About Us
Garden-Soil tests for Organic Gardening
Garden soil tests now help you achieve improved organic gardening. You can find information here on both the Standard and Complete
garden soil tests, as well as our new Organic
Tests.
But before going further, please make sure you read all the information on this page carefully.
Then you can find more details of the process for Secure Online Ordering via PayPal and How to make best use of the results. There is also information on other pages about Collecting Soil Samples, requesting a FREE Sample kit and Reading Soil test Reports. You can also download some helpful Fact Sheets to read.
Important: Since not everyone needs a sample kit to send their samples, we do not automatically send a kit when orders are received via PayPal. If you are ordering tests and would like a sample kit, please follow this link to request one. Kits are FREE and will be sent as soon as your request is received.
Services for Gardeners or Farmers?
There are certain important differences between gardens and farms. For one thing, farms apply fertilizers and other materials by kilograms or even tonnes per hectare, but most gardens will be measured in square metres and so need to apply materials only in grams. To deal with this, we have converted our recommendations to g/sq.m. For gardeners outside Australia, simply multiply these figures by 0.03 if you need them in oz/sq.yd. For larger Public Gardens, multiply the recommendations by 10 if you want them as kg/ha and then by 0.89 to give lb/acre.
Another difference is that, a farmer may want recommendations for "Apples", whereas a Gardener may want something more general to cover a range of different "Fruit Trees". In fact, Gardens can have hundreds of different species and varieties of plants - both productive and ornamental - so how can you get useful information to suit them all?
To ensure they are appropriate to the needs of the various plants found in the garden, recommendations on reports generated for either the Standard and Complete tests will cover each of three plant groups, depending on the report version selected. The prices below are for one report per sample only, but with up to three (3) versions of the report that can be generated for any sample; there is the potential for a total of nine(9) plant groups. The Additional reports are available for $10.00 each (+ GST if applicable).
If you like, you can download Example Reports for each of these versions (as pdf files) using the links below. Opposite each link, you can also see the three default plant groups that apply to each version.
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Standard Garden Soil test: |
2. Fruit version: |
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| 3. Ornamental version: |
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| 1. Vegetable version: |
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Complete Garden Soil test: |
2. Fruit version: |
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| 3. Ornamental version: |
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However, you can still get recommendations for Specific Plants if you need them. Once you choose the relevant report version, you can also type in the name of a specific plant to replace one of the groups. For example, if you sampled the soil from your vegetable garden, but particularly wanted recommendations for (say) Asparagus, then simply choose the "vegetables" version and type "Asparagus" in the "Specific plant" box.
Likewise, you may want the Fruit version of the test, but in your garden there is an Apple tree a Pear tree (both Pome fruit), a Cherry (Stone fruit) and a Lemon tree, but no berries. In this case you would choose the "Fruit" version and type "Lemon" into the box.
If you want more than one of the report versions , you can order additional reports and in such cases you can always ask for recommendations on one specific plant type.
If you need to specify more than one specific plant type for any given report version, you should use additional reports of the same version. In these cases you can specify up to two plants per additional report.
NB. There must always be at least one of the default plant groups on each report.
To help explain this a little better, lets look at an example. Suppose you ordered two versions of the report - one Fruit and the other Ornamentals. As above, the fruit version includes Lemon and lets say the Ornamentals report included Camellia, but you also wanted to recommendations for Roses and Daphne. In this case, you would order the Fruit version (specifying 'Lemons'), then go to Additional Reports below and order the Ornamentals version (specifying 'Camellia'). Having done this, return to the Additional Reports section again and order another Ornamentals report, but this time specifying the 'Roses and Daphne'. If you wanted still more specific plants, simply repeat the process.
In the example above (within Australia), the cost would be $110.00 (incl. GST) for the analysis and first report, plus $11.00 (incl. GST) for each of the two additional reports, giving a total of $132.00 for all three (or $135.00 outside Australia).
If you would like more information or have any questions, please read our new Garden Soil Test Fact Sheets, or Contact Us.
Standard Garden Soil test: |
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This test comprises 25 laboratory tests and 13 calculations, presented in an easy-to-read 4-page report with full colour graphs and four sets of recommendations covering soil friability and plant nutrition for each of three plant groups. If you do not want to use your Credit card or PayPal, you can also click the button below to email your order and then send payment with your sample.
The report you get from this test is presented in one of three versions to suit the area sampled:
The full range of laboratory tests include:
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Australia: |
Overseas: $115.00
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Complete Garden Soil test: |
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This test includes 33 laboratory tests, 18 calculations and 3 sets of recommendations covering soil friability, plant nutrition and soil biology in a 9-page full-colour report. If you do not want to use your Credit card or PayPal, you can also click the button below to email your order and then send payment with your sample.
