Gardening Soil

Soil Your Underwear to Test Your Soil

Did you know that you can check the biological activity in your garden soil by burying cotton underwear in it? If the soil is rich in microbes and therefore healthy, after 2 months there will be almost nothing left. If your tighty-whities are still almost intact, though … well, you’ve got some work to do!

For more information, read this announcement from the Soil Conservation Council of Canada.

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

10 comments on “Soil Your Underwear to Test Your Soil

  1. What if they look like that before they get buried?

  2. Oh, very interesting tip. Thank you!

  3. The info doesn’t include what time of year to do this. How warm (or cold) does it have to be??

  4. Heather Carr

    Can this be done now (November) or is it more of a spring-summer thing?

  5. Now I know what to do with the tighty-whities that my husband ordered (in the wrong size).

  6. Love the title and the post. It keeps soil testing simple in a very complex year. Thank you for sharing!

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