SOIL FOODWEB CANADA Home/News About Soil Foodweb Courses & Workshops Educational Materials Microscope Information Past Newsletters Photo Gallery Useful Links Contact Us SEND US A SAMPLE Soil Compost Compost Tea Soil Chemistry Submission Form & Sampling Guidelines

Please note: To access our submission form please allow pop-ups from our site, or click here. SAMPLING GUIDELINES Soil Chemistry Sampling Instructions Take several representative 1" diameter cores from the upper 3" of the soil. Mix the cores together. Place 1 cup of this mixture into a sealable sandwich-size plasitic bag. Soil Biology Sampling Instructions Take several representative 1" diameter cores from the upper 3" of the soil. Mix the cores together. Place 2 cups of this mixture into a sealable sandwich-size plasitic bag. Compost Sampling Instructions Take several samples from 6"- 12" into the pile, halfway between the top and the ground Mix samples together. Place 2 cups of this mixture into a sealable sandwich-size plasitic bag. Compost Tea Sampling Instructions Take several samples from the centre of your brewer and mix together. Using a clean 1 liter plastic bottle, fill 1/3 with compost tea, leaving 2/3 for air. Leaf Sampling Instructions Decide what part of the foliage you need to know about: the outer leaves, the inner leaves, shade leaves, sun leaves, the petiole, the bark on twigs or main branches, the flowers, the pollen, etc. Remove that part of the plant that you are interested in, touching the plant material to the least extent possible because your fingers carry microorganisms. Place the plant material in a plastic bag, ship via overnight mail. IMPORTANT SOIL SAMPLING INFORMATION If you are sampling year-to-year in order to follow trends, please follow these procedures for accurate results: Sampling on the same day every year does not guarantee accuracy, as biology knows no time. Taking good records when you first sampled (temp, moisture, rain, etc.) and making sure you sample under the same conditions again is the only way to ensure accurate results. Cold temperature soil will automatically have less active biology than warm soils. Sampling when your soil is at an average temperature for the growing season is recommended, although not necessary. For further information, please call our lab at 403-485-6981 Test description form available here. SENDING THE SAMPLE Send sample and completed submission form by COURIER SERVICE to:       Soil Foodweb Canada Ltd.       #3-285 Service Road       Vulcan, AB T0L 2B0       Phone: 403-485-6981 Recommend Couriers - Sample must be sent by RUSH or NEXT DAY Service Greyhound - PhoneL 1-877-463-6446 DHL - Phone: 1-800-225-5345 Purolator - Phone: 1-888-744-7123 UPS - Phone: 1-800-742-5877 FedEx - Phone: 1-800-463-3339 If sending via Canada Post please send express post prior to Wednesday to ensure prompt processing. Payment Information Test prices on the Submission Form. Samples arriving with no submission form will incur a $5.00 handling fee. Payment must be received in full via credit card or cheque before lab report can be sent.