Soil Sample Testing
29278 US Highway 119 N
Belfry, KY 41514 USA
Objective
Students at Belfry High School were interested
in studying the chemical compositions of the
soil in Thornsberry Hollow and Pigeon Roost
mountains where the herbs of medicinal
purposes are found in abundance.
GPS system was used to map the sites to locate
for further investigations at these sites later.
Soils from five different locations were
collected and tested at our school using the
LaMotte soil test kit provided by the Tracy
Farmers institute and also the soil research lab
at Lexington.
It was observed that some soils were acidic and
some were basic.
The soil was rich in potassium, calcium and
magnesium and found traces of phosphorous
and zinc.
Phosphorous Test
Nitrogen Test
Filled test tube with nitrogen extracting
solution to line 7. Added 2 measures of
soil sample using 0.5 g spoon. Capped
and mixed gently for 1 min. Used clean
pipette to transfer the clear liquid into
another test tube. Add nitrogen indicator
powder to the extract using a 0.25 g.
Capped and mix gently until a pink color
appeared above the powder. Matched
the color with nitrogen color chart.
Results are reported in the table.
Filled test tube with phosphorous extracting
solution to line 6. Added 3 measures of soil
sample using 0.5g spoon. Capped and mixed
gently for 1 min. Clean pipette was used and
clear solution was added to a second test tube.
Added 6 drops of phosphorous indicator
reagent to the soil extract and mixed well.
Added phosphorous test tablet and observed
appearance of a blue color and matched with
phosphorous color chart. Results are reported
in the table.
Experimental
setup using
LaMotte Soil Test
Kit at Belfry High
School
pH
Filled the test tube with a pH
indicator to line 4. Added 3
measures of soil using 0.5g
spoon. Cap and mix gently for
one minute and allow the tube
to stand for 10 minutes to let
soil settle. Match the color with
pH color chart.
Potassium Test
Filled the test tube with potassium
extracting liquid to line 7. Added 4
measures of sample using 0.5 g spoon.
Capped and shaken vigorously for 1
minute. Clean pipette was used to take
clear solution and filled the second test
tube to line 5. Added potassium indicator
tablet until it dissolves. A purplish color
appeared . Added potassium test solution
two drops at a time and noted the drops
till the purple color changed to blue.
Results are reported.
Experiments
using LaMotte
Soil Test Kit at
Belfry High
School
Soil is oven-dried at 38oC and ground to pass a 2 mm screen. A soil-water paste is
created by adding 10 ml of water to 10 cm3 of soil and stirring for with a glass rod
and letting stand for at least 15 minutes but not more than 2 hours. A glass
electrode is placed in the mixture to measure pH. After pH measurement, 10 ml of
Sikora Buffer (a mixture of triethanoloamine, imidazole, MES, acetic acid, and
KCl) is added to the soil-water paste and shaken for 10 minutes. A glass electrode
is then placed in the mixture to measure Buffer pH within 2 hours after shaking.
Soil pH and buffer pH are reported as unit less values.
Test Method For Soil Analysis at Soil
Testing Laboratory at University of
Kentucky
Phosphorus, K, Ca, Mg, and Zn are determined in a Mehlich III extract which
contains 0.2 N acetic acid, 0.25 N NH4NO3, 0.015 N NH4F, 0.013 N HNO3, and
0.001 N EDTA. Twenty ml of Mehlich III extract is added to 2 cm3 soil, shaken for
5 minutes, and immediately filtered through Whatman #2 filter paper. Filtration is
terminated at the end of 10 minutes. The filtrate is analyzed via ICP (inductively
coupled plasma spectroscopy). The analytes are reported as lbs of nutrient / acre of
land. The assumptions made with this reporting is that an acre of land contains 2
million pounds of soil and the density of air-dried ground soil is 1 g/cm3.
Mapping the Field
GPS system donated by Tracey
Farmers Institute was used to
locate the position of sites where
the soil was excavated.
