Our lab is looking for reasonably-priced and transportable equipment to measure soil and leaf properties. We need a soil penetrometer and would also like to measure leaf toughness (i.e., tensile strength and potentially penetration force). This doesn’t have to all come from one piece of equipment, but we are looking into the Pesola® Macro-Line Spring Scales with pressure set attachment.
Has anyone used the pressure set attachment on a spring scale to measure soil compaction? We would love to know if it works and is reliable, or if we need to purchase a soil penetrometer. Also, we would love your thoughts on alternatives to expensive pre-made instruments that can measure leaf toughness. We are experimenting with simple weight-based (i.e., adding water until a leaf breaks) approaches. Have any of you taken such an approach? Many thanks! Sarah Johnson
