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Trouble Shooting

 

Gathering Data
1. Get enough plant material to do chemical testing; if lacking enough plant material, chemical tests may not be fulfilled.
    
                                                        (the level that we had to fill our extraction tube to)
2. If in an area with a lot of bugs, make sure to use bug spray and wear long clothing as well as a hat to protect from ticks and poison ivy.
 
3. If you have multiple people and a few soil extractors, mallets and scissors, you can split up to take your samples to save time.
 
4. To get the soil extractor into the ground, you may need to use the mallet to tap it down.

(a mallet)
5. Use a clean soil extractor for each soil sample to prevent contamination.

(a clean soil extractor)
6. Wear gloves when handling leaves to avoid rashes from poisonous plants.

(gardening gloves)
7. Make sure to check for ticks once inside.

 

Testing
1. We used the LaMotte Model STH-14 test kit (Ferric Iron test) to test for iron. This required us to make soil and plant extracts.
 
2. Wear gloves and goggles when chemical testing.
 
(gloves and goggles)
3. Make sure to clean everything in between tests.