CEN/TC 223 - Soil improvers and growing media

This document specifies methods for sampling of soil improvers and growing media for subsequent determination of quality and quantity. It outlines the principles to be taken into consideration when taking the sample and ensuring an adequate quantity is available for testing.
This document applies to material in solid form (including pre-shaped growing media) and liquid form.
This document is intended to be used by manufacturers, buyers and enforcement agencies in verifying claims made for these materials. It is not intended that it should necessarily be used for the purpose of manufacturing control.
The requirements of this document can differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the material concerned.

This document specifies methods for determining temperature-time profiles during composting and anaerobic digestion for the production of compost and digestate.
The process monitoring is an organized check and recording of the temperature during a specific time of the composting and anaerobic digestion process.
This document only applies to composting and anaerobic digestion.
This document is intended to be used by manufacturers and enforcement agencies for the purpose of manufacturing control.
The requirements of this document can differ from national legal requirements for the production process of compost and digestate.

This document specifies methods for the determination of a quantity of soil improvers and growing media in bulk and in packages. This method is designed with an appropriate precision level so that it can be used to validate any quantity determination made.
This document is applicable to material in any form, reconstituted if necessary, but not to plugs, blocks and slabs sold as such by dimension; for these, see EN 15761.
This document is not applicable for material with more than 10 % (V/V) of particles greater than 60 mm in size; for these, see EN 15238.
The requirements of this document might differ from the national legal requirements for the determination of the products concerned.
Material which has become excessively wet and which cannot be easily broken down into a flowable material will not be suitable for the determination of quantity and might not give a representative result. However, because of the diverse nature and bulk density of these materials, it is not possible to quantify what is ‘excessive’.
This document is intended to be used by manufacturers, buyers and enforcement agencies in verifying claims made for these products.

This document specifies a method for the determination of quantity of soil improvers and growing media in bulk and in packages. This method is designed with an appropriate precision level so that it can be used to validate any quantity determination made.
This document is applicable to material in any form, reconstituted if necessary, but not to plugs, blocks and slabs sold as such by dimension; for these, see EN 15761.
This document applies to material that is in solid form, but not in block form to be sold by dimension, and which exceeds the particle size restriction in EN 12580 and where the declared nominal particle size is greater than 60 mm.

This document specifies references to methods for the determination of the following parameters:
—   pH;
—   electrical conductivity.
This document is applicable to solid EU fertilizing products classified as PFC 3(A) and PFC 7 as long as the main function of the EU fertilizing product is classified as PFC 3(A) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 [1].

This document provides an overview of relevant methods for the determination of specific parameters in solid soil improvers, including:
—   dry matter content;
—   nitrogen content;
—   P2O5 (phosphorus pentoxide) and K2O (potassium oxide) content;
—   chloride content;
—   copper and zinc content;
—   quantity.
This document is applicable to solid EU fertilizing products classified as PFC 3 and PFC 7 as long as the main function of the EU fertilizing product is classified as PFC 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 [1].

This document provides an overview of relevant methods for the determination of specific parameters in growing media, including:
—   the electrical conductivity;
—   the pH;
—   dry matter;
—   the nitrogen, P2O5 (phosphorus pentoxide) and K2O (potassium oxide) content extractable by CaCl2/DTPA;
—   the total copper and zinc content;
—   the quantity.
This document is applicable to EU fertilizing products classified as PFC 4 and PFC 7 as long as the main function of the EU fertilizing product is classified as PFC 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 [1].
This document is not applicable to preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.

This document specifies terminology for soil improvers and growing media.
Annex A contains an overview of all terms defined in this document in alphabetical order.

This document specifies references to methods for sampling of soil improvers and growing media and sample preparation of soil improvers and growing media for subsequent determination of quality and quantity.
This document is applicable to EU fertilizing products classified as PFC 3, PFC 4 and PFC 7 as long as the main function of the EU fertilizing product is classified as PFC 3 or PFC 4, as specified in the Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 [2].

