1605 Rapitest Digital Soil testing Kit

So far, I've only used the pH test, but I'm very happy with the results. I never worried about pH levels until this past year, when my garden really didn't produce. Doing some research online, I found that pH levels play a critical role in a plant's ability to absorb nutrients. Shortly after that, just by chance, I ran across an old Ferry-Morse pH and Fertility meter at a garage sale. For a buck, what the heck. I tried it, but it stayed pretty much between 7.0 - 7.5. Was my soil that bad, or was this thing not working? I mixed some vinegar into the soil, and it did show movement to the acidic range, but I still wondered, was it working? Moving ahead 3 months, I ran across a TestWest pH meter on Amazon. It looked pretty cool, it seemed a lot easier to use (just poke it into the soil), and it could be used on indoor plants, which isn't specifically addressed with the Ferry-Morse. Once again, for under $15, what the heck. And also, to test everything further, I purchased this Luster Leaf Rapitest Digital Soil Test Kit . Like one of the other reviewers, I had used Luster Leaf's other soil test kit, but found it difficult to analyze the murky colors against the color charts, so I decided to go with this digital kit. Besides, it sounded pretty easy. Mix it up. Put the test tube into the meter, press a button to let the meter read the color and give you the results. What fun. For the test, I used the soil from one of my indoor plants, a 4-1/2 foot hibiscus. I followed Ferry-Morse's instructions, dug some soil out from about 3" down, watered it, let it set and then tested it. The Ferry-Morse read 5.8. The TestWest read 5.9. Pretty darn close. To validate the results, I used the same soil sample with the Luster Leaf Rapitest's pH test. Note: for the Luster Leaf's soil test, I followed Rapitest's instructions and set a bit of soil aside before watering it (they want to start with dry soil). After mixing the soil with the reagent and water, letting it set, placing it into the test chamber and pushing the TEST button, it lit up the 5.5 indicator--which means that the soil pH is between 5.5 and 5.9. I couldn't ask for a better validation (other than spending another $50+ and sending a soil sample to a full-fledged lab). All three tests instruments read within the same pH range. I already amended my garden soil this Fall (before I purchased this soil test kit) with a high sulfur fertilizer and an organic soil acidifier. I'll be testing my garden soil in the Spring with all four tests in this kit. I trust the results implicitly.

Living in an area of red clay soil, building a garden spot can be challenging. I have added organics, compost, as well as fertilizer. But I was still at a loss as to whether I had accomplished my goals or not. the Luster Leaf 1605 Rapidtest was exactly what I was looking for. You don't have to mix a chemical with water and then look at a color chart and try to find the color closest to your tube. There is no guessing with this kit. It reads the color for you. It has easy to follow instructions and gives you fast results which take out the guess work. I even retested the same soil to see if I would get consistent results or if the meter would give me a different reading. It was dead on, and it made me feel I was getting a good test. After testing the soil it has instructions as to what you need to do to correct your soil with what to add and even how much. Very satisfied.

I do container gardening in Arizona and wanted to see what my soil quality was. This kit is hard to figure out and the instructions are in very small print. The markings on the test tube are almost invisible and become totally so when powdery soil is added. The reagents are in plastic capsules, which are very difficult to open without spilling reagent. A pipette is required but not supplied. I found an empty Scalpicin container and was able to use it as a dropper. All these things compromise accuracy. I would not recommend this kit.

For reference, I bought 2 variants of this kit, 1605 Digital Soil Testing Kit in May 1 2019 1601 Rapitest Test Kit in May 3 2017 So I had a few capsules left from the 2 year old kit way back when, If I remember right, those capsules at the time resulted in something along the lines of a pH7, N0, P4, K4. The capsules for the PH and PK where ok but the nitrogen testing capsules where half melted, perhaps water got into the sealed ziplock? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I just re-ran the tests, using a bit of dirt from some totally dead lawn spots. I used old pH capsules new NPK, That resulted in a pH7.5 N1, P4, K4, I was getting ready for spreading out some ammonium sulfate but I thought to recheck, just in case... This time ran the pH with a new capsule, and resulted in... a 5! Well that was interesting and very fortunate I didn't add some sulfate to the lawn, or at least in these 'dead spots' So I did some testing of the test, using pure distilled water as a test subject, the old capsules ... made weird results. (see picture) I don't know if the digital meter is testing by some other method other than sensing light, but the digital meter listed a 5 when it looked more of a 6 to me. Anyways, the new pH tablets in pure distilled water, looked like a 7 and in the digital meter listed as a 7. So I feel more inclined to trust that set at the moment. I dont know if its time that messes with the capsules or water intrusion (even though my old capsules where in the sealable ziplock that they came in) but at least as far as the pH test in concerned, age of the capsules matter. Then given that the digital set of tests don't come in a seal-able ziplock, (which is really not a deal breaker, I mean actual ziplocks are easy to come by...) but it does make me wonder how long these guys will last on my shelf and how long they have been stored on Amazons shelf. Wishes; -Digital version came with color scales for results, just for double checking -The test capsules would come with a 'manufacture date' or 'use by date'

I was under the impression from lack of research on my own part- however this kit only helps determine the color change it does not read levels from the soil alone. You still need capsules to add to soil testing and then put them into the machine to read the color- which really you can do with the naked eye. It did help me diagnose my soil as nitrogen only depletion and now my garden is thriving since I was able to fertilize with a nitrogen only formulation to correct the imbalance. Great if you are novice or trying to figure out what is up with your soil- but the cheaper kits without the machine will also do the job just fine.

I downgraded this from three stars to one star after further testing. I followed the directions perfectly and carefully, and I let the water sit for 24 hours to be extra careful. Each one of the results was on the most extreme side of the perspectrum. It said that my soil was a 7.5, which means lacking acid. It also said that it was in surplus of nitrogen phosphate and potassium. Forgive me if I have my doubts, but I just ordered this soil delivery and I want to understand it's nutrient content so that I can fertilize it properly. The results tell me I don't even need to touch it other than mixing in something to add acidity. I will be testing the soil on my property to see if the results come out differently, and I will also be testing homemade compost. The nail in the coffin was when I researched how to validate the device. I used lemon juice and poured it into the same soil solution, and follow the directions and then tested it again. The pH didn't change, and it still read 7.5... which would tell me that there's no acid. That's obviously false in this test kit is complete garbage. Don't waste your time and money.

My husband and I needed this kit to test the soil in our yard so we could plan our garden for the year. We are in a new state, so we weren't sure what would grow here and what would be a waste of time and space in our limited little garden. The kit comes with a handy guide that shows all of the different pH values for a variety of different plants. The kit was easy to use, and it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. We let our daughter help us do the actual tests (she called us "scientists" because we got to use vials and droppers), so if a 2-year old can do it, that says something about the ease of the product's use ;) Thanks to this kit, we were able to find out exactly what kind of plants and what kind of fertilizer we should use for our gardening.

I own the regular and digital test kit. I struggled with interpreting the colors for the regular kit. I think the problem is my soil (which is store bought garden soil) because no matter how long I wait, the water will still be very cloudy. I followed instructions for the digital kit, and the results didn't seem logical. It said there was too much of every nutrient when there were obvious symptoms of deficiencies in the plants that fertilizer later fixed. I didn't keep the old kit, so I couldn't compare the results there. I was really frustrated because it was a waste of money. Unless I get a centrifuge, I don't know how to get a clearer sample.