Luster Leaf 1602 Soil Kit, 20 Tests

I read the instructions, got a soil sample and made 'soil tea's. Tested the next day and easily saw that my soil needed some attention. It is helpful to know what to add to my soil to help veggie production.

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We used this on our garden after a number of fruit trees died inexplicably. I also used it to test wood ash that I have in large quantities from a biomass boiler. Results seem a little unconvincing. Apparently my Potash contains no Potash and the PH balance turned blue despite blue not being an option. Bizarre. I think it pays to take a lot of samples and follow the instructions to the letter. Putting the capsule contents into the test chambers is really difficult. It requires the patience of a saint and a steady hand. You will spill it. Everybody spills it. The test preparation conditions are stringent ("You cannot touch the soil!" "Mix soil with water for an hour or 24 hours depending upon soil type!") It's rocket science and you get the feeling you have probably done it wrong so you have no faith in the result. However as a rough rule of thumb it should give you a reasonable ready-reckoner. Better than nothing. There must be a way of making these tests easier and giving the user more confidence in the result.

I was very keen on using this test to test my soil here in Australia.Unfortunately only the K one triggered a result. Tried it twice (once with really cloudy and once with less cloudy water.)I find it hard to believe that my luscious well maintained and well fertilised lawn is completely devoid of N+P.

This is my first time using a product like this. I have a small garden and it wasn't producing as much as it did in the past so I thought I would see if the soil needed additives, also called amendments. This test was somewhat easy after I got the hang of it, you have to really read the instructions as one test is slightly different than the other tests. The 20 tests turns out to be really just 5, you use all 4 testing units, which requires one of each of the capsules mixed with water and soil. I don't know why you would just test for 1 of the 4 components, common sense says you test for all 4 each time you test. All in all an easy test once you get the hang of it. I found that getting the small capsules open was a problem until I took a small sharp knife, (I used an X-Acto) to just cut the outer shell so it would open easier and I opened it over a piece of paper in case I spilled any. As with any test that uses color as the basis of degrees of component, you have to interpret the colors on the plastic tester. I would up holding mine up to a window that had good north light so it wasn't too bright and did my best to interpret the results. This was far cheaper than buying a professional test and sending it away, but I don't know if the results were better or worse. Time will tell as I amended my soils and planted some herbs. You need to know what you're going to plant in an area to make this work as different types of plants require different types of soils. I deducted 1 star for 2 reasons, first it seemed like there would be 20 different tests when instead it is a 4 part test you run so there are really only 5. And the instructions are not the easiest to follow in the beginning. Whether this is better than a professional test I don't know.