Sunlight, water, nutrients—these are the basic requirements for plants to thrive. But did you know that your garden soil has another crucial requirement that can determine whether your plants thrive or struggle to grow? It’s a soil property called pH, and an ideal range of soil PH is indispensable for proper nutrient absorption by the roots. Most plants need a PH between 6 to 6.5 for best growth, though some acid loving plants need a lower PH.
Now, Let me demonstrate 3 easy ways to test your soil PH at home.
The First Method is using Litmus Paper. This is simple school chemistry. Also this is not expensive. You can buy this simple litmus paper kit at any stationary store or even online. This is just litmus paper with color chart showing a PH value for each color that matches with your test result. PH of 7 is Neutral, PH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is alkaline. The most important thing is to use distilled water for all these tests you conduct, because the PH of distilled water is neutral.
So, How to Test Soil Using Litmus Paper Method
- Collect one tablespoon of soil from your garden either from container or from ground. You can take the soil from a little deeper like 2 inches below the soil.
- Add equal amount of distilled water – that’s 1:1 ratio. We are taking distilled water because it has neutral PH of 7. You can also take water from your water purifier, test it with litmus paper first. If it’s neutral, you can use it but only if distilled water is not available. Distilled water is easily available in big cans and also in medical stores in small 5 or 10 ml packs that are used for medicine reconstitution. So, for 1 table spoon of soil you would add 1 tablespoon of water.
- Now nicely mix this by Stirring for few seconds.
- Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Start stirring the sample again and now dip the litmus paper to take your measurement. Wait for few minutes for color change and then match it with the color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
Pros of this method: It’s Easy to use and inexpensive
Cons of this method: It’s sometimes difficult to read or match colors, so, loss of precision.
The Second Method is a rough and easy DIY method you can try at home to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline.
- Take a small amount of soil from your garden or container in a small glass.
- Now Pour some vinegar to this soil sample. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil because the alkaline content in soil reacts with acid like vinegar which is chemically acetic acid.
- Take another soil sample from your garden. Here for demonstration purpose, I know that this is an acidic soil. Now Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil.
- Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda. That’s it!
The Third Method is using Soil PH Testers – Which one to Choose, these manual types or digital soil PH testers. These are easy to use portable gadgets with probes to insert into the soil. These give instant readings. But these manual type of probe testers are not so reliable but they are inexpensive and handy. The digital testers are more accurate but expensive.
This soil testing is fun and you can share this with your kids to teach them simple science or chemistry.
The pesticides approved in organic farming are largely the natural ones, though a limited amount of synthetic substances are permitted.
Let’s list these synthetic and natural pesticides used in organic farming and learn how to use them one by one.
1. BORIC ACID AND BORAX: This powder is commonly used to play carom has many uses in gardening. It’s mainly used to treat soil pests and insects like millipedes and also for ant control. Just sprinkle the boric acid over the areas of infestation and do not water for at least 24 hours. It acts as a contact poison and also as a stomach poison when the pests ingest this powder.
2. COPPER SULPHATE: This is used both as a fertilizer as well as a fungicide. As an anti-fungal, it can be used in the prevention and treatment of fungal diseases like the Powdery mildew, Leaf rust, black spot rose disease and any other serious fungal disease. This is the most effective anti-fungal in organic gardening.
How to Use it? Mix 20 grams of copper sulfate into 1 litre of water in a spray bottle and spray it on the affected plant. You can repeat this process after 1 week. Prepare only the required solution for the day and do not store it for next use.
3. TRICHODERMA VIRIDE: This is a certified bio-fungicide and is normally present in soil which controls other pathogenic fungi and prevents root rot and other harmful soil fungi. So, this can be used in the treatment of soil fungi, root rot, damping off in seedlings and also to treat fungus affected seeds or to prevent fungal infestation of seeds.
How to use it? For Preventing Canker and stem rot after pruning, make a solution by adding 10 gms in 100 ml water and apply this on the injured stem after pruning to prevent fungal disease.
To Prevent Seed Fungus, add 10 gms powder to 1 kilogram of seeds and mix well.
For plants that are wilting and you suspect a fungal disease in soil and root rot, mix 10 gms per litre of water and drench the plant and soil. Repeat after a week if necessary.
To Mix it in your potting mix, add about 10 gms to a potting mix volume of a 12 inch container and then repot your plant. This is particularly beneficial when you transplant your seedlings into fresh potting mix.
4. BAKING SODA: This is pure sodium bicarbonate which is mainly for cooking purpose and readily available in your kitchen. To use it as a fungicide, you can mix 2 to 3 teaspoons of baking soda in 1 litre of water and mix well and spray on the affected parts. If you want to make it more effective and a universal pesticide, you can add 1 teaspoon of oil like neem oil to this solution plus some 10 drops of liquid soap and spray on the plant. You can also use any vegetable oil, but best is neem oil and also clove oil or eucalyptus oil. Repeat this spray every week till your problem is solved. Apart from this there are about 10 uses of baking soda in gardening. You can check a detailed post on baking soda in garden.
5. DIATOMACEOUS EARTH: This magical organic powder has many uses in gardening like ant control, slug and snail control, preventing animals and rodents in your garden and mainly as an organic pesticide effective against all types of pests like aphids, mites, thrips, mealy bugs, caterpillars and even soil pests and insects. The mechanism of action is it’s a contact poison which kills pests by extreme dehydration. You can check a detailed post on DE powder.
How to use Diatomaceous earth on plants?
