Soil aggregate field test

In this test, we're going to be taking a look at soil aggregates through what is called a wet slake test. Now, soil aggregates are the accumulation of soil organic matter that is produced by microbes such as fungal hyphae, which produce a glycoprotein called glomulin. And the scientific names are not nearly as important as the fact that this is a cement or a glue like material that helps to stick and clump together soil particles and also resist erosion from water.

Now, in order to conduct this test, we just need a shovel and some bags to conduct our sampling out in the field and then we'll take those samples back home in order to do the test in there. Now, the circumstances of your soil are important for this. You can't do this if the soil is saturated or in standing water.

It won't work. However, unlike some of the other soil tests that we do, you can. collect dry soil samples. It doesn't have to be totally moist, although that can help when you're digging. If you've got compacted soil to get down into the lower layers at least 20 or 30 centimeters down where we're going to be getting our soil samples from.

Now it's always important before taking samples from the field to mark the geolocation either on a physical map or in a digital tool like google maps to make sure that you know where the sample comes from. And that your sample bags correspond with those locations. Now this is one soil test in which the percentage of clay or sand is not going to make a huge difference in your results.

Clay particles will break down in water, and of course sand will very rarely stay together under any circumstances. So the aggregates are really what are keeping it together regardless of the base minerals. And that's one of the things that's really useful in that the values of this are not going to be much different based on the minerals that you have in your soil.