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Back to Reading the soil test

Aggregation

Crumbs are soil structure. Fertiliser will not pinch them into being overnight.

Speed
  1. Crumbs are soil structure.
  2. Fertiliser will not pinch them into being overnight.
  3. Good soil holds and breaks, with pores inside.
  4. Broken structure is flour when dry, soup when wet.

How it appears on the sheet

Good soil holds and breaks, with pores inside. Broken structure is flour when dry, soup when wet.

A sketch. Do not fertilise from the picture alone.

Common units

Usually a description or stability class.

How to read the number

Good soil holds and breaks, with pores inside. Broken structure is flour when dry, soup when wet. Organic matter, roots and hyphae are the glue.

Compaction is crumbs smashed then smeared. Texture did not change; the road closed. Crumbs are soil structure. Fertiliser will not pinch them into being overnight.

Thresholds only, not a prescription. Rates live in the field guide. This page does not hand you a bag count.

What it looks like in the field

Good soil holds and breaks, with pores inside. Broken structure is flour when dry, soup when wet.

Don’t do this

  • Bare soil in the rain, then rotavating it to flour.
  • Treating soup-when-wet as hunger.
  • Compaction is crumbs smashed then smeared. Texture did not change; the road closed.

Lesson video