Know everything about the soil pH...
Before Everything else about pH, lets understand what is soil pH and why is it important for your plant.
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Firstly, pH is the unit for measuring the alkalinity or the acidity of the soil. Soil pH is important to know the amount of essential nutrients available in the soil. These nutrient are helpful for plant growth.
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Soil pH ranges from 0 to 14. It is a negative logarithm of hydrogen ion hence, If Soil pH ranges from 7 to 0 then the soil is more acidic and if it ranges from 7 to 14 then it is more alkaline or basic, where number 7 is the neutral point which means that the soil being used is equally alkaline and acidic.
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Which soil is good for plants?
Neutral or slightly acidic soil is considered good for the garden plant (pH range from 5.5 to 7). Why because, If the soil pH is high it means the soil is highly alkaline which will restrict the plant’s ability to absorb nutrients from the soil.
Higher pH prevents soil from transforming nutrients (especially iron) into the form that can be easily absorbed by the plant, ultimately the plant growth gets affected due deficiency of nutrients.
The preferable range of soil pH depends on the plant selections. Some plants grow good in acidic soil while others in alkaline.
What affects soil pH?
Soil texture, Climate and soil mineral content, decomposition of the organic stuff are the factors affecting the soil pH.
Rainfall also plays a major role in making the soil more acidic. Rainfall causes rise in the amount of hydrogen ions in the soil which will cause soil pH reduction and leaving it acidic naturally.
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(Know more about soil texture)
How to check soil pH?
Usually people use a kit to measure accurate soil pH which is easily available at gardening shops.
But, there are some easy trick can be performed using stuff available at your home as well;
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Vinegar Test: Collect a half-cup of soil sample from your garden and then add equal amount of White Vinegar in it. If this mixture starts fizzing
(shows bubbles on its surface) then the soil in your garden is alkaline with pH level 7-8.
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Baking Soda Test: Take a half cup of soil sample. Prepare a mixture of a half-cup baking soda and distilled water. Combine this mixture with a soil
sample and observe it. If you see fizzing in the mixture then the soil is acidic with pH level 5-6.
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Red Cabbage Test: Take 5-6 leaves of red cabbage and boil them in 2 cups of distilled water. Simmer it for 10 minutes and rest this mixture for 30 minutes.
Now, add 2 teaspoons of soil sample in this water stir and wait for 30 minutes Approx. Observe the color of the mixture.
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However, these methods are used to determine the nature of the soil without giving an accurate pH level of it for which use of the kit becomes crucial.
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How to adjust the soil pH?
Common Sulfur, Aluminum Sulfate or ferrous Sulphate are some common recommendations to reduce soil pH down.
But if you want to achieve it without using chemicals on your delicate friends compost/organic fertilizers are the best choice.
Liming materials such as finely ground limestones are considered a good option to increase the soil pH.
Wood ash is another choice available to increase soil pH. Wood ash is the combined mixture of potassium, calcium, phosphate etc.
Caution: Avoid using high amounts of wood ash as it might harm plant roots or small Seedlings. It will also raise the soil pH unnecessarily
making the soil highly alkaline and will also cause nutrient deficiencies in the plant.
