Knowing the pH of your soil can definitely help you in your gardening endeavors. Some quick ways to determine your soil’s pH are as follows:
Testing kit – This is an inexpensive way to test the pH of your soil. These kits typically use the powdered form of barium sulphate. When mixed with distilled water and a small sample of your soil, the mixture changes color based on the level of acidity or basicity.
Litmus paper – This method uses litmus paper inserted into a mixture of distilled water and a small sample of soil.Never heard of this before? Get up to speed here. An acid soil will turn the paper red, a basic soil turns the paper blue.
pH meter – This is probably the easiest method for testing pH. The electronic pH meter is inserted into moist soil and the pH reading is read from the device.
Visual observation of existing flora – The most inexpensive method, but not necessarily the easiest, is to simply observe the existing plants in the soil and see what grows well. If your garden is supporting mostly plants such as roses, rhododendrons, hydrangea, and magnolia, chances are your soil is acidic. If your garden features such plants as lilacs, thyme, honeysuckle, and dogwoods, chances are that your soil is alkaline.