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!
Steven says
April 30, 2017 at 1:01 pmYou are NOT able to test the LEVELS with this test. It is a GENERIC indication of acidity or alkalinity. It will not tell you the LEVEL or either, which could be VERY important to know.
Stephanie Rose says
May 30, 2017 at 8:45 pmYou forgot to add “well actually…”
joyce brewer says
April 22, 2019 at 11:08 pmMy great aunt would put rusty nails around the roots and her flowers were a pretty blue and blue and white variegated.
Judy McManus says
April 23, 2019 at 2:24 pmwow, rusty nails? I trimmed mine all the way back last fall. Big healthy green leaves have appeared hoping for abundance this summer. Mine our beautiful Blue.
I enjoyed reading this.
Judy
Charles Wall says
April 9, 2018 at 1:50 pmI think this is great information. I not the type to buy a duet test. I do as I have seen Grandfather do year after year,but when I moved in my new house I couldn’t wait to start gardening Vegetables and Flowers. Yes I’m 38year old man that loves growing Alsome flowers like my Grandma had for longer than I have been around! This land I have worked the ground with no luck but I got hope from your words! I Thank you for the hope.it was needed.
Kevin says
June 16, 2018 at 12:15 amEven more crude method would be just to look at the color of your hydrangeas. Yes they won’t give you a pH measurement either but they should tell you whether acidic or alkaline
Melissa Souther says
May 11, 2019 at 4:45 amVinegar and baking soda fizz when they are mixed together anyway? Not sure about this. Please explain. Thanks!
Stephanie Rose says
May 11, 2019 at 9:30 amYou don’t mix the two together. One test is with vinegar, one test is with baking soda.
Jacky says
June 8, 2019 at 8:46 amWhat degree of fizz . I had a gentle fizz with the white vinegar. I guess there are genres of acidity
Stephanie Rose says
June 10, 2019 at 9:06 amyes! Exactly. A little fizz would mean slight alkalinity. It’s not an exact test, but this should give you an idea of what you are working with.