It’s no secret that soil is the most important part of the garden. Not only does it create healthy plants, or lead to their demise, but it is also full of information that can help us grow a better garden. This at-home soil pH test will give you a general idea of the pH of your soil. If you want to find out the exact pH level, you will need a test kit.
Materials:
- Distilled Water (because it has a neutral pH. You can use regular water, but it could affect the outcome)
- White vinegar (an acid)
- Baking soda (a base or alkaline)
- A bowl and spoon
Let’s Test Soil!
Scoop up a small amount of soil from an area in your garden.
Mix in a bit of water to the soil: enough to make a loose mud.
Pour a little bit of vinegar to the bowl. If it fizzes up, the soil is alkaline. As you can see, there was no fizz in my soil pH test, which would suggest that my soil is acidic.
To double-check the results, grab another scoop of soil, wet it with the water and mix again. Then sprinkle baking soda in it and mix. If it fizzes, the soil is acidic.
On the second soil pH test, my soil did fizz up, which means the soil is acidic.
You certainly do not have to perform both tests to determine the pH of your soil. Just one will suffice, but you can try both to confirm the results if you like. To be honest, I already knew that my soil is acidic, but in the name of garden science I had to confirm!
Now that you are armed with this basic knowledge about your soil, you can use it to do cool things like change the color of your hydrangea!
I have both Blue,and Pink and I use a rusty nail but was wondering about Purple..Do I need to purchase a purple starter?
So if our soil is basic or acidic, how do we help balance it so plants can grow well?
My soil did not change with either the vinegar or the baking soda. I’ve been growing flowers in that area that don’t always turn out the best and some die. What should I do now?
Then you have neutral soil – yay! It sounds like you should be amending the soil to bring it to life. Here is more info: https://gardentherapy.ca/soil-food/
Both tests fizzed mildly, neither had a strong response. I’d say the vinegar was the stronger of the two. I planted blue hydrangea and I’d like them to stay blue (or purple). I don’t want pink. Will my soil be ok? Do I need to take action?
Hi Sarah, can you try the test again? It shouldn’t fizz in both, it reacts to one or the other (or neither). If your soil is neutral they should stay blue. If you have alkaline soil and they start to turn pink, then you can start amending the soil in the following season. It won’t happen immediately, so you have time to figure it out.