, your soil will need only minor tweaking. In fact, in those three factors are in good shape, you likely have pretty balanced soil. If you read Jay's results, you know that even though he had some high N-P-K numbers, he still gets great harvest results. I believe that's because so many of his other indicators are great.....good OM, good internal drainage, good CEC. One of the things about organic matter in soil that is hard to understand at first is that organic matter needs to be added constantly and continually practically forever. Why? Consider all organic matter to be, essentially compost (or humus) even if it is only partially broken-down when you add it. Then, memorize this old gardening maxim: "Heat eats compost." To make it even worse, because we are in a high heat area with months of hot weather, our heat eats compost exceptionally quickly, meaning that the never-ending heat and humidity here cause our organic matter to break down amazingly quickly. You could add 12" (1" or 2" at a time since tillers don't go that deep) of organic matter to a garden and feel like your soil was set for life, but that wouldn't be true because in fewer years than you'd think, that organic matter would become almost completely depleted. So, I add a lot of OM for the first 2 or 3 years of a new bed, and then count on my mulch to break down and feed the soil year-round. I actually am not a big fan of rototilling or plowing very often, preferring to do that type of soil disturbance early in a bed's life, but not forever after. Why? Every time you turn over the soil, you are altering its natural structure and you're introducing air and sunlight/heat into the subsurface soil which makes organic matter break down much more quickly than it otherwise would. A soil test provides you with a 'snapshot' of your soil's makeup and health at any given time. It tells you what you already have, and then the accompanying recommendations tell you how to improve what you have. So, is it useful? Absolutely. But, it is equally proper to manage the soil well after the test so you don't cause your own OM to degrade too quickly. It is great to get good or great soil test results, but you can't just sit back and think your work is done because the soil is at work every day and it always will need some replenishment (though less and less over time). Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Plant and Soil Lab

morpheuspa, I know it has been a long time since I replied to this thread, but I missed the "October 15: Apply 3 pounds of Epsom salt per thousand square feet. Apply 3 pounds of potassium sulfate per thousand square feet." I was going to go ahead and apply it now both the epsom salt and the potassium sulfate, is that ok? If I do apply now, do I still go ahead and apply the 2nd round of salt on May 15 as stated in your guidance? Also, I had asked about if the grass greens up earlier should I apply earlier. It is definitely green now and in full swing...some of the Bermuda never completely went dormant this season because it wasn't that cold here. You said" "Play this one by ear, in other words. If it's green and growing on April Fool's Day, you can back the starter fertilizer to then, drop the second one in May, and return to nitrogen fertilization in June. The actual dates don't matter so much, the amount is all that really matters (and the time between to give some absorption period)." When you said drop the second one in May, do you mean not to do the epsom salt on 5/15, or are you saying to apply starter on 4/1 and then don't put any more fertilizer down until June? If so, can you please let me know why that is because originally you had me doing starter for 5/1, 6/1, and 7/1. thank you!

+1 PSU. It doesn't really matter to me that Milo is down--it might finagle the organic matter a touch, and the iron a tad, but that doesn't matter. Logan doesn't test nitrogen, and any other test with N listed I'd simply ignore. Visual differences between areas of the yard might indicate that you need a separate test, or if you've dug and the soil is noticeably different that would be a good indicator as well. I've split my soil into two sections, but they're simply "lawn" and "garden," since the areas are treated differently and the chemistry diverged years ago.