Soil pH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of a soil. The lower a soil’s pH, the more acidic it is, and the higher the pH, the more alkaline it is.
It ranges from zero to 14, with zero to below seven being acidic, seven is neutral and above seven is alkaline. The optimum pH range for most plants is between 5.5 and 7.0; however, many plants have adapted to thrive at pH values outside this range.
It is, however, worthy to note that because pH levels control many chemical processes that take place in the soil, particularly plant nutrient availability, it is imperative to maintain appropriate levels for your crops to reach their full yield potential since it determines how easily plants can absorb nutrients from the soil.
According to cropnutrition.com, Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes thrive between pH 5.0 and 5.5, while rice, maize, sorghum, soya beans, wheat, cotton groundnut and watermelon etc thrive between pH 5.5 and 6.5.
In order to test the acidity or alkalinity of soil, preparednessmama.com noted that soil pH can be tested using the baking soda and vinegar method;
– Soil should be collected from different parts of the farm or garden, and then separated into two containers by putting two spoonfuls in each container,
– Then half cup of vinegar should be added to the soil,
– If it bubbles or foams, it indicates alkaline soil with pH of 7 to 8.
However if the soil doesn’t fizz, add distilled water to the soil in the other container until muddy, then half cup baking soda should be added. If it bubbles, it means the soil is acidic with a pH between 5 and 6.
Neutral soil will not react to vinegar or baking soda.
