| Soil Health Property | Healthy | Unhealthy | Corrective Action |
| plant appearance | lush, uniform, dense, tall, large, sturdy, proper color | yellow, stunted, small, poor color, light green, spotty | Correct soil problem or test plant for needed actions |
| soil structure | crumbly, loose, holds together, granular | hard when dry, doesn’t hold together, lumps fall apart, massive, cloddy, clumpy, tight, compacted, powdery | Amend and condition to increase physical properties |
| roots | large, branches and spreads out, white, grows downward, numerous, good penetration, lots of feeder roots | won’t penetrate, undeveloped, balls up, grows crossways, discolored, diseased, shallow, short | Amend and condition to increase physical properties |
| soil color | dark, black, dark brown, gray, holds dark color when dry | orange, brown, light, white, red blue-gray, bleached, sandy color, light brown, pale, anemic | Add organic matter |
| water infiltration | water does not stand, absorbs, water moves into soil, soaks, rapid, no ponding | water runs off soil, sits on surface, water stands, won’t absorb, puddles, nonporous | Amend and condition to increase physical properties |
| compaction | doesn’t pack down, not compacted, remains loose | compacted, hardpan, tight, packed, difficult to till | Till, amend and condition |
| earthworms | many present after rain or irrigation, holes and castings present, found during tillage | not present, no holes | Correct soil chemistry and/or correct physical problems, add organic matter |
| erosion | soil will not erode, remains in place | blows away, washes away, erodes, causes dust clouds, rills present | Amend and condition |
| drainage | water disappears quickly, no ponding, soil dries out quickly | tight, waterlogged, ponding, saturated | Amend and condition to increase physical properties |
| ease of tillage | breaks up in one pass, mellow, smooth, crumbles, minimum amount of effort needed | clods don’t breakdown, lumpy after tillage | Amend and condition to increase physical properties |
| water retention | holds moisture, gives and takes water freely, excessive irrigation not needed | has too much water, doesn’t hold water, either too wet or too dry, droughty, remains wet | Remove surface crust or improve physical properties |
