Amazon.com : Luster Leaf Rapitest Soil Tester 1609CS : Soil Test Kit : Garden & Outdoor

Item Dimensions	0.5 x 3.9 x 6.3 inches
Item Weight	0.02 pounds
Manufacturer Part Number	1609CS
Model Number	1609CS
Shipping Weight	0.05 pounds

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April 5, 2014

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

I am a new gardener and wanted to make sure I started out with healthy soil. It comes with basic instructions that are easy to follow and gives quick results that are easy to read. As I had suspected, my soil is very low in everything (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash). Based on the results, I could identify what needed to be done to my garden before planting in spring. You will need distilled water for the pH testing, only about 3ml. I made my own distilled water on the stove top, but you may want to purchase some and have it ready. One tip, I would test in the fall so you have time to amend your soil (most changes to your soil are recommended to be done in the fall so they have time to work before spring). Also, I added a few photos of the pamphlet that talks about how to perform the tests and what to do with the results.

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L. St. Christopher

Pretty colors!

May 23, 2016

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

This product is easy to use and worked as described. I would recommend going to the website to read the directions before purchase. That way you can get your soil results the same day. For the npk results you need to mix soil with water and let settle. The pH results were easier to take. You also need soil from 4 inches down. My soil needed nitrogen so bad!

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Niko

Seems to be very reliable testing.

December 15, 2013

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

Seems to be very reliable testing. My lawn was turning yellow, so I've used the test to figure out what was going on. Instead of lack of nitrogen, which is very common, I found out that the soil was too alkaline. In fact, the soil was saturated with nitrogen, so I could have killed the grass if I fertilized them.

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Kristin K.Top Contributor: Gardening

Good test kits

March 13, 2017

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

I cannot speak for how accurate these tests are (nothing to compare them to) but they are very simple to use and easy to read the results. I like that this pack offers multiple tests of each, so I can make my necessary soil amendments and then re-test to make sure the levels have improved...
now with that being said - anyone have any recommendations on how to make my highly acidic soil more alkaline, after I've already planted some seeds for the season? I can't be in there tilling lime in!

Thanks!

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Thomas W. Thorpe

Gets the job done as a good price

December 10, 2016

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

Worked well. Some claimed the results were inconclusive but let the sediment settle and the colors tell the story. In my case I had a part of the garden that would not grow much at all. The test showed it lacked nitrogen and so with an application of urea it looks like I will be back in business in the spring.

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Katie L Jensen

Easy to use

May 10, 2016

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

Easy to use. Now I know that my garden is deficient in just about everything! Maybe that's why it didn't do so well last year. My reason for not giving it 5 stars is that the fertilizers they recommend adding to the soil are extremely hard to find. In fact, I read that you would likely need to order them specially from the manufacturer and that is likely going to be in bulk. Therefore, it was difficult (like, hours of research) to figure out what and how much of fertilizers available at stores near me that I need to make up for the deficiencies in my soil.

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timwoo

Seems to have worked

June 1, 2016

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

Seems to work good. We just moved to a new house. When we looked at the house with the realtor, the yard looked great. But after only 30 days, we returned for our final pre-closing walk through and about 1/3 of the front yard was dead. The remainder was yellowing. After moving in, my new next-door neighbor came over to introduce himself and said don't bother trying to save the grass, it doesn't grow here. He said that the seller re-sodded just before selling, and he had sodded his yard 3 times without success. He said he thought that the trees in our yards were responsible for killing the grass.

I bought this kit to check the soil. It took a long time for my soil to settle after mixing it with the water per the instructions, but after it settled, it seems to have given me good results. It said that my soil was deficient in Potassium, and extremely deficient in Nitrogen (off the scale low). I have been putting down a 29-0-10 fertilizer every other month, and after only two applications, I have gotten compliments on how nice my grass is growing! After 7 months of living there, the yard is now nice and green, and the 1/3rd of it that was dead when we moved in has almost filled in (there are still a few small spots where you can see soil peeking through). So far, I am very happy with the results!

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Po345

Hard to use. Did not get concrete results

September 27, 2016

Size: 1PackVerified Purchase

This test system turned out to be more complicated than I expected and 2 of the tests just didn't produce a color that I could match to the table. The capsules with the powder you're to mix the soil and water with were impossible to open per the instructions. 3 of the tests required me to wait a day because I have clay soil. The recommendations could have language that the average person can understand, like, "if you get this color, buy a product with this amount of this ingredient". Instead, it's written for a chemist.

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