# Determining nitrogen in compost

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-nitrogen-in-compost/718200>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 21, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-nitrogen-in-compost/718200 "2015-04-21T16:17:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-nitrogen-in-compost/718200/1 "2015-04-21T16:17:08Z")

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I tried to google this and all I found was commercial testing. Is there any way for a backyard hobbyist to determine say withing 75% accuracy the nitrogen content of compost?

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**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-nitrogen-in-compost/718200/2 "2015-04-22T04:46:18Z")

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I suspect you’re using the wrong keywords - try “soil nitrogen test kit” and you’ll find lots of test kits designed for home use.

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**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/determining-nitrogen-in-compost/718200/3 "2015-04-22T12:50:16Z")

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Thanks Bob, yep I was just using the wrong search words. All kinds of test kits available.