Test for Clay in Soil
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- čas přidán 15. 12. 2017
- My soil is heavy, and when dry, the surface cracks like clay. But is it really a clay soil? This home soil test will show a soil’s texture: sand, silt and clay levels. Knowing more about your soil’s texture can help to determine the most suitable plants as well as strategies for watering, soil amendment and fertilizing.
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Always great content without the BS and annoying background music! Thanks again for your time and expertise!🙏🙏
Super informative! I guess I'll quit gardening now and take up ceramics. lol 😁
You're hilarious thanks for the laugh
Lol
Lol
Interesting, so what I have considered to be clay all these years, is in reality more of a loam. However knowing this information is helpful.
Going to do this right away. Thanks for showing how to do this. Very helpful.
awesome vid! I needed this lesson for my new project. thanks so much!
Thank you. Very well documented. Really helped me!
Thanks. That's the best video I've seen on how to do this test - nothing skipped over. Good job!
Thanks Peter
Thank you. I appreciate the detailed instruction and explanation on how to do this test and the comparison. Very helpful.
My pleasure.
Thank you so much for posting this!
Best description for the math!! I hate math and this helped so much. Thank u!
Good job. I let my sit 24 hrs and it worked.
Thanks. That's a great guide and explanation to testing soil's.
straightforward explanation - thankyou so much - excellent video
Thanks Susan
Very interesting. Thanks for uploading this.😀
I am definitely going to try this!
Terrific video - thank you so much
Hi Nathan, this was a great video as I'm currently doing a horticulture course and my next subject is soil. So I will be using this information. Cheers mate.
What you are doing on a small scale is called "levigation". You can pour off the clear water, then separate the clay solution (technically a colloid) and you will be left with the larger dirt and sand particles. The settled dirt can still have a good deal of clay, it really needs to be ground into finer particles to be sure. You can process your soil on a large scale in anything watertight.
the soap reduces surface tension good idea
Another great video Jason !! Interesting interpretations between the soils. Super helpful information.
Cheers Jason and Colleen 🌱🌱🌱
Hi guys how's your soil l👀king like? ❤️👍🙏👌🤠
@nickthegardener.1120 heavy clay lol, but getting better 🤜🤛but at the time of this comment sandy loam in Victoria
Thank you a lot for this video ! Now I know where to dig for clay
Thank you very much.
Brilliant job ❤️
Thank you for sharing your smart
Aw Brilliant Mate. That's how you do it there!
Thanks for the information
My pleasure
THANKSGIVING
Love this ❤️
Thanks for shareing
Easy but still quite scientific soil jar test. Do you think it would be applicable for observing soil types in different regions? For example, getting some soil samples in different areas of Lower Mainland (Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, etc...) and do soil jar tests might show some interesting differences among them.
You bet. My soil is quite similar to the Matsqui/Abbotsford area, but the higher points in Langley would have a completely different composition.
Interesting. Thanks.
loved this
Thanks Milly
-haven't tested my soil like that but dug down @ ten feet in high top clay content then built a kiln think I like that test going to check out My Clay content I found at 10 feet
I would be interested in knowing the percentage of actual clay in what is known as “ blue gumbo “ and a more traditional fine brown “silty” soil. I will have to experiment with this.
A contractor hired by the city is working in our neighborhood where we have original sandy loam soil. Contractor is removing the street and replacing it. In my yard alone he cut back behind the concrete 24 inches and loaded up the soil and drove off with it. He took a lot of soil from the other yards as well. He's replacing it with soil on which I did the texture analysis in your video. The results for the "soil" he's bringing in show it to be all clay. There are no layers at all and, in fact, the clay is so bad the jar is still coated with clay and you can't see through the glass jar anywhere. I only filled it 1/3 with the soil sample and then up to 2/3 full when I added water.
Compare that to the sample of our original soil that I took from my yard: a very nice layering inside the jar. Yet the city inspector is insisting the fill soil the contractor has brought in is nice, rich topsoil. Have you ever seen soil that is 98% to 100% clay, and only clay????
Yikes. It must have taken forever for the water to "uncloud" enough for you to even see.
No you got screwed he sold your topsoil to some other person
Your result is very consistent with what I've seen on the Internet gardening forums for the past 20 years. 99% of people who insist they have a clay soil actually have very little clay. If you do a proper soil chemistry test, I believe what you will find is that you have a salt imbalance among sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium with magnesium being the one that is furthest out of whack. There are amendments you can use to open up a clay soil, but those do not work against an ion-imbalanced soil - and vice versa. So once you do the jar test and get the disappointing results, then you can spring for a real soil test to get details on what is really "wrong" with your soil. Excessive magnesium can result from using too much Epsom salt over the years.
