EcoSoil Lab Services

Summary Price Table

This service provides valuable insights into the decomposition process facilitated through soil microbial activity, direct contributors to nutrient cycling, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and water holding capacity. By measuring the remaining mass of the tea, this service can help you assess the biological activity in your soil. The following options are available:

• Basic Tea-Test Decomposition Service: Standardized teabag kits include four pre-weighed Rooibos teabags, collection envelopes, irrigation flags to mark location, and instructions for burial and retrieval.
• Complete Tea-Test Decomposition Service: Basic teabag service with the addition of a pre-paid return envelope to send the retrieved teabags back to the soil lab for detailed decomposition rate calculations, including oven dry, incineration to calculate ash weight, and a report on the results of your teabags.

Our teabag litter decomposition service follows the standardized protocol developed for global soil health assessments outlined by Keuskamp, 2013 and modified by Hayes, 2024. This method uses pre-weighed tea bags filled with standardized organic material (Rooibos tea). The tea bags are buried in the soil and retrieved after 105 days to measure decomposition rates.

Measure provided: Mass remaining of Rooibos tea (Br), to three decimal points (0.000)

Custom Tea-Test Services (Hourly Rate): We can adjust the decomposition period or add additional biological assessments depending on your information needs.Measures provided: For each sample returned to the lab, we will calculate the mass of Roobios tea remaining (Br) which indicates the biological decomposition rate for your soil. The results will help guide soil management practices and optimize organic matter turnover and nutrient cycling in your system.

We offer comprehensive microscopic biological assessment of soil samples. Whether you collect the samples yourself or prefer our team to assist, each sample is processed within 48 hours. Shadowing microscopy is used to determine the count and biomass of microorganisms including nematodes, protozoa (amoeba, flagellates and ciliates), fungi, and bacteria. This assessment provides valuable data on soil health, nutrient cycling, and biological community composition. Additional fees apply if on-site support is required for soil collection.

Measures provided: Bacterial biomass (ug/g), fungal biomass (ug/g), count of nematodes per gram, identified to their food source (bacteria, fungi, root, predatory), count of protozoa per gram (amoeba, flagellates and ciliates)

This package includes:

• pH, offering critical insights into soil acidity or alkalinity for optimal plant health.

Measure provided: pH (concentration of Hydrogen ions)

• Loss on Ignition (LOI) to determine the amount of organic material (including carbon) in your soil.

Measure provided: Percent organic matter (%)

• Aggregate Stability (STAB) to measure the stability of soil aggregates under moisture to evaluate soil structure, crucial for water retention and air infiltration.

Measure provided: Percentage of stable aggregates remaining (%)

All tests are conducted in-house at the EcoSoil Lab, offering reliable and high-quality insights into soil health. Processing fees for drying, grinding, and storage are included.

This comprehensive soil health package includes microscopic biological soil assessment, pH analysis, LOI, and aggregate stability. It provides a holistic view of your soil’s biological and physical health, enabling you to make informed management decisions. All assessments are processed at the EcoSoil Lab, with handling fees included.

A la Carte Soil Health Assessments
Contact us to discuss any individual tests or combinations of tests you wish to purchase. We are happy to offer a no-charge consult to discuss your soil assessment objectives.

• Soil Collection by EcoSoil Lab: A flat fee of $125 plus mileage (0.61/km from UVic) applies for our team to collect up to five samples on-site. $10 per additional sample.
• Self-Soil Collection: We provide a detailed guide to help you collect soil samples correctly for accurate results. Note that for time-sensitive biological soil assessments, pre-planning with the lab is required to ensure capacity to assess within the appropriate timeframe (24-48 hours).
• Soil Processing: Air or oven dry soils and process to 2mm for further analysis.

For research collaborations where we collect depersonalized data regarding your crops and management practices, prices are as listed. For services where no data is retained by UVic for research purposes, prices increase by 50%.