This document provides an overview of relevant methods for the properties of compost and solid digestate when used in fertilizing products, including:
—   macroscopic impurities;
—   oxygen uptake rate;
—   self-heating factor.
This document is applicable to the following component material categories: CMC 3, CMC 4 and CMC 5, as specified in the Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 [1].

This document describes a method to determine the aerobic biological activity of growing media and soil improvers or constituents thereof by measuring the oxygen uptake rate (OUR). The oxygen uptake rate is an indicator of the extent to which biodegradable organic matter is being broken down within a specified time period. The method is not suitable for material with a content of particle sizes > 10 mm exceeding 20 %.

This Technical Specification specifies a test procedure for the determination of the content of unwanted viable weed seeds and plant propagules in growing media and soil improvers (see also Annex B for validation results).
The method in general is also applicable to soils and sludges.

This Technical Specification specifies a method to determine the physical impurities > 2 mm and stones > 5 mm in sludge, treated biowaste and soil.
Fragments of wood or bark can be acceptable constituents of the sample.

This European Standard specifies a routine method for determining the organic matter and the ash content of soil improvers and growing media.
This method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard describes an instrumental method for the routine determination of the physical properties, dry bulk density, water volume, air volume, shrinkage value and total pore space of soil improvers or growing media.
This European Standard is not suitable for those materials which are very coarse, which do not make proper capillary contact or those which are pre-formed and non-particulate and have closed porosity. It is applicable to materials with particles 25 mm and/or flexible fibres 80 mm.
This method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard describes a method for the routine determination of the effect of soil improvers and growing media or constituents thereof on the germination and early root development of cress.

This European Standard describes a method for the routine determination of the effect of soil improvers and growing media or constituents thereof on the growth of Chinese cabbage (and in certain cases spring barley).
NOTE 1   This test may not be suitable for all growing media since the formulated nutrient content will vary according to target use and the product is not tested in accordance with the specified use and pack recommendations.
NOTE 2   This test is not appropriate for the detection of nitrogen immobilization.

This European Standard describes a method to determine the aerobic biological activity using a self-heating test. This method is only applicable to composted material.

This European Standard specifies an instrumental method for the routine determination of electrical conductivity in a water extract of a soil improver or growing medium. The determination is carried out to obtain an indication of the content of water soluble electrolytes in either soil improvers or growing media.
This method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard specifies an instrumental method for the routine determination of pH in a suspension of soil improvers or growing media.
This method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard describes a method of determination of length, width, height, volume and bulk density of rectangular pre-shaped growing media.
In this standard "pre-shaped growing media":
-   includes solid, regular shaped, stable growing media sold, which are ready for use as a growing media, where the dimensions and corners are stable, and the surfaces and edges are perpendicular to each other – including mineral wool and polyurethane products;
-   does not include solid growing media that has to be hydrated for it to form, varies in dimension with varying water content – for example coir or peat slabs or growing bags.
The minimum linear dimension (length, width or height) for blocks to which this standard applies is 40 mm, and the maximum dimension is 2 000 mm.

This European Standard specifies a routine method for preparing a sample of soil improver or growing media prior to chemical analysis and physical testing. The procedures described herein apply only to those samples that are supplied to a laboratory in the form in which they will be used for their intended purpose.
NOTE 1   This method is not applicable to liming materials and is not suitable for materials like rockwool and foam slabs.
NOTE 2   The determination of the laboratory compacted bulk density is given in Annex A.
NOTE 3   The results of an interlaboratory trial to determine moisture content are given in Annex B.
NOTE 4   The results of an interlaboratory trial to determine compacted laboratory bulk density are given in Annex B.
NOTE 5   Attention is drawn to the possible existence of national legislation for the declaration of specific products, which could differ from the general requirements of this European Standard.

This document specifies a method of determination of particle size distribution in soil improvers and growing media.

