How to Calculate Wet Soil Weights

Calculating wet soil weights will help you determine the moisture-holding capacity of your soil. The amount of water that a soil can hold depends on its texture and the amount of organic matter in it. Texture and organic matter content can dramatically change the weight of a soil when it is wet or dry. By calculating wet soil weights, you can determine what percentage of the soil is water.

Oven
Tray
Scale
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Weigh the tray you will use to dry the soil in.
- 2
  Place the soil in the tray and weigh it. Subtract the weight of the tray to get the wet weight of the soil.
- 3
  Dry the soil in the oven without taking it out of the pan. Set the oven to low and leave it in overnight.
- 4
  Place the tray with the soil on the scale and record the weight. Subtract the weight of the tray to get the dry weight of the soil.
- 5
  Subtract the dry weight of the soil from the wet weight to get the weight of the water in the soil.
- 6
  Divide the weight of the water by the wet weight of the soil and multiply by 100 to get the percentage of water in your soil.

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