Thanks for your insights!
Exactly. I was thinking down the same line as I watched the video. Highly probable you have low calcium and high magnesium, and simply need some limestone (not dolomite) amendments and/or gypsum to give you a completely different (and drastically improved) soil within 2 or 3 years. A soil lab that measures Total Cation Exchange Capacity will give you the best recommendations for correcting the imbalances. I enjoyed the demonstration.
Yes! We learned this the HARD way by allowing our water softener to drain into a flower bed.🤦🏻♀️ I learned a LOT about soil and salt while I dug out at least 3 cu yds. of muck. You know what they say, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."🥴😑
Brilliant. If there both close to loam wouldnt that make them good for plant potting?
Yeah, definitely. Mine is a decent soil, but I still find it a bit on the heavy side.
I did your test, and wondered is it possible to have nearly all clay soil? I do not see any layers, just a solid mass. I could send a photo if you would look at it. Great video btw.
Thanks - yes, I know some people have a pretty solid clay (or a pretty uniform silt) from top to bottom.
yes but it will look like soft rocks
My soil test was like this also. I guess we can make bricks.
Hi Fraser, may I dry the soil with a microwave oven for this test?
KISS theory Use a drill and a small paint paddle stirrer to break it down well.
The sand and silt line is not clear.Even in my test (without dish soap). ANy way out?
Clay is that on top? Do I just take it out or it will mess up?
Gonna thank you for this video, it helped a WHOLE LOT with my garden.
I made the test and my soil is so "claily" that the clay layer didn't even settle after more than 24 hours and the silt layer was so thin that it was hard to even notice it. End results are 59% clay and 31% sand! I knew my soil was clay but not that much.
OMG that's a lot of clay.
I have a feeling my soil will test out the same or close! I will do this test also!
Then how much was silt?? It seems u included silt. You should leave the jars for a week like Jason did before measuring the layers. Thank!😊
Wow, great Jason. I'm going to replicate this for my soil. I'm interested for horticulture of course, but also interested in ceramic and clays.
Here in upper NYS we have a rock for every dirt. I imagine it will shake out like jar #2 - more rocks but not sure at all about the sand/silt/clay ratio.
Here's another thing I've been thinking about: I live on a lake - (you live on a river if I'm right) - I wonder if there is any benefit to using lake or river soil as an amendment to my rocky soil. Maybe I'll do a test on the lake sludge too.
(I'm using Eurasian Milfoil as compost)
Fun test - thanks so much!!!!
Yours truly
Jennie
Can you use the same jars for peach storing?
Sure, but I'd maybe rinse them out good first
Nice to see that you were smart enough to add dish soap , not absolutely necessary but it sure does help speed up the separation process 👍
Do you use powder or liquid soap?
@@robertlofton7703 dawn liquid dish soap 👍
It looked like way more than a teaspoon though.
@@anniekate76 this is a prime time for the exception to the rule, more is better
Great video. I'm in Rancho Cordova California and the ground I have is old Mining tailings from Dredging the river in the 1800s .the houses In my neighborhood were built in the 1950s. As a result my ground is inundated with cobbles from 1" to 10". I plan on planting bare root roses next Spring. When I dig the holes do you suggest I take the rocks out?
I'm butt hurt theres no response...
Same lol
Plants use big rocks in the soil for stability and insulation. Leave the rocks in I say.
I would take out the big one ,small one help aerate the soil. Hope yals butts are feeling better.
I wouldn't invest in any knockout roses the rosette disease caused by mites is incurable
nice
Great! If I want clay to make cob , what do I do?Thank you!
Go to Townsend's channel here on youtube and look up how to make an earthen oven. They have multiple videos about it.
Hallo Jason i want do a test with my roses i Bay some rosen ,and try in a soil padi kaft mix humus.i sent some picture for you.
Rice hulls? Sekam padi mixed with compost? Sound interesting...
I really appreciate this. I have weird Florida soil... mostly sand, but there's this weird thick mushy stuff that's kind of like.... wet.... concrete? Anyway, this is useful for me. Thanks!
Mother earth is just awesome
Hm. Does the dish soap help if you're trying to collect clay out of the soil by separation?
The dish soap acts as a surfactant - keeping the soil particles separated until they settle. So yes, if you're trying to get those distinct layers, it's helpful.
