I live in the PNW of North America

The only test I could find that's available to me is this one https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=5031670510266&atb=v332-1&ia=answer but it costs the equivalent of 36 USD where I live in Europe.

I kind of expect the answer from you being "yes you definitely should know the exact measurements before applying fertiliser, otherwise you're blindly adding nutrients" - but I cannot imagine every household plant needs these exact specifications known beforehand.

Measuring pH is relatively straightforward in comparison and I could do it cheaply. But N,P,K measuring is costly and unknown where I live (guessing by how few products I could find).

Hey, how are you :)

I want to know if there's any software that allows to model heavy metals diffusion in unsaturated soils

Thanks!

At some level, I know how chelants work, but after a quick check on Google Books, I'm not seeing any good texts that give a deep dive into plant nutrition as it relates to the use of chelates. I'm still a little lost as to how, say, iron can be delivered as a nutrient, yet have the iron released to roots but not exchanged for other elements on its way there.

Anyway- if anyone has a good read or a monograph or whatever on chelates and the soil environment and really goes into depth as to how they work, even a review paper- I'd love to hear about it. Thanks in advance!

Hello! I’m a soon to be graduate majoring in Env., Soil, and Water Sciences (focus in soil). I’ll be interning with the NRCS in hopes to be converted to a full time position when I graduate. I’ve been really excited to get into the work field but I’m wondering if I should continue schooling for a Masters.

Is it necessary to have a masters to reach GS 11 or above jobs/pay grades? And if so, what Masters programs best supplement a pretty heavy soil science bachelors course load? I have an interest in wetlands, ecosystem revitalization, brownfield restoration, wildlife, and agronomy/crop production (pretty broad but I just have a lot of interests)

Also could I get the government to fund my schooling?

I’m a natural resources professional looking to add a Soils textbook to my library. Any recommendations for the best soils textbook that could be used as a general reference/refresher? Doesn’t have to be a current edition...

Was wondering if certain kinds of soil conditions are influencing factors as to why potholes form... haven’t found much in terms of scholarly articles. Any pointers would b appreciated.

can i get a dumbed down version of what this means?

So far I've been able to find the amounts of clay and the cation exchange capacity percentages for the groups I am studying, though is there an easier way to find the dominant clay types (smectite, illite, ect.) in these soil groups? Looking into the official soil series hasnt helped much either unfortunately.

I'm coring in a coniferous woodland soon on land that was originally raised bog. I would be grateful if anyone who has done this before could share their experience with me? What type of corer used (is the gauge auger sufficient and is the Russian peat corer too fragile), issues with root systems, depth you went to etc.

It's for an undergraduate dissertation and any advice is always appreciated.

I go to a tiny university w/ no soil science prof and a tiny lab, so here I am! we were wanting to analyze for phosphorus in our soil samples. We do not have ammonium fluoride to conduct a Mehlich 3 extraction, and I was wondering if sodium fluoride is a suitable alternative?
I also welcome suggestions for other elements that involve relatively simple reagents!
Cheers :)

Hi guys,

I'll be starting an undergraduate soil carbon study on wetlands in the next month or so and am curious if anyone has used any special methods for wetland soil coring? I cited this method in my proposal and plan to follow it fairly closely for now, but I am wondering if anyone has used any other tried-and-true methods. I've considered PVC cut down the middle with hinges on one side for easy sample viewing/removal, but am unsure how well that would hold up through repeated use or how much soil/sample integrity disturbance it would cause.

Disclaimer: I am new to soils and an ecologist by trade, so any pointers for soils in general are greatly welcomed. Thanks in advance!