Is The Soil On The Site: Alkaline Or Acidic?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Many gardeners know that sometimes it is very necessary to know the acidity of the soil, since there are plants that cannot tolerate acidic soil, and some do not take root well on alkaline soil. But how to find out this parameter, which is very important for every summer resident? We will talk about this in the article

We measure acidity with a device

Of course, for a completely accurate measurement, it is better to purchase a device. But even when measuring the acidity of the soil using a special device, there are some nuances. First, you need distilled water. It is distilled, you can buy it at any pharmacy. Melt water will not work, since it also has some kind of acidity, and we need water completely without acidity.

We dig a hole in the soil about 10-15 centimeters deep, remove everything unnecessary from it: sticks, leaves, needles, in general, there should be a clean shallow hole. Now we fill it with previously purchased water until liquid mud forms. Now we lower a special probe near the device into the mud and hold it there for about a minute and a half. Now we look at the readings. If PH is 7, then you have the best soil on your site - neutral, if it exceeds 7, then the earth is alkaline, and if the readings are below seven, then the soil is acidic.

Measurements need to be taken not in one place, but selectively throughout the site, then you will have an idea of what kind of land you have on your site, and in accordance with this you can select plants for planting.

But if the device is practically not needed on the farm and you do not plan to use it often, then you can get by with improvised means.

Determination of acidity using improvised means

The most common two methods for determining acidic soil, alkaline or neutral. There is no question of any numbers here, we just define yes, acidic or not, alkaline. So, with the first method, you will need 2 small plastic cups, you can take any other containers, soda, vinegar and soil from the site. Pour earth into the first container and pour a little vinegar. If the vinegar sizzles, the soil is alkaline. If there is no reaction, then it is acidic or neutral. Now we put a little soil in a second container, dilute with a little water to make a liquid gruel, let it stand for 7-10 minutes and pour soda into the shaken slurry. If there is a reaction, then the soil is acidic, that is, acidic. If there is silence in the container, there is no reaction with soda, then the soil is neutral. By the way, neutral soil is considered the best option for almost all plants.

Another tool that will help us find out the answer to our question is a decoction of red cabbage. For this method, we need red cabbage, a saucepan, distilled water, several small containers and soil from the site. Cut the cabbage into pieces, place in a saucepan with distilled water and boil for 10 minutes. The broth should be a pleasant purple color. Now we filter it. It is believed that it has a neutral PH equal to 7. Pour some soil into any container, add the resulting broth, then mix thoroughly and leave for half an hour. Then we look at the color of the liquid in the container. Green, bright green or blue, which means that the soil has low acidity, more precisely alkaline, pink color suggests the opposite, that is, the soil is acidic, but if the color has not changed, the earth is neutral.

Just as in the version with the device, we collect soil in several different containers from different places in our garden. And with each sample we carry out one of the above experiments.

With the help of simple manipulations, we determined the acidity of the soil and now, in accordance with the results obtained, you can either change it, or plan the planting of plants in accordance with their "taste preferences", choosing for each a corner of the garden or summer cottage that is suitable in terms of parameters.