How To Test Soil PH & Amend Acidic or Alkaline Soil

If you’ve recently developed a love for fresh produce or have a love for growing plants, you need to know that the plant is nothing without its soil. The plants will also be greener and healthier if the soil is healthy.

It’s important to know how to test the pH levels of your soil correctly and fix if it is acidic or alkaline, as it will help grow healthy plants. However, healthy plants mean you must put in more effort and take care of your land daily. For homesteaders, growing food is a common task that allows them to be healthy and keeps them safe from toxic elements present in foods nowadays.

Learn how to test soil pH and amend acidic or alkaline soil.

Testing the pH Levels of Your Soil & Avoiding Common Mistakes

A common question is whether the soil needs to be tested before one can start gardening. The answer is no. It is not crucial to test your soil. However, you should know the health of your soil before planting. If you don’t check the soil and it turns out to be poor, you will not only waste time but effort and money.

Testing Kit

The first step to growing healthy plants is to know your soil type. Is it acidic, alkaline, or neutral? Not every plant grows in the same soil. Knowing the right soil pH for all the plants and their absorption rate is best since they also require the right nutrients to develop fully.

Start by getting a soil testing kit. It will help determine the pH level of your soil. Various advanced testing kits in the market allow you to know the levels of calcium, copper, iron, zinc, pH, sodium, etc., in your soil.

Lab Test

If you don’t want to use a soil testing kit, you can get your soil tested via a professional lab. For best results, do the kit and lab test, as you need to know what soil type you’re dealing with. Once you know the results, you can plant accordingly.

Soil Meter

A soil meter would do if you only need to know the pH levels, not the nutrients your soil has for a specific plant. These will provide you with accurate results and are pretty reasonable. All you need to do is put this meter in a container filled with soil and wait for the results.

Final Verdict

Testing soil pH & amend acidic or alkaline soil has been made easy as you now have soil meters, testing kits, and lab tests that’ll help you identify the type of soil you have and how much you need to work on it to get healthy plants. Since each plant is different, you might want to check the soil before planting two different ones together.