This European Standard specifies a method for the routine extraction of water-soluble extractable nutrients and elements (as listed in annex B) in soil improvers or growing media.
The method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard specifies an extraction method for the routine determination of calcium
chloride/DTPA (CAT-method) extractable nutrients and elements (as listed in annex B) in soil improvers or growing media.
The method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard specifies a method for the determination of nitrogen in soil improvers and growing media. The dry combustion method was developed originally as a manual method by Dumas [5]. Its application is improved greatly due to the use of modern automated equipment and is applicable to all forms of nitrogen.
The method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard specifies a method for the determination of nitrogen in soil improvers and growing media. The Kjeldahl method determines ammonium-N, nitrate-N, nitrite-N and organic N content of soil improvers and growing media. Nitrogen in N-N-linkages, N-O-linkages and some heterocyclics (especially pyridine) is only partially determined. [6], [7], [8]
The method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE   The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European Standard specifies a method for the routine extraction of aqua regia soluble elements (as listed in annex B) from soil improvers or growing media. Materials containing more than about 28 % (m/m) organic matter will require treatment with additional nitric acid. With high solute concentrations in extract solutions, spectral interference's and background enhancement should be expected.
The method is not applicable to liming materials and preformed materials such as mineral wool slabs and foam slabs.
NOTE 1   Aqua regia will not totally dissolve most soil improvers or growing media, and the efficiency of extraction for particular elements differs from element to element. Such efficiency might also differ for the same element in different matrices.  Elements extractable in aqua regia cannot therefore, be described as "Totals"; conversely they cannot be regarded as the "bio-available" fraction, as the extraction procedure is too vigorous to represent any biological process.
NOTE 2      The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This CEN Report contains an assessment of the safety implications of soil improvers and growing media. This assessment provides a framework in which guidelings have been suggested to protect users (the exposed population in general), the environment (flora, fauna, and ecosystems in a broad sense, including soil and water) and plants that are grown in the soil improver or growing media.

This Report gives labelling and specification requirements for soil improvers, soil improver constituents, growing media and growing media constituents. Specifications for designated products are given in product schedules in Annex A. This CEN Report does not apply to liming materials covered by CEN/TC 260.

This document specifies the general requirements for the preparation of samples and initial suspensions prior to microbiological examinations of soil improvers and growing media. This method is intended especially for sample preparation prior to microbiological examinations of e.g. E. coli, Salmonella spp. and Enterococcaceae.
Because of the large variety of soil improvers and growing media, this method might not be appropriate in every detail for certain materials. This method might not be appropriate in every detail for certain products. In this case, different methods which are specific to these products can be used if necessary, for justified technical reasons.

This document describes a method for the determination of and the dimensions measured of the bulk density of pre-shaped growing media.
In this document, "pre-shaped growing media":
-   includes solid, regular shaped, stable growing media sold, which are ready for use as a growing media, where the dimensions and any corners are stable;
-   does not include plugs;
-   does not include solid growing media that has to be hydrated for it to form, varies in dimension with varying water content - for example, coir or peat slabs or growing bags.

This European Standard specifies methods for sampling soil improvers and growing media (excluding liming materials) for subsequent determination of quality and quantity. It outlines the principles to be taken into consideration when taking the sample and ensuring an adequate quantity is available for testing.
This standard only applies to material in solid form, including pre-shaped media.
This standard is intended to be used by manufacturers, buyers and enforcement agencies in verifying claims made for these products. It is not intended that it should necessarily be used for the purpose of manufacturing control.
The requirements of this standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the product concerned.

This European Standard specifies methods for the determination of a quantity of soil improvers and growing media in bulk and in packages. This is a reference method, which is designed with an appropriate precision level so that it can be used to validate any quantity declaration made.
This standard is applicable to material that is in solid form, reconstituted if necessary, but not to blocks sold as such by dimension; for these, see EN 15761. This method is not applicable for material with more than 10 % (V/V) of particles greater than 60 mm in size; for these, see EN 15238.
The requirements of this standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.
Where there is no legal requirement to use this method, for example in quantity control of packaged product, then it is permissible for any other methods to be used so long as these other methods can be demonstrated to be comparable with this standard method in giving the same quantity with the same precision.
Material which has become excessively wet and which cannot be easily broken down into a flowable material will not be suitable for the determination of quantity and may not give a representative result. However, because of the diverse nature and bulk density of these materials, it is not possible to quantify what is ‘excessive’.
This standard is intended to be used by manufacturers, buyers and enforcement agencies in verifying claims made for these products. It is not intended that it should necessarily be used for the purpose of manufacturing control.