In the Southeast US this test is easy...all of the soil is clay below one inch depth. Add water, make pottery...
Sure does simplify the question...
Cool
It's looks like chocolate milk
Let start a course after it
Here in Utah, there’s a place, “bridal veil falls”. At the bottom of the falls, the dirt in the water is almost like concrete. If you wet your hand or touch the dirt, it leaves a grey, dried out powder. Is that clay?
Sorry, I'm not sure what's dissolved in that water - but it's not uncommon to find clay deposits in riverbanks where the fine material has collected.
What about a soil with high organic matter? Where does that fit in?
Hi Sarah - usually the organic matter is highest in the very top layer of the soil, and for this test, take the sample a bit lower. That said, if there's significant organic matter in your soil sample, it'll generally show up as a dark layer at the very top.
What would be in suspension above the clay? The water is cloudy
Just the finest of the clay particles - and depending on how fine, they can stay suspended for quite a long time (weeks)
I know I commented years ago but today I ran 1 test on a spot I wanted to build a pond. I went past 6 feet with my post hole digger and it's very sandy. I may get a backhoe rented for 4 hours to do some test holes before I spend $$ on a dozer. Great video
Thanks Jorge
Hi, I tried this test out in my garden and it came out as one homogeneous layer, no visible differences between sand, silt, or clay. I broke up the earth and shook the jar quite a lot. Could it be possible it is all clay? I didn't use soap after seeing another youtuber didnt.. Could that be why?
If I do this test anywhere in the PNW I'm going to get 95% clay dirt except by a river or creek that's been known to flood and then sand and silt shows up but mostly silt and clay dirt
Interesting, thanks. I'm interested in locating clay, period. This is useful info. I know you're aware of the limitations of taking and comparing only two samples. Just as an example, on my old acreage I could take two soil samples just a couple inches apart and get completely different results. Decades ago, the area where one sample was taken had been a regularly mowed lawn, and so the soil going down fairly deeply consisted mostly of decomposed grass. The sample a couple inches away consisted mostly of decomposed limestone gravel going down fairly deeply because for decades it had been a gravel driveway where a fresh gravel layer had been laid down every couple years or so. So, as a result, those two soil samples were extremely different and not representative of the general soil type in the entire 1/2 acre or so of the old yard that I wanted to test. Also, since I'm interested in clays, around here there is a lot of clay, and this city was formerly the location of at least 3 major clay mines and brick yards. Interestingly, the clay was found in strata up to 100 feet thick with various amounts of overburden that had to be bulldozed away to get to the heavy clay deposits. So, of course not only does soil type vary horizontally, but also vertically, with the most extreme example of the latter being bedrock which typically underlies most soil layers. Near here, this soil/bedrock border region also happens to be the location of a material that most of the world is intensely interested in---------gold. ;-)
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I was dumb forgot my login password. I would appreciate any tips you can offer me!
@Justin Duncan Instablaster :)
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I have rocky; clay soil. When we get a heavy rain, after I've been digging around, I get gravel like particles that rise to the top and stays.
That sounds like a rough mix to work with!
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I've been moving my compost every other year to the most troubled spots, and mixing compost into all of my beds for 9 years. My soil is still a bit heavy still, but the clay deposits are now 50 cm down. I signed up for chip drop, and am waiting for my first drop. I don't make enough compost in a year to treat larger spaces. Thanks for the tip on chip drop!
@@leynaabbey I just have one caveat about chip drop - its illegal to move ash that has ash borer - but often arborists are removing dead limbs or dead trees - we don't know what has been chipped.
Ash borer is in my area - so I did sign up for Chip Drop - then discovered the ash problem and dropped it before receiving anything. If its not in your area you'll probably be fine.
@@jenniewilliamsmural bc of the ash borer I thought only local arborists can drop chips at your residence, and you can also request not to have any ash wood. 😁 Might make you wait longer, so patience is key.
If your planning to cob house, what your clay ratio?
Usually it's: 3 sand,1 clay,1 straw.
But you could purify the clay in both soils with a little bit of washing, right? So it's just a little bit more back and forth from bucket to bucket to make good clay of it.
Hi Paul - I've never tried to extract pure clay from it. I suppose if you've divided the layers, you could let it dry out afterward and just take the clay off the top.
CZcams has some good tutorials on wet processing wild clay. ;)
I am going to do this test to different areas of my backyard and garden. My wife planted a Japanese Maple on the side yard and is not doing well. I am not sure if it is the soil or if the tree is receiving too much sunlight. Thoughts?
