Estimating Soil Texture
 

If you haven't a clue as to what type of soil you have, there is a simple hand testing method.

A Take a small hand full of soil
B Make sure the soil is reasonably moist
C Form a small spherical mass just with one hand
D Work the soil by pushing part of that sphere between your thumb and forefinger.
E This process should form a ribbon . The ribbon should be long enough to measure with a small ruler.

Various soil textures are simplified into the following categories based on the length of the ribbon .

   
 
Soil Texture
Ribbon length - inches
Ribbon length - mm
Sand
0 - 1/2
0-15
Sandy loam
1/2 - 1.0
15-25
Loam
1.0
25
Clay loam
1.0 - 1.5
25-40
Clay
2.0 +
50+
   
 
 
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