Many of my viewers ask a very important question – what is the correct soil ph for plants and how do I test this and how do I change it? The answer to this question is not so simple, but I shall try to make it simple and tell you what is the perfect or the ideal Soil PH for most plants and also few natural ways to soil amendment that can make your soil PH to the desired level.
Sunlight, water, nutrients—these are the basic factors for plants to thrive. But there is another crucial factor that determines whether your plants thrive or struggle to grow? It’s a soil property called ph. An ideal range of soil PH is indispensable for proper nutrient absorption by the roots.
What is PH? PH is a just a number or a value ranging from 0 to 14. 7 – that’s the middle of the scale is considered Neutral PH and anything below 7 is called Acidic or Sour in layman’s term and Anything above 7 is called Alkaline or Sweet.
So, what is the Perfect or the Ideal or the desired Soil PH for most plants? How will I measure this and How will I adjust the soil ph to this desired level?
This Value of Ideal soil pH could make a huge difference and really an important step for those looking to grow bountiful gardens. Because most of the nutrient absorption at root level happens at this ideal ph level. You may be adding a lot of fertilizers, supplements like micronutrient powders and stuff like that regularly to your plant, but if it’s not producing good results and you still have anaemic plants, then you should suspect something wrong with the soil PH, either it’s not favourable to your plant or the plant is unable to adapt to the ph changes.
For most plants, the ideal ph has to be SLIGHTLY ACIDIC, like around 6.5. but this doesn’t mean that plants cannot grow outside this range. Places with lots of vegetation and rain, such as forests, tend to produce acidic soils whereas Dry and arid zones like deserts are more likely to be alkaline. We will learn about acid loving plants and alkaline soil preferring plants later in this episode.
How do I test Soil PH at home?
Let me demonstrate 3 easy ways to test your soil PH at home. This soil testing is actually fun and you can share this with your kids to teach them simple science or chemistry.
The First Method is using Litmus Paper. This is simple school chemistry. And 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.
- 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.
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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 – There are two types of soil ph meters. Manual type or digital soil PH testers. Which one of these to choose? And These are easy to use portable gadgets with probes to insert into the soil. These give instant readings. These manual type of probe testers are not so reliable but they are inexpensive and handy. But These digital testers are more accurate but little expensive. These are actually 3 in one or 4 in one meters which also test Temperature, Light and Moisture along with PH. These factors are also important for gardening. We will discuss in detail about these meters in some other episode and how to make use of these for max benefit in gardening.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Manual Ph meter:
Digital Ph Tester:
How do I adjust my soil PH if its too Alkaline or even neutral to achieve the ideal PH around 6.5.
- Rain Water: If it’s a rainy season and if soil is neutral or alkaline, you don’t have to do anything. Just check the soil PH after rains. Rain makes the soil acidic naturally.
- Adding Compost to your soil: This is the basic requirement. At least 20 to 30 percent of your soil or potting mix should have a well decomposed manure like cowdung or horse dung or leaf compost or even vermicompost. If you add compost to your soil now, you need to wait for at least a month or two to see the ph change effect because this is a gradual process.
- Vinegar: White Vinegar about 1 or 2 teaspoons per litre or water can be used to lower the soil ph drop. Watering with this solution thoroughly once a month or even once in 15 days will help.
- Coffee ground or even Tea waste: The tannic acid present in this will lower the ph of your soil slightly. You can even add used tea or coffee waste to your plants to lower ph.
- Lemon Juice: Some even recommend adding 1 -2 teaspoons of lemon juice per liter of water and watering with this solution once in a month.
- Shredded Pine barks or any evergreen barks if available can be used to mulch on the top soil to make your soil acidic.
- Sphagnum Peat Moss is another remedy to lower soil ph.
- Alum : chemically called Potassium Aluminum Sulfate is a compound commonly used in water purification. This is available in powder or in crystal form. You can powder the crystals and use about 5 – 10 gms per liter of water and water your plants monthly once. You can watch a detailed episode on Alum and its uses in Gardening from a link in description below.
- Chemical or commercial products containing elemental sulfur can also be used to lower soil ph.
- And Lastly, If your soil is too acidic and you may want to raise the soil ph a bit higher, then you can use wood ash as a natural remedy for this job. Wood ash is a cheap remedy to make your soil alkaline.
Purchase Links: Alum: https://amzn.to/3JNvHGN
Wood Ash: https://amzn.to/3JNjPV6
Let’s begin with a simple explanation. I assume that most of us know What is PH. And for people who want it more simplified, PH is a just a number or a value ranging from 0 to 14. 7 – that’s the middle of the scale is considered Neutral PH and anything below 7 is called Acidic or Sour in laymans terms and Anything above 7 is called Alkaline or Sweet.
Without going into too much depth, we will come straight to the point. What is the Perfect or the Ideal or the desired Soil PH for most plants. How will I measure this and How will I adjust the soil ph to this desired level.
This Value of Ideal soil pH could make a huge difference and really an important step for those looking to grow bountiful gardens. Because most of the nutrient absorption at root level happens at this ph. You may be adding a lot of fertilizers, supplements like micronutrient powders and stuff like that regularly to your plant, but if its not producing good results and you still have anaemic plants, then you should suspect something wrong with the soil PH, either its not favourable to your plant or the plant is unable to adapt to the ph changes.
