The main desire of a gardener or gardener is a good harvest. But sometimes all efforts are in vain, and the reason is soil, acidity, or rather, its deviation from the norm. How to determine the acidity of the soil yourself? Can this be done without appliances? What determines the acidity of the soil? The main reason is the presence in the soil of hydrogen ions in one quantity or another. Most plants love a slightly acidic, almost neutral soil with an acidity of 5.5-6.5. The exceptions are sorrel, lupine, potatoes - they prefer acidic soil.
On soils with high acidity, many plants absorb the nutrients they need the worst because aluminum and manganese are activated. And they are toxic to plants, soil microflora ceases to process organics, and nutrients do not go into an assimilable form. Acidity is indicated by the pH sign, and it can be determined using special instruments or without them.
How to determine the acidity of the soil without devices yourself
There are several fairly simple ways.
- It is necessary to dig a hole with a depth of 25-35 cm and take a little earth from its bottom.Lightly moisten the soil with settled or rain water (it is undesirable from the tap, since it contains chlorine) and firmly press litmus paper to it. Such paper can be bought in stores for gardeners. If it changes color from yellow to pink (pH 3 to 5), then the soil is acidic; if it turns green or blue (pH 7 to 10), it is alkaline.
- Place ordinary 9% vinegar on a handful of soil: if bubbles appear or hear the soil hiss, then it is not acidic, it contains alkali.
- Make a decoction of fresh leaves of currant and cherry (1 cup of leaves per 1 liter of water). Cool the broth and add 3-4 tablespoons of earth. Stir. If the water acquires a reddish tint, the soil is acidic, if bluish it is slightly acidic, and if it is greenish, then it is neutral.
More precisely, acidity will be determined by a special device - soil pH meter. Well, if this is not at hand, then what soil, the weeds growing on your site will tell.
Acidic soils love: fern, plantain, tricolor violet, creeping buttercup, sedge, field horsetail, wild rosemary, field veronica, horse sorrel, small sorrel, heather, whitebear, pikulnik, field mint, blueberry.
Slightly acidic soils are preferred - nettle, wood louse (starlet), clover, creeping wheatgrass, coltsfoot, quinoa, dog rose, gardenine creeper, meadow clover.
On neutral soils euphorbia, adonis, garden sow thistle, white clover, field bindweed, chicory, shepherd’s bag, and other weeds grow on neutral soils.
On alkaline - poppy seeds, white droppings, field mustard, liveliness.
I honestly did not do any soil analysis on my site. But, judging by the fact that I have wonderful, unfortunately, thistles, wood lice, spurge, wheat grass, field bindweed, the land in my country house is weakly acidic, and in some places it is close to normal.
Once, Zagorodny watched the program and agronomists said that it was not necessary that the soil on the whole plot had the same acidity - the pH of the earth can be different within one garden or garden. So, for example, only in one place in the garden does a shepherd’s bag weed grow. Most likely, the soil at this place has neutral acidity. And at the opposite end of the plot, wood lice grow, I think that the soil is weakly acidic.
How to reduce soil acidity
Acidity can be reduced if neutralizing materials are added: carefully ground lime or dolomite flour, ground chalk, lake lime, silt, wood ash at the rate of 1-2 kg per 1 sq. M. m and even eggshell.
They need to be evenly scattered on the surface of the site. It is better to do this during the autumn digging of the earth. But keep in mind that liming cannot be carried out simultaneously with the introduction of organic fertilizers, otherwise nitrogen, useful for plants, will be neutralized.
Change in acidity in the soil does not occur immediately, over 3-4 years, and depends on the dose of liming, therefore, it must be checked annually.
How to increase the acidity of the soil
Alkaline soil is also not suitable for all plants. Alkaline environment interferes with the absorption of certain micro and macro elements.It can be brought closer to a neutral indicator of acidity by adding manure, peat or compost. For example, to increase acidity by 1 pH, you need 3 kg of manure or 9 kg of compost per 1 m2. You can add sulfate, superphosphate, ammonium sulfate, and sulfur is even better.
And one more tip: before upgrading the soil, think carefully about what crops you will plant this season. Perhaps it makes sense to divide your site into segments and change the acidity of the soil in accordance with the requirements of a particular type of plant.