Are home soil test kits any good?

[Foggy Paul]

I ask because I just ran two tests on the area where I recently planted a Chambeyronia macrocarpa. The soil seemed more clayey than in other areas of the garden, which are quite sandy. The results were:

N: little to no trace

P: just the faintest trace, nowhere near the lightest color in the chart

K: very little trace

pH: very little change from the default color value on the test strip which is about a 4.5

This area has been under "black eco mini mulch" for a number of years. Is it possible that the values could be that low? I'm limited in what organics I can mix into the topsoil because we have gopher mesh throughout, under the mulch. I can really only topdress. TIA for any ideas.

[happypalms]

Yes soil tests and leaf analysis works. For ph just the standard litmus paper is proven. While iam not familiar with the home soil test kit we get our soil tests done every 3 months, both soil and leaf test! I would recommend a professional company, or contact an agronomist for soil. 

[BayAndroid]

Purchase purchasing a test from a company that is more comprehensive will help you get the big picture.  As it stands, it seems like you just need to throw down some fertilizer. I would recommend organic, personally. 

Before doing anything, perhaps submit your sample to a company for testing and go from there. 

[Foggy Paul]

2 hours ago, BayAndroid said:

As it stands, it seems like you just need to throw down some fertilizer. I would recommend organic, personally. 

Oh yeah @BayAndroid I do fertilize a lot, and with this information I probably will more. I use fish emulsion and greensand along with Palmgain, and will expand my use of other organics. 

[BayAndroid]

The reason for a fairly comprehensive test is to check that you don't have problematic conditions which prevents proper growing conditions. If you're on a serpentine belt, for example. There could be some problems with heavy metals.