Why is soil testing essential?

We do this to eliminate the risk of deficiencies or excesses in macronutrients and micronutrients. Which can easily happen if you are blindly amending for many cycles without testing.

Everyone’s style of growing is different. Although we like to think we are all doing the same thing, the living soil method is a minefield of information and techniques. Some people grow cover crops, some don’t. Some grow with LED’s, some don’t. Some use soft water, some use hard water. Different cultivars of plants take up different amounts of macro and micro nutrients meaning that everyone’s soil will be minerally different after each cycle. No grow room is the same. 

So this blind approach to re-amending soil is outdated and unsustainable. If you want your living soil system to keep going for years to come, it’s so important that soil tests are done to escape the disappointment of slow growth, weak plants and an unproductive garden. 

Many people when they get to this point, they start to blame the potting mix or even throwing way more dry amendments onto their soil than needed to try to make up for the ‘low level of fertility’. When all that’s needed is a soil test and analysis from a soil expert. You will then be able to formulate your own dry amendment mix tailored to your soil, keeping your soil mineraly balanced and happy. 

We have been testing soils since 2018, developing our own Eco-life organic living soil. Now with the knowledge and experience at analysing under our belt, we are ready to offer the service to anyone growing with living soil. All of our samples are sent to a lab in the US where the most accurate soil testing in the world is done due to its huge agricultural heritage.  

We would also advise to get your water source tested, you may know if it’s hard or soft water but it’s a little more complex than hard or soft, giving your plants a good source of water is important when growing with living soil. If you do not fancy sending samples of yourself there should be tests online by your local water supplier, most providers give a good report of the water every year or two. 

If you would like to know more about such services or would like a soil analysis service, please contact us at info@ecothrive.co.uk or call 01142 580 408