For most plants, the ideal ph has to be SLIGHTLY ACIDIC, like 6.5 plus or minus 0.2. but this doesn’t mean that plants cannot grow outside this range. Places with lots of vegetation and rain, such as forests, tend to produce acidic soils whereas Dry and arid zones like deserts are more likely to be alkaline.
Well now, How do I test Soil PH at home gardening level? Every hobby gardener must have this handy ph testing tool. This is not at all costly. Actually there are a wide range of soil ph meters including digital meters with varying costs. This one is actually inexpensive and does the job for me. You can purchase this from HERE.
Now, How do I adjust my soil PH if its too Alkaline or even neutral to achieve the ideal PH around 6.5. or a better question is How to make soil more acidic specially for acid loving plants. You can checkout my video on the list of acid loving plants.
Here are the top 10 natural ways to make your soil acidic if its alkaline and vice versa.
- First and foremost is the Rain Water: If it’s a rainy season and if soil is neutral or alkaline, you need not do any thing. Just check the soil PH after rains. Rain makes the soil acidic naturally.
- Good Compost in your soil: This is the basic requirement. Atleast 20 to 30 percent of your soil or potting mix should have a well decomposed manure like cowdung or horse dung or leaf compost or vermicompost. This itself is actually sufficient to make your soil have that desired perfect PH value. If you add compost to your soil now, you need to wait for atleast a month or two to see the ph change effect because this is a gradual process.
- Vinegar: White Vinegar about 1 teaspoon per liter or water can be used to make the soil ph drop, like watering with this solution thoroughly once a month or so. Its always better to check the soil ph before and after application.
- Coffee ground or even Tea waste: The tannic acid present in this will lower the ph of your soil slightly. You can watch a separate video on this topic HERE.
- Lemon Juice: Some even recommend adding 1 -2 teaspoons of lemon juice per liter of water and watering with this solution once in a month.
- Shredded Pine barks or any evergreen barks if available can be used to mulch on the top soil to make your soil acidic.
- Sphagnum Peat Moss is another remedy to lower soil ph. You can see my separate video on this topic HERE.
- Alum : chemically called Potassium Aluminum Sulfate is a compound commonly used in water purification. This is available in powder or in crystal form. You can powder the crystals and use about 5 – 10 gms per liter of water and water your plants monthly once. You can watch a separate video on Alum in Gardening for more details.
- Chemical or commercial products containing elemental sulfur can also be used to lower soil ph.
- If your soil is too acidic and you may want to raise the soil ph, then you can use wood ash as a natural remedy for this job. You can watch a detailed video on this topic HERE.
Here are some of the organic and natural home remedies to get rid of ants in your home and also in the soil around your plants including plant containers: The most effective method I found is infact a chemical which is one hundred percent effective – this I shall discuss and demonstrate at the end of the video and also you have a quiz question at the end.
12. Chalk Piece: Chalk contains calcium carbonate, which helps in repelling the ants. You can simply draw a line with a Chalk at their entry points or you can also sprinkle some chalk dust in these areas for better effect. You can also safely dust on the soil around your plants.
11. Pepper: Sprinkle some black pepper powder. This is will help repelling ants to some extent. Even this You can safely dust on the soil around your plants.
10. Chilly powder is another similar effective remedy. You can sprinkle it directly on ants and also on the soil around your plants.
9. Salt: to some extent will help in keeping the ants away. Just sprinkle some at the corners of your home or garden.
8. Baking soda and powdered sugar: Ants produce an acid for their defence mechanism. To harm them we ca neutralize this acid by mixing equal amounts of baking soda and powdered sugar and keep this in a container like a lid or plate.
7. White Vinegar: Its believed Ants cannot bear the smell of white vinegar. Prepare a solution of equal amounts of water and white vinegar. Add a few drops of some essential oil to it – neem oil drops would really increase its effectiveness. Mix this solution well. Store this solution and sprinkle it. Repeat this if necessary.
6. Lemons: Squeeze a lemon or place lemon peels near ant places. You can also wash your floors with water that has a little lemon juice added to it. Ants don’t like the smell of lemon juice.
5. Orange Peel Paste: Make a paste of orange peels in warm water and paint this at ant places and holes. Then wipe it after 1 or 2 days and repaint if required.
4. Cinnamon Powder: Sprinkle cinnamon powder and see effect – ants are actually repelled by cinnamon. But its not a cost effective method. You can use this only in emergency when you do not find any alternate way. You can safely sprinkle it on the soil around your plants.
3. Neem Oil – about 10 ml in 1 liter of water, you can sprinkle it on the soil around your plant but not directly on plants because this is double concentration what we are using here.
2. Boiling Water: If its feasible carefully drop boiling water on their residing places. I know it sounds too harsh, but your home and garden are more important to you than these creatures. You can also use a dish wash liquid to warm water and spray on them.
1.Borax Powder and Trap: Most people think Borax powder is a chemical, But actually its naturally occurring mineral salt and organic. You can sprinkle borax powder directly on the areas and also make a trap with boric acid to attract most of them. Make a sugar syrup or use honey and add some boric powder and add to a container with some holes for ants to enter inside and not honey bees and keep in a corner where ants are expected to visit. You can watch a detailed video on this from a link at top right corner of this video.
And Now the most effective method is the use of a chemical: There and many costly chemical sprays and stuff for killing ants but What is Use is Chlorpyrifos Powder – 1.5 percent available as Pyriban powder or check the brand name at your store. You can also use Permethrin dust with same efficacy. Its very cheap and effective way. Just sprinkle very little dust near the ants and they all die within no time.