Luster Leaf1612 Rapitest pH Soil Tester

I bought this to test the pH of my blueberry soil that I have in half wine barrels. I used 1/3 pine bark mulch, 1/3 sphagnum peat moss, and 1/3 organic potting soil. I mixed it all up well and checked the pH a few weeks later. This quick little kit gave me indication I was at around a 6. I wanted to drop it a bit further so I added some organic acid fertilizer, waited close to 2 months and rechecked. My soil is now around 4.5 to 5. The blueberry bushes love it and they are green (not red and yellow now), growing fast, and have tons of flowers!+ Water Dropper Included+ Simple Instructions+ No Mess+ Consistent Results+ Takes about 2-3 minutes to take a sample and get a reading+ Small Booklet providing details of many different plants, vegetables, and flowers and the soil pH they grow best in_Bottom Line_ Yes, I would recommend this pH kit over other products, such as a soil probe. In my experience this is the fastest, most consistent, easiest way to get an accurate idea of what the pH is. This kit really helped me get my blueberry bushes up and going and I will continue to use the test kit to monitor my soil pH.

This does a decent job of testing acidity levels. I have compared it to actual soil tests and is fairly close in results. I use it every other year, as an actual soil test gives you more information and recommendations.

I had never tested my own soil before and had wanted to, but the tests seemed so complicated and hard to use. After looking through the soil testers on Amazon I thought I would take the plunge and do my own testing. Well, it was a lot easier than I thought and the results are easy to read and are accurate.My neighbor has a larger, more expensive kit and he did a test right after I did mine and they were pretty close to each other with the results. I could not be happier with the kit and I found out exactly what I needed for my garden. The best part of the Luster Leaf kit is the price. So inexpensive and such a great result!

I had heard that the clay soil would probably be alkaline and sure enough it was. Since a few people said the kit didn't work next I put soil acidifier in the tester and sure enough had an acid reading. So that gave me the confidence to know that the results I was reading would change based on the ph level as they should.Therefore I speculate that the people having trouble reading the results aren't letting the soil settle to the bottom that can take a few minutes. The results are not difficult to read to anyone not color blind.Second, that anyone getting the same results in soils they suspect should be different are probably using alkaline tap water instead of distilled. The PH level of the water will affect the results and it only costs 50 cents to test the water.So if you're reading the reviews and wondering if this works....it does. Just follow the directions and to increase confidence in the findings use distilled water or test your tap water. If the water is neutral you are good to go.

I tried following the instructions - put soil in the tube to the first line, add the indicator powder, fill to the second line with water, put the cover on and shake, then read the color - but it was too muddy to compare the color to the chart (there's a lot of clay in the soil in my area). So I modified the instructions: I measured the lines on the tube to get the proportions of soil to water, marked a clean clear glass jar with two lines in the same proportions (e.g., 3/16" on the tube = 3/4" on the jar, etc.), then put dirt in the jar to the first line on the jar, water to the second line, shook it thoroughly and let it settle for an hour or so. Then I decanted some of the now-clearer water above the settled dirt and filled the kit tube to the second line, added the indicator powder, put on the cap and shook to dissolve the powder, and found it was easier to read the color. I reasoned that the acid and base components of the soil would be water soluble and stay in the leachate above the soil in the jar, giving an accurate pH color reading without the mud interfering with the indicator color, but I'm not a soil chemist, so take all this with that in mind.

Kit includes10 separate PH test capsules; purchase this and can perform 10 separate tests.Easy to use nice little vial to place in sample soil, PH capsule contents, and water. shake around and wait a bit. Hold up to sunlight but not direct sun (important).PH tests are inherently somewhat difficult to interpret. Is it this shade or is it the next over shade. This kit cant fix that. But this kit is easy to use and reliable if instructions are properly followed, especially the light source.

Been using these to test my soil in my berry patch and around blueberry bush. Now I know why my BB were not growing. Not acidic enough. Mystery solved

To properly use this kit, you must open a tiny plastic capsule (about 1/8" by 1")and dump the chemical contents into the testing device. Problem is that the plastic capsules are EXTREMELY difficult to open--and if you do succeed--it is equally difficult to actually dump the chemical into the 1/4" square opening of the testing device.I found that the capsules will not open when pulled apart, nor when twisted, and if you should succeed (with great force) they will likely spill their contents anywhere except the tiny receptacle they are intended to enter. If you don't get the entire chemical into the test device, your results will--of course--be inaccurate.Plus, the testing device is a narrow plastic receptacle likely to fall over (and dump its contents) unless you have found a way to brace it in the vertical position. (I used a box of matches, but that doesn't solve the other problems.)How incompetent could the product designers be? Buy this kit and you'll find out.