Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest® Soil Test Kit

I used this kit to test my vegetable garden soil. I always have problems with my garden, and someone suggested I should test my soil. I have never done this and I'm not knowledgeable about soil nutrients. I usually plant my vegetables with some natural fertilizer, and I thought that was good enough. I quickly learned that is not the case. I tested my soil, and it was low for everything. It was so easy to use and read the samples. It also said what you should do with whatever results you have. I also like you can use it multiple times so you can recheck after you add what you need to your garden.

The instructions on this product could have been better written. I definitely messed up several times, wasting product, before figuring it out. I had to go online and find different directions for how to use the kit properly. Once I figured it all out, I used it just fine and the products seem to do as described. I'd recommend finding directions elsewhere though before wasting product like I did. You only get so many capsules.

I had been having an issue with my 4 year old hydrangea tree leaves turning yellow and falling off. Over the years it was getting worse and the flowers were gradually getting very weak/sparse looking. I thought the tree had a fungus and took some leaves to the garden center and they recommended that I do a soil sample to test Phosphorous, which I hadn't thought of. I trimmed the tree back very hard in August and bought this kit and to take a sample in spring.April 1 I took a sample. I did all 4 tests and much to my surprise, the phosphorous was perfect but the nitrogen was ZERO! Googling this it seems to line up with the issues that I was having with my tree. I bought some blood meal fertilizer to add to the soil and put that down immediately. The blood meal said to reapply every 2 months but I thought i'd retest on May 1 to see where I was at. I did lose a branch or two on the tree but the rest had a ton of buds w/leaves starting to open. May 1 test showed the nitrogen is now at the top of the scale, so I think by June 1 it should be at normal level.I feel the test is very accurate. The instructions are very clear. The sample containers are very easy to fill and seal tightly before shaking. The first test that I did I had an issue getting the capsules open and tried snipping them w/scissors. Do not recommend this lol The second test I realized I could kind of twist the sides a little to loosen them and then I was able to gently twist them apart over the sample containers. Little bit of a learning curve there but twisting them open is def the way.

A lot of folks say it didn't come with instructions - but they're printed on the inside of the backer-board of the packaging, so look there.You can do the PH test immediately, the remainder you have to wait at least 8 and preferably 24 hours before your 1 part soil + 5 parts water mix has settled enough to get clear liquid to test. To do all three I used less than 150ml of water - probably about 1/2 cup.The capsules are hard to open, they twist to do so. I don't recommend using scissors as they are very full and will scatter powder on your counter.For the PH test you just put soil and water into the test part.For the test you put water into both compartments so your comparison colours will be effected the same way. For the blue one (phosphorus) it wants to drop blue particles at the bottom (you can see it in the pictures), you need to shake it *just* before you read it to be accurate.I put them into a dish because it's very easy to knock them over while filling them. The little siphon they include in the box looks *tiny* but it only takes ~6 squeezings to fill a test tube, and the opening is small enough it won't stir up the dirt in your beaker. I tried with a larger device and it immediately stirred up the dirt.

Not very useful to me .

I purchased this along with a digital pH meter, and experimented with both. The digital meter all soil was 7. This one came up as 6 (which made more sense to me, as I had started with a more acidic soil and peat and had pine chip mulch. Anyway, then just to see, I added vinegar to the mixture and wa-la! It turned orange, meaning acidic! Perfect! Will purchase again! Do not get a cheap digital meter. When adding vinegar to that soil sample, never changed digitally always 7! Waste of $$

The N-K-P tests did nothing. I got the same zero results from my yard samples as with a new bag of potting soil. The Ph tests were suspect (based on comparing tests with a gidigi water tester).A complete waste of time and money.

Get some distilled water for the test to increase the accuracy. Read through the instructions and there is enough test ingredients for 15 test.