Sample
Location
Herbs
A
N370 35.6’
W820 18.7’
Queen of meadow
Hydrangea
B
N370 35.6’
W820 18.6’
Winter green, Green
brier, Lycopodium
C
N370 35.5’
W820 18.6
Sassafras
D
N370 35.5’
W820 18.6’
Ginseng
E
N370 35.5’
W820 18.6’
Cohash, Ginseng,
yellow root, Golden
seed
F
N370 35.5’
W820 18.6’
Ginseng
Results
Table represents the results of the soil test conducted at Belfry High
School using LaMotte Soil Test Kit provided by Tracey Farmers
Institute, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Samples\
Tests
A
B
C
D
E
F
Medium
(30-60
lb/acre)
Nitrogen
Trace
Trace
Trace
Trace
Low (0-30
lb/acre)
pH
5
4
4
6
6
7
Phosphorous
Trace
Trace
Trace
Trace
Trace
Low (0-50
lb/acre)
Potassium
6 drops
(>200
lbs/acre)
6 drops
(>200
lbs/acre)
4 drops
(>200
lbs/acre)
10 drops
(+200
lbs/acre)
10 drops
(+200
lbs/acre)
18 drops
(0-120
lbs/acre)
Results
Table represents the results of the soil test conducted at Soil Testing
Laboratory, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
A
B
C
D
E
F
(OM= 3.89% (OM= 3.04% (OM= 4.80% (OM= 8.15% (OM=8.51% (OM=14.09%
Samples\ Tests
TN=0.166%) TN=0.101%) TN=0.201%) TN=0.306%) TN=0.352%) TN=0.709%)
pH
5.31
4.74
5.28
5.92
5.79
6.74
BU pH
6.24
5.84
6.18
6.53
6.47
6.87
P (lbs/acre)
22
7
9
17
31
134
K (lbs/acre)
250
227
350
306
446
452
Ca (lbs/acre)
1050
301
1830
3085
3119
9389
Mg (lbs/acre)
277
167
328
538
447
754
Zn (lbs/acre)
3.9
2.6
2.4
5.1
6.1
24.3
OM – Soil organic matter; TN – Total Nitrogen.
Soil is oven-dried at 38oC and ground to pass a 2 mm screen. One-half gram of soil is weighed in porcelain boats and injected into a dry
combustion instrument (LECO or Elementar). The instrument determines %C in the material. Organic matter is calculated as %C x
1.72= % organic matter. Organic matter is reported as % by weight of air-dried soil.
Soil is oven-dried at 38oC and ground to pass a 2 mm screen. One-half gram of soil is weighed in porcelain boats and injected into a
LECO combustion instrument. The instrument determines %N in the material by measuring the N2 gas emitted upon combustion.
Nitrogen is reported in units of lbs/acre assuming 2 million pounds of soil are in an acre (% x 20,000 = lbs/acre).
Discussion
In this present work, we have located the herbs namely hydrangea, sassafras,
ginseng, winter green and lycopodium that are used for medicinal purposes in a
nearby pigeon roost mountain.
GPS system was used to locate the points in which these herbs were grown.
Different samples of the soil were excavated to study the chemical compositions to
understand the environment in which these herbs are grown.
Two different laboratory facilities were used to test the soils chemical composition.
There is a good agreement between the values of pH, Nitrogen and potassium
obtained from two different laboratories.
Experimental values of pH suggest that samples A, B and C have more acidity
compared to samples D, E and F.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank our administration for all the help rendered in
completing this project.
We would like to thank Mr. Anthony Tackett for providing
information about the herbs and taking us to pigeon roost mountain
to collect the samples.
We are grateful to Mr. Brian Radcliffe for providing us the GPS
system and LaMotte soil testing kit to perform the experiments.
We appreciate Dr. Carol Hanley and her staff from the NSF-ITEST
grant provided by Tracy Farmer Institute, University of Kentucky are
providing the grant to carry out this research.
We also appreciate the help provided by our mentors Dr. Chandran
and Ms. Smith in the form of valuable suggestions to complete the
project successfully.