Gardeners know that the health of plants is related to several factors: light availability, temperature, soil pH, and fertility. All are important to the health of plants, but most important is the amount of water available to the plant, which is referred to as percolation in soil. Why is soil percolation important? Running a percolation test is the best way for you to discover how well your soil absorbs water, which in turn enables you to determine what soil amendments you need for your garden. There are many expensive procedures to help discover the percolation rates for your septic drain field, for example, or for any other larger draining systems. For the average homeowner, however, it is easy to successfully hack your own homemade percolation test. Discover what soil percolation is and how to test soil percolation.