TC - Small mistake in the 3rd paragraph of 9.1 of the E and F versions

TThis standard specifies a method for the determination of quantity of soil improvers and growing media in bulk and in packages. This is a reference method, which is designed with an appropriate precision level aimed at enabling validation of any quantity declaration made.
This document applies to material that is in solid form, but not in block form to be sold by dimension, and which exceeds the particle size restriction in EN 12580 [1] and where the declared nominal particle size is greater than 60 mm. This method is applicable for products where a mass fraction of less than 10% of material is retained on the 100 mm fall controller.
NOTE 1   The requirements of this standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of quantity for the products concerned.
NOTE 2   Where there is no legal requirement to use this method, for example in quantity control of packaged product, then it is permissible for any other methods to be used so long as these other methods can be demonstrated to be comparable with this standard method in giving the same quantity with the same precision.

This European Standard describes a method to determine the aerobic biological activity of growing media and soil improvers or constituents thereof by measuring the oxygen uptake rate (OUR). The oxygen uptake rate is an indicator of the extent to which biodegradable organic matter is being broken down within a specified time period. The method is not suitable for material with a content of particle sizes > 10 mm exceeding 20 %.

This standard specifies a method for the determination of a quantity of growing media and soil improvers in bulk and in packages. This standard is applicable to material that is in solid form reconstitued if necessary, but not to blocks sold as such by dimension. This method may not be applicable for material with particles greater than 60 mm in size. Note: The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European standard specifies methods for sampling growing media and soil improvers (excluding liming materials) for subsequent determination of quality and quantity. It outlines the principles to be taken into consideration when taking the sample and ensuring an adequate quantity is available for testing. This standard applies only to material that is in solid form. Note 1: This standard is intended to be used by manufacturers, buyers and enforcement agencies in verifying claims made for these products. It is not intended that it should necessarily be used for the purpose of manufacturing control.

This European standard specifies a routine method for determining the organic matter and the ash content of soil improvers and growing media. Note 1: This method is not applicable to liming materials or sewage sludges and is not suitable for materials like rockwool and foam slabs. Note 2: The requirements for the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

The amendment to EN 13041 covers the change in ring diameter and the results of the precision data for extra tensions.

This European Standard specifies an instrumental method for the routine determination of electrical conductivity in a water extract of a soil improver or growing medium. The determination is carried out to obtain an indication of the content of water soluble electrolytes in either soil improvers or growing media. Note 1: This method is not applicable to liming materials or sewage sludges and is not suitable for materials like rockwool and foam slabs. Note 2: The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European standard describes an instrumental method for the routine determination of the physical properties, dry bulk density, water volume, air volume, shrinkage value and total pore space of soil improvers or growing media. This European standard is not suitable for those materials which are very coarse, which do not make proper capillary contact or those which are pre-formed and non-particulate and are of closed porosity. It is applicable to materials with particles not less than 25 mm and/or flexible fibres not less than 80 mm.

This European standard specifies an instrumental method for the routine determination of pH in suspension of soil improvers or growing media. Note 1: This method is not applicable to liming materials or sewage sludges and is not suitable for materials like rockwool and foam slabs. Note 2: The requirements of the standard may differ from the national legal requirements for the declaration of the products concerned.

This European standard specifies a routine method for preparing a sample of a soil improver or a growing media prior to chemical analysis and physical testing. The procedures described herein apply only to those samples that are supplied to the laboratory in the form in which they shall be used for their intended purpose. Note 1: This method is not applicable to liming materials or sewage sludges and is not suitable for materials like rockwool and foam slabs. Note 2: The determination of the laboratory compacted bulk density is given in Annex A.