First of all Water your plants for the day. Then dust the plants with an applicator or just sprinkle the powder on your plants. To avoid killing beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies, do not sprinkle on flowers.
6. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: Though it a chemical with formula H2O2, which is similar to that of water, but with an extra oxygen atom. This concept is the key for using hydrogen peroxide in gardening. Well, to use it as an effective pesticide and antifungal, add 1 cup that’s about 250 ml of 6% hydrogen peroxide per litre of water or 2 cups of 3% h2o2 per litre of water. Load it in a spray bottle and spray on the plants. To control Fungus gnats and soil pests, you can water the plant with the same solution. Apart from this, hydrogen peroxide has many other miraculous uses like to save a dying plant, as a fertilizer and many other beneficial uses. You can check a detailed post on hydrogen peroxide in gardening.
7. VINEGAR: this is chemically called Acetic Acid. It’s an inexpensive product and found in most kitchens. In gardening we use 5% white vinegar or the distilled white vinegar. For the treatment of powdery mildew or spot fungus, add One cup of White Vinegar to 1 litre of water and shake well and spray it on the affected leaves. To use it as a pesticide, Add one cup white vinegar to 1 litre of water and then add some 10 drops of liquid soap and spray on the affected plants. You can check a detailed post on uses of vinegar in garden.
8. NEEM OIL: Neem oil is by far the best Organic Pesticide available worldwide. Azadirachtin and Nimbin found in neem oil are the two major compounds responsible for its antibacterial and antifungal actions. It is in fact a broad spectrum pesticide and the safest and most effective of all organic or natural pesticides. To learn about how to use it, the dosage and the patch test, You can check a detailed post on neem oil for plants.
Baking Soda is pure sodium bicarbonate used mainly for cooking purpose. It should not be confused with either Baking powder or Washing soda. Washing soda is sodium carbonate and baking powder contains only about 30% baking soda plus other ingredients.
Now let’s list out the baking soda hacks and benefits:
10. Encourage Flower Blooming: Prepare a spray or solution by adding 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 litre of water. Mix it well and now spray this on your plants with buds or unopened flowers. This will not only encourage blooming but also take care of any fungal spores on the plant.
9. Baking Soda Pesticide & Fungicide: Let’s prepare our most powerful and universal pesticide and fungicide solution to treat almost all types of pests in your garden like the aphids, mealybugs, thrips, mites, whiteflies, worms, caterpillars, soil fungus, plant fungi like powdery mildew, black spot rose disease, leaf rust, leaf miners and many more.
– Take 1 litre of water in a container or in a spray bottle.
– Add 2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda into this. You can add 3 teaspoons if you feel the pest attack is too severe.
– Add 1 teaspoon of Neem oil to this. If you do not have neem oil, you can add any vegetable oil like olive oil into this. But Neem Oil is the best to make it a universal pesticide. You can also add Clove oil or Eucalyptus oil to make it more potent.
– Now Add some 10 drops of liquid soap into this. You can use your dish washing liquid soap or even hand wash liquid or any organic liquid soap if you are 100% organic gardener.
– Mix it thoroughly well and also always give it a good shake before spraying.
– Before you spray on your entire plant, please perform a patch test on a leaf and leave it for 1 – 2 hours to see the potency. If the leaf wilts, you will need to dilute it further.
8. Cleaning Plant Foliage: Removing the dust and dirt on the leaves encourages better photosynthesis and helps in better growth and health of your plants. To prepare this solution, add half a teaspoon of baking soda in 1 litre of water in a spray bottle and mix it well. Spray on the leaves and use a soft cloth to mop the leaves.
7. To Kill Cabbage Worms: Take Baking soda + Any flour like wheat flour in 1:1 ratio and mix it well. Sprinkle this powder on the cabbage or broccoli leaves. The worms munch on this and die within 1 or 2 days.
6. To Eliminate Slugs and Snails: There are two ways to use baking soda for this purpose. Firstly Sprinkle baking soda directly on slugs and snails to kill them; this might look cruel for some people though. The second method is to draw a boundary around the plant container to prevent slugs or snails from crawling over your plant.
5. Drive away Foul Smell from your Compost Pile: Just sprinkle baking soda on the top of your compost pile to get rid of any foul smell.
4. Weed Killer: Sprinkle baking soda directly on the weeds, specially in cracks and crevices. It will gradually burn the foliage and weeds should disappear in a few days. It will not only kill the weeds but also prevent new weeds from growing for a longer duration of time. But Be careful not to sprinkle it on your favourite plants.
3. Cleaning Your Garden Stuff: Prepare a solution by mixing 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of liquid soap per litre of water to clean your garden tools, dirty pots and even garden furniture with this solution.
2. Keep Cut Flowers Fresh for a Longer Time: Just add half a teaspoon of baking soda into the vase water. If your vase is larger, you can add 1 teaspoon.
1: HACK FOR SOIL PH TESTING: If you do not have any soil ph testing gadget, you can roughly check whether your soil ph is alkaline or acidic. You will need baking soda and Vinegar to perform this test.
Collect samples of your garden soil in small containers from different areas or containers in your garden, and take a half-cup of vinegar and a half-cup of baking soda. This is simple school chemistry – Acid and Base reaction. Acidic PH is below 7, alkaline is above 7 and 7 is neutral PH.
So when you Pour the vinegar into one of the soil samples and If the soil begins to bubble, it is alkaline, meaning the pH level is above 7.
Now you mix half a cup of water and baking soda and mix well. If the soil bubbles, it means the pH level is below 7, and it is acidic soil.