The report you get from this test is presented in one of three versions to suit the area sampled:
This includes all standard tests listed above, plus Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, C:N ratio and active population counts of five microbial indicator groups, together with their percentages of the total population:
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Australia:
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Overseas: $365.00 |
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Additional Report versions |
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If you require more than one of the report versions for the same sample, first select one of the report types and click "Add to Cart". You can list one Specific Plant for the first report of each version you order, or two Specific Plants for each additional report of a version already ordered. Repeat this process as many times as you need to. You can use the "View Cart" button to check and correct any details before proceeding with the purchase. Each additional report costs $10 (+ GST if applicable). |
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Making the best use of Soil tests
When most people hear the words "Soil Test", the immediately think "Fertilizer". We have become conditioned to believe that all we require for optimum productivity is good plant nutrition. This is certainly very important, but it is not ALL we need.
SWEP Analytical Services are used in a wide variety of situations, major applications include Organic and Biodynamic production as well as other forms of Biological/Sustainable Farming, Land Reclamation, Environmental Remediation and Protection of Soil Biodiversity.
The key to achieving the best results from any of our soil tests is to remember that we treat soil as a Living System comprised of three components - Structure, Nutrients and Biology - according to the Mikhail System that provides a reliable stepwise strategy for soil improvement:
- Cations First: Applying the appropriate amounts of Lime, Dolomite &/or Gypsum will help improve the physical environment in the soil. With good structure and friability, the soil will be more tolerant of cultivation; it will retain moisture, but drain more easily and remain well aerated; it will provide better access to roots and availability of the nutrients they need. However, both time and moisture are needed for these changes to occur, so after this step it is important to wait and then...
- Apply Nutrients 6 Months Later: With proper soil function, you can now look at providing Balanced Plant Nutrition. That is, meeting the requirements for all essential nutrients throughout the period of the growing season. Of course, whenever we apply anything to the soil, irrigate, cultivate, plant or harvest, we impose some degree of disturbance to the biological community.
- Stimulate Biology after every disturbance: Following these activities with the appropriate stimulants such as Kelp extracts or Fish Emulsions will help minimize this disturbance Naturally enough, the trick is knowing what are the appropriate stimulants to use.
- Monitor and Fine-tune: This is the part most people overlook. There will always be changes that occur over time and maintaining the health of the soil and the garden it supports will require us to be aware of any such change and respond to them appropriately.
So which is the best test to choose? The following notes should help you.
Standard Garden Soil test
This is by far the most popular and widely used of the SWEP soil tests. It covers both exchangeable cations and essential plant nutrients and so is valuable for general garden planning and development, where a once-a-year soil test forms the basis for programming of both soil management and fertilizer inputs over the following 12 months.
Examples of other situations in which the Standard Soil Balance Analysis can be used include:
- Condition assessments prior to purchasing a property
- Planning and developing a new garden
- Rejuvinating an older garden
- Ensuring the highest possible quality from garden produce
Complete Garden Soil test
This test package represents the sum of 45 years research into soil function and management and covers all three functional components of The Mikhail System - Structure, Nutrition and Biology.
Its main use is in situations where Complete management of Soil Health is required. Once complete soil balance has been achieved, the sensitivity of soil biology to any disturbance makes this test valuable in monitoring changes that occur over time for effective maintenance of soil balance.
The results and recommendations are organized into each of the three Soil Balance components - Structure, Nutrients and Biology to make the report easy and straightforward to use.
Three sets of recommendations are provided:
- Cation Balance corrections to optimize soil structure and other physical attributes.
- Balanced plant nutrient requirements relative to the needs of the Land use and what is presently available in the soil.
- Balanced Soil Biology, using various bio-active materials (eg. Humate, Kelp extract, Fish emulsion, etc.) to help manage the relative proportions of five key Indicator Groups.
Ordering Instructions
After clicking on one of the Add to Basket buttons you will be directed to the Secure PayPal site (that opens in a New Window) and a simple 5-step process:
Step 1: Purchase details. The details of your purchase will appear in this Window and you have two choices - either proceed with the payment process or (if you want to add more items) close the window and return here to continue selecting other tests or additional reports.
Step 2: Payment method. Once you are ready to proceed you can either use a PayPal account, or your credit card details.
Step 3: Your details. Here you will be asked for your postal address details (the place you want us to send the test report) and either your credit card or PayPal account details (depending on your choice in step 2). It is important to complete all details.
Step 4: Review details. Here you can check the details you have entered and make corrections if necessary. Once you click Continue, you will be returned to the SWEP website.
Step 5: Confirmation email. You will receive notification of your purchase details by email.
Important: Please print a copy of your email notification from PayPal and enclose it with the sample(s) as proof of purchase.
