Hi, I'm looking for ways to check the ph of my soil. I have used this one method before where you take equal amounts of your soil and ph neutral water and test the liquid in that with a hottub/pool test strip. Then figure out that the soil was to what the water was and get the ph of the soil. Are there other methods that are more affordable then ph test machines?
If you want accuracy and precision, you pay for it. Ebay has a ton of pH meters for cheap you can pick up. Don't nickle and dime for the key things because you'll end up spending the money in the end regardless.
If you plan on making adjustments based on the results of the meter, better get the very best on the market. Soil ph is hard to screw up if you stay with the basics of growing/soil mix. Easy to screw up if you start making incorrect adjustments, decided by faulty or inaccurate equipment. Huh?
well i worked up the soil today and forgot to take a sample, I did get a sample of water from my water source (spring fed slough) and it reads about 8.2, now I'll have to pump to a tank, lower the ph and pump it to the plants. Is there any good ph lowerer that is not toxic or harmful to pot plants? I've thought about making a filter from screen and filled with pine/spruce needles to lower it with. Has anyone every done that? I figure if the evergreen needles lower soil ph to an acidic soil which evergreen trees like then maybe they would lower the water ph. I'd wonder if filtering the water thought them would do anything, or if I would need to soak the needles in the water?
If you don't yet know the ph of the soil you are putting the cart ahead of the horse. If you're grow area is in or around pine trees odds are that your soil is already pretty acidic. Check to be sure. As for pine needles and making a huge brew of acid tea..there are easier ways to get things done. Mixing a tea each time you water requires extra equipment to tote or leave at your site and extra time spent at your site. It's been over 20 years since I grew oputdoors but I remember that both are things to avoid. If it were me, I'd simply amend the soil to account for the ph and be done with it. Lifted this from the Virginia Tech and VSU Cooperative Extension site: Hope it helps
I am not under spruce or pine, I am in a poplar tree area, I'll take it my soil will be high ph as well since the water coming up is high. I will be taking a sample before I plant. How-ever in the mean time I need to make a way to lower the waters ph. I plan on spreading dolomite lime on the soil if it is high. does vinegar work well? does it take a lot to lower any amount? does swimming pool/hot-tub ph lower work ok for plants? I was thinking of running the water through a device holding the pine/spruce needles and into a tank from which the water will be pumped to the plants. But now after reading a few threads dealing with this subject I'll use vinegar or chemical.
