Discover your garden’s personality: DIY soil test for acidity or alkalinity

Curious about your garden’s soil and how it might influence your plant choices? Well, whether you’re a seasoned green thumb or a novice, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get a little dirty. Let’s conduct a simple DIY test to determine the acidity or alkalinity of your soil.

Commercial soil test kits are out there, and they’re wonderfully accurate. But let’s say you’re impatient and just can’t wait for one to arrive in the mail. There’s a quick and straightforward test you can do with basic household items.

All you’ll need are two tablespoons of soil, half a cup of vinegar, distilled water, and half a cup of baking soda. Let’s dive into the how-to, courtesy of Almanac.com.

First up, place those two tablespoons of soil in a bowl and add that half cup of vinegar. Do you see fizzing? Congratulations! You’ve got yourself alkaline soil. If you didn’t see any fizz, it’s not a big deal. Move on to the next test.

Take another two tablespoons of soil and moisten it with some distilled water. Add half a cup of baking soda. If you see fizzing this time, it means your soil is acidic.

In the event that you don’t see any fizzing with either of the tests, you’ve got yourself neutral pH soil – the Goldilocks of soils, if you will.

Knowing your soil’s pH can help you create the optimal growing environment for your plants. Acidic soil? No problem! You can counter it with ground limestone. Alkaline soil? You can treat it with ground sulfur.

So, there you have it, folks. You’re just a bit of fizzing away from knowing your soil better and making your garden the most enviable on the block. And remember, the journey of a thousand gardens begins with a single soil test!