I have soil samples that have been frozen for a while and I need to re-acclimate them for a series of analyses that require incubation at 25C. I have been looking for laboratory methods but seem to not find any or I am using the wrong terms "thawing methods".
How can I do this in a lab setting? I have an oven and incubator.
Thank you!
It depends upon the purpose of your research. What is your research title and objectives? If you'll be doing routine soil analysis like pH, OM, particle density, N, P, K - thawing in room temperature and air drying could be done. However, if you are dealing with soil microbiological research, you need to re check your objectives.
Air drying soil samples for chemical analysis is the most common practice, but if you are conducting microbial analysis keeping them refrigerated at 4C before analysis could be done. There are a few good articles here that might lead you in the right direction:
Lee, Y.B., Lorenz, N., Dick, L.K., and Dick, R.P. 2007. Cold storage and pretreatment incubation effects on soil microbial properties. Soil Science Society of America, 71(4): 1299-1305.
Wu, L., and Ma, L.Q. 2001. Effects of sample storage of biosolids compost stability and maturity evaluation. Waste Management, 30(1): 222-228.
Thank you so much Holly Deighton and Marilou Sarong
I will conduct both chemical (Nutrient profile) and microbiological (CLPP) analyses. I will read the papers and create a plan.
Thank you so much again
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agricultural Science
- Soil Science
- Soil Analysis