Tino Carnevale shows how to test the pH of your soil and digs deeper into what it means for your plants. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe

Healthy plants need healthy soil that can hold and supply the right amount of moisture and nutrients. The pH of soil is the measure of alkalinity or acidity of the soil, or in technical terms, the amount of hydrogen ions present. It can vary depending on where you live or how soil has been managed, and it can affect the type and amount of nutrients plants can access.

Testing Soil pH:

The easiest way to measure your soil pH is to use a pH test kit from your local nursery.

Whilst pH can range from 1 to 14, the kit contains a scale from 2 to 10 which is the range you can find in soil.

Follow the instructions in the kit to collect a soil sample free of rocks and twigs, add the dye and barium powder. The colour will indicate the pH number on the scale.

Testing top tips:

- Test multiple samples from different parts of your garden as the pH can vary

- Wait for dry weather to improve accuracy of results

- Test soil before adding organic matter or minerals

Neutral pH:

A pH close to 7 is ideal for most vegetable gardens as the most important nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are readily available for the plants to uptake. If the pH is too acidic or alkaline, your vegies may have yellowing leaves or stunted growth and become more susceptible to diseases.

Acidic pH:

Acid-loving plants like waratahs, rhododendrons, blueberries, and camellias prefer pH to be between 5-6.5. Acidic in this case does not mean a pH of 1 or 2, that would be battery acid! The pH scale is logarithmic, which means that there’s a big difference between each number – a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 7.

To acidify soil, add compost, manure, and mulch.

Alkaline pH:

A pH of 7-8 is perfect for brassicas, garlic, spinach, hibiscus, sweet peas and geraniums. All the major elements plus more calcium and magnesium are available. To make soil more alkaline, add dolomite or garden lime to soil. Clay soils will need more added than sandy soils.

Around the country:

There are general patterns of pH around Australia, based on the type of underlying bedrock, rainfall, and agricultural usage. For example, most of Western Australia’s coastal regions tend towards alkaline soil due to limestone; Tasmania’s east coast is dominated by dolerite clays that forms neutral to acidic pH soils; and two-thirds of Queensland’s soils are acidic due to high rainfall. Generally, dry areas are more alkaline as elements in the soil are more stable. Fifty per cent of our agricultural lands have high acidity due to practices like using ammonia-heavy fertilisers.

Crop rotation can also help with ensuring plants get the nutrients they need, or you could try choosing indigenous plants that are suited to your local soils. Keep an eye out for signs of nutrient deficiencies, test your soil, and amend it if needed. And consider choosing plants that are already suited to your soil type and it’s pH to save yourself time and money in the long run!

Featured Plants:

WARATAH - Telopea sp.

RHODODENDRON - Rhododendron cv.

CYMBIDIUM ORCHID - Cymbidium cv.

CAMELLIA - Camellia cv.

Digital pH Meter for Well Water Testing

Digital Water Test Kits for Testing Well Water pH Levels

As a well owner you need to know how important it is to check the conditions of your well water. The importance of his can be related to the fuel gauge on a car, you always want to know where you stand. With new technological advances everyday it becomes more and more easy to make sure your well water is tested and within safe conditions, not only for consumption, but for well water filtration system operation as well. We carry many different products for testing well water, from water test strips and drops to digital pH meters and digital TDS meters.

If you have a water filter that does not use any type of chemicals to regenerate or “re-charge” itself, such as our Terminox™ Iron Filter, then you definitely want to keep an eye on the pH of your well water. We’ll use the Terminox™ ISM Iron Filter as an example. With this iron filter, you want to have your pH around 7.5 for optimal performance. When you test your well water with test strips, you will not get a completely accurate result, as these strips are mainly intended for pools and spas, where accuracy isn’t as crucial. A step up from the water test strips would be the water test drops. Drop pH test kits are pretty accurate for well water testing, but the use of color matching is where the flaw of this test kit lies. We all see colors differently and human error can lead to inaccurate results of your well water test. Not only that, but you usually only get whole number results and when you’re working with well water filtration systems you need to have an accurate pH reading.

A handy little pH chart for your reference.

The best way to test your well water would be to use one of our digital pH meters. Our digital pH meters read down to a tenth of a point and as an added bonus provide you with a water temperature reading. Our digital pH meters are delivered pre calibrated to 7.0 and can tell you exactly when you are at a 7.5 pH (which is perfect for the Terminox™ Iron Filter’s optimal performance). At an average cost of $50 they are well worth the money with a battery life of 2-5 years and the ability to be used in all types of water testing, including pools and spa’s.

As we’ve mentioned before, pH is critical with well water iron filtration and we encourage the use of digital pH testers at all times. We also offer Digital TDS meters which we’ll discuss more in a future blog. We offer many other tests kits as well, please take a look at our water test kits page for more information.

If you own a well, arm yourself with the tools professionals use from BudgetWater.com.