Despite the fact that today is sold a lot of devices allowing to determine the acidity of the soil, traditional methods do not lose their relevance. And this is not surprising.
- Firstly, purchased meters are worth the money. Price good device can reach up to 2000 rubles;
- Secondly, most gardeners check the acidity of the soil no more than once per season. Search professional device is quite expensive for such procedures;
- Third, the devices often lie and are easily damaged. This is especially characteristic for cheap Chinese meters.
Therefore, in this short article, I decided to talk about improvised ways of checking the acidity of the soil. You do not need special knowledge and chemicals. All that is needed can be found in a conventional kitchen.
Improvised testing methods
Soil acidity can be determined by the plants that grow on it. But I do not think this method practical.
- Firstly, this method has a very high accuracy;
- Secondly, in most cases to determine the acidity of the soil before planting is necessary, when it is plowed up and processed.
Therefore, this method can hardly be called a universal and applicable in a simple gardening.
However, there are two other improvised methods that give a fairly high accuracy and does not depend on the presence of plants. Both are based on simple chemical laws, which we know from school. On them will be discussed in my article.
Method 1. The reaction to sour
On checking will take no more than 1 minute. We will need a plate, a teaspoon and a 9% vinegar. The entire process consists of 4 simple steps.
- Step 1. Recruit teaspoon ground, the acidity of which we wish to determine. The sample is best taken with the depth at which there will be cultural roots. This will provide more relevant information;
- Step 2. We pour our sample on a clean plate a small slide. No need to spread all over the ground surface, it will complicate our experiment;
- Step 3. Take two teaspoons of vinegar and carefully pour in the earth mound;
- Step 4. We are waiting for 15 seconds and observing the result.
If a lot of foam, and the process is accompanied by a hiss, then the soil alkaline.
If the foam is slightly visible and almost inaudible hiss, then the soil neutral.
If the foam does not, then the soil sour.
Method 2. Reaction to an alkaline
The verification also take about 1 minute. We need a small cup (Preferably transparent that you can see the result) clean water and soda.
According to its essence, this method is the polar opposite of the first. We will monitor the soil reaction to alkali.
The entire process is also divided into four steps.
- Step 1. Take a small transparent glass (Or glass) and fill it with water;
- Step 2. Add the water and tea spoon ground thoroughly mix;
- Step 3. Add the solution earth half teaspoon of baking soda. Again, a good mix;
- Step 4. We see the results.
If a lot of foam, and the process is accompanied by a hiss, then the soil sour. (Hiss foam and are the result of interaction between alkali and acid)
If the foam is very small, so the soil neutral.
If the foam and fizz does not, then the soil alkaline.
Realizing a simple working principle of these methods, you can quite accurately determine the degree of acidity of the soil.
I would advise to use the methods described at the same time. This will eliminate the error and get more accurate data.
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