How to change the pH of the soil

Clay floor

The soil is of vital importance for plants, not in vain, in it are the minerals that they need so much to grow. But sometimes we find a very acidic or very alkaline soil, which rather than allowing the roots to absorb them causes them to weaken, endangering the life of the vegetables. Can this in any way be prevented from happening?

Fortunately, yes. There is one thing we can do so that on that land there can be a beautiful garden or orchard. For that, you just have to know how to change soil pHsomething that we are going to explain to you next.

What are the differences between an alkaline soil and an acid one?

Acidic soils

Before knowing how to change the pH, it is necessary to discover why we need to change it.

Alkaline soil

If we have an alkaline soil, that is, a land whose pH is 7 or higher, some plants they will have deficiencies of minerals as important as iron, copper, manganese and zinc. In addition, this type of soil has a tendency to become very compacted, which prevents the water from draining as quickly as desired.

Acid soil

If we have an acid soil, that is, a land whose pH is lower than 7, the problem that some plants encounter is that do not find – or cannot absorb – phosphorus, calcium, boron, molybdenum or magnesiumwhich are essential minerals for its growth.

How to change the pH of the soil?

Alkaline soil

Powdered sulfur

When we want to change the pH of the alkaline soil to make it a little more acidic, we can use the following:

  • Powdered sulfur: the effect is slow (6 to 8 months), but being very inexpensive it is what is most often used. We have to add 150 to 250g / m2 and mix with the soil, and measure the pH from time to time.
  • Iron sulphate: it has a faster effect than sulfur, but it is necessary to measure the pH since we could lower it more than necessary. The dose to lower the pH 1 degree is 4 grams of sulfated iron per liter of water.
  • Blond peat: it has a very acidic pH (3.5). We have to put 10.000-30.000kg / ha.

Acid soil

Callus

Image – B2BLUE

When, on the contrary, we want to raise the pH of an acidic soil, we can use the following:

  • Ground limestone: we have to spread it and mix it with the earth.
  • Calcareous water: highly recommended to raise the pH only in small corners.

In either case we have to measure the pH, since if we are growing acid plants (japanese maples, camellias, etc.) and we raise the pH to more than 6, immediately they will show symptoms of chlorosis due to the lack of iron.

So you can grow the plants you want in your garden or orchard .

How to change the pH of the soil

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