Thanks Alfonso - could be the site conditions for sure, but I'm also not sure how long you've had the tree in place - and it can sometimes take a bit of time to establish in a new location.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks for the feedback. I'm gonna talk to my wife to see when she planted the tree. I think it was planted in a place where there is too much sun. We live in Northern California where is sunny almost all year round and we are once again in another drought year. Also, my wife did not amend the soil. This may or may not be an issue. I am going to do a soil test and a ph test as well. I bought a soil ph tester for my other plants a few weeks ago. I am also going to test out the ph of our tap water.
Japanese Maples like dappled shade. They're an understory tree. The leaves wilk burn, curl up and fall off, eventually killing the tree.
Ha ha! Thought this was a pottery video
LOL. Bitter disappointment!
What is a pottery video?
ApplesauceMan NomadicGardener I am a potter, I make pots and mugs. I use clay and fire it to high temperatures but I buy the raw clay all mixed and ready to go. I thought this was a video where I would learn how dig raw clay out of the ground, how to mix it, how to adjust its plasticity and firing temperature. But this was about clay as pertaining to gardening. Farmers soil should have humous in it, potters like more pure Si and Al oxide. Check out "Jon the Potter' , to see a pottery video. Actually in pioneer days farmers would farm their good soil and use a field of clay to make pottery in winter.
What is the soap for?
To help separate the clay from the silt into distinct layers
I only have sand at the bottom and clay at the top, only 2 layer is that not normal?
Usually, there's a little bit of each, but if your soil is heavy in sand and clay, it may be difficult to distinguish the small amount of silt that settled faster than the clay. Was it higher in sand or clay, out of curiosity?
Why should we add dish washing liquid to the sample??? Can we test without using it???
It just helps to cleanly divide the layers and dissolve all the different sizes of soil particles. If you aren't going to use it, I'd just take extra care to make sure it's been shaken, stirred and all dissolved before letting it settle.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thank you...
So fill the mason jar up half way and fill up the rest with soup water leaving 3 inches before you get to the top. Shake for 1 min and let sit for 1 day then go to USDA soil calculator and don't believe it just add and add and add any kind of carbon you can to you growing spot/land. Get anything that will brake up from leaves to pine needles to anything and make urself a carbon farm;)
I would have to soak with the hose for at least 10 minutes to just get a small shovel full. Too much clay
Use a pickaxe to break up then get wet at your leisure. It saves to back. Though swinging the pickaxe takes getting use to. And I'm also a 29yr. Old male that's dug my whole life. So take it slow. But progress will show itself!
@Whoop!!
I like the principle you are working with, but I would calculate my percentages from volume instead. Just fill the jars with water to the lines and then measure the volume.
Thanks. Your method would be more accurate for sure.
It's a cylindrical shape, volume is directly derived from depth...
@@Ilamarea The volume is not consistent with depth since the jar is not a perfect cylinder. It may not seem like a significant error to you, but even the author agrees it can improve the accuracy.
Cool
hi Gnefitisis you mean fill the jars to full? measure the layers with rules? could you explain at least briefly? thanks
3:31 OCD sufferers shouting at the screen: "Those pieces aren't all the *same* size!"
Me: "It'll be fine, once it's suspended in water."
OCD sufferers: "Whew!"
Lol. Thanks for that
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm
👍😂
They're too busy calculating the adjusted sand content given the shape of the bottom of the jar. 😅
If I am correct, if you dug down 300mm then took samples, you get completely different figures, so if I am correct, this theory dont work as it only applies to the lvl you dig down too..
A soil profile can definitely vary by depth. You just have to decide what part of the soil is most relevant to your garden decision making. For annuals, perennials and (some) shrubs the top 300mm (12in) is a fairly important zone to understand. The changes you typically see (although this is variable by your local geology) is that soil lower down with have less organic matter and more "parent material" - larger rocks or even bedrock.
Shake it off ah
I wish I had clay soil. All I have is sandy soil =(
Bruh. My soil is so hard with clay and pebbles that even strangled-weed struggles to grow.
@@Misack8Nothing grows in my yard either. Want to trade 50/50? lmao
@@Misack8 100%! Clay SUCKS. Sandy soil is easier to amend.
I'm getting dizzy you're moving around too much seasick
Sorry! I try to use the tripod a lot more now
No test needed that's clay hahahaha it looks like mine . This isn't how you test . How you test is you core aerate and when the tines keep getting clogged you get mad and throw the plug at the shed if it sticks and stays there for weeks and weeks its clay !
Dang - your test sounds like a lot more fun!