How to Determine Soil Texture Powerpoint

Soil texture can be measured on any soil even on cracked surface crusts found in the desert.

Soil texture is an important soil property to understand for agricultural and gardening-related activities. The texture of a soil influences how much water a soil can hold. A clay rich soil holds more water than a sandy soil, which means that a clay rich soil should be watered less frequently with more water during each irrigation event. A sandy soil should be watered more frequently with less water during each event. There are many techniques used to measure soil texture. The method discussed here is frequently referred to as the "feel" method and proves a very popular method used for determining the textural classification of a particular soil.

Things You'll Need

• 25 to 50 grams of dry soil
• Additional 1 to 2 grams of dry soil
• Squeeze bottle filled with water
• Metric measuring tape
• Pen/Pencil
• Notepad

Instructions

Determining soil texture

1. Add 25 to 50 grams of dry soil to palm of hand. Slowly add water from the squeeze bottle to the soil until all of the soil particles are wet and the soil consistence is plastic and moldable

2. Roll the soil into a ball. If the soil cannot be rolled into a ball, the soil may be too wet. Add an additional few grams of soil and continue working it in palm of your hand until a ball can be formed. If the soil is not too wet and a ball cannot be formed, the textural classification of the soil is sand.

3. Form a ribbon with the soil by placing the ball of soil between your thumb and forefinger and pushing the soil past your thumb in an upward direction. Continue this step until the ribbon breaks. Use measuring tape to measure the length of the ribbon in centimeters. Record the measurement on the notepad.

4. Take a small pinch of soil from the ribbon and place in palm of hand. Wet the pinch of soil and then rub the soil with the forefinger of your other hand. Record whether the soil feels dominantly gritty, smooth or neither.

5. Refer to the ribbon measurement and observations recorded on your notepad. A soil with a textural classification of silt will not form a ribbon and will feel smooth in a pinch of soil wet in water. A ribbon between 2.5 and 5 cm in length is classified as a loamy soil. Clay will form a ribbon greater than 5 centimeters in length and will feel neither gritty nor smooth.

Tips & Warnings

• The steps in this article gives the information required to determine the general textural classification of a soil. For more detailed textural classifications, please refer to the references provided.

References

• Kansas State University: Estimating Soil Texture By Feel
• Soil Science Education: To Determine Soil Texture