How to Test Soil pH

First, take a minute to appreciate garden soil. It is not dirt, which is what you sweep off your floor. Garden soil is made up of minerals, organic matter, air and water in a matrix that provides the ideal conditions for plant roots to provide fuel for plants to grow and thrive.

You can test your own soil using a basic soil test kit from The Home Depot. Inexpensive, easy and accurate, soil tests provide a wealth of knowledge about what’s going on under your feet, including the levels of pH, calcium, lime, gypsum and potassium. For a fee, your local County Extension Service will test your soil as well.

1. 
   Gather 3 to 5 samples from different parts of your lawn, each from 4 to 6 inches below the surface.

2. 
   Remove any grass, thatch or debris from your samples.

3. 
   Thoroughly mix your samples to ensure you have enough soil to test, as required in the kit.

4. 
   Spread over newspaper and allow soil to dry out, at least 24 hours.

5. 
   Follow the instructions listed on your soil test kit or send a dry sample to your local Extension office.

The test lets you know about deficiencies needing correcting and how much the pH level needs adjusting. Extension service analysis will make recommendations for soil amendments to improve your soil.

The pH scale shows a range of numbers from 0 to 14 that show how acidic or alkaline something is. On the pH scale, 7 is neutral, and anything below is acidic. Above 7 is alkaline.

When gardeners mention pH, they’re really talking about nutrient availability in the soil. Most plants will thrive in a pH range from 6.0 to 7.5, and that happens to be the pH of most commercial garden soils.

Of course, there are exceptions, like acid-loving blueberry bushes that prefer a pH around 5.5. Acidic soil can be amended with garden lime to make it more neutral or alkaline, while garden sulfur is added to alkaline soils to decrease the pH. Compost is neutral and will not affect the acidity of soil when added.