As it's almost Valentine's Day, I thought, "What is more romantic than soil pH?" Soil pH (which stands for potential hydrogen, for those of you who need to know these things) is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. Think little strips paper from high school chemistry class.
Gardeners care about pH because it impacts a plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. In short, if the pH is wrong your plants will languish.
The pH scale has 14 points, with 7 being neutral, above 7 being basic (akaline) and below 7 being acidic. To quote the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service, "A slightly acid soil, with a pH near 6.5, is optimum for growing most vegetables." For more details, see njaes.rutgers.edu
Mike Bucuk took a soil sample from our garden space last fall and sent it off to the lab for testing. Our soil under the turf was 5.9 -- a bit acidic. Earlier this month we added 66 cubic yards (10-12 dump trucks) of very aged compost with pH of 7.5, spread across the planting areas. Once it is tilled in spring, our pH should be just right. (The lab also checked for soil contamination, not knowing if anything had been dumped there over the years. Good news, no problems there.)
For a gardener, the right pH is heart-warming.
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