How to reduce the acidity of the soil in the garden - a few recommendations. How to properly increase and decrease the acidity of the soil Deoxidation of the soil with lime in the fall

My grandfather taught me to deacidify the soil under the beds. He always said: "In such a plot you will only collect a large crop of weeds, but with vegetables it will not work out." At first we did it by eye, and when I mastered the Internet and read about test strips, and then ordered them, we began to reduce the acidity to a strictly defined norm.

To create ideal living conditions for your plants. Firstly, in the right soil, the microorganisms necessary for vegetables multiply well; secondly, it improves the frost resistance of crops (which is especially important for perennials); thirdly, in a land with low or medium acidity, the amount of mobile nitrogen increases - a substance necessary for any "green creature", especially in spring, during active vegetation.

Although, of course, some useful crops, on the contrary, like to grow in an acidic substrate. Therefore, when deoxidizing for them, you need to leave an untouched garden bed, having designated it in advance.

And if you plant a plant in the wrong soil?

Our "pets" will bloom less and / or bear fruit. The fact is that in too acidic soil, their roots grow very slowly, and nutrients are poorly dissolved and absorbed. As a rule, even with timely top dressing, plants can experience starvation.
You may also notice that your plants wilt quickly in hot weather, especially if the soil is light. Still: the water goes down, and underdeveloped roots simply cannot reach it!
These garden or horticultural crops may get sick more often.

How to determine the acidity of the soil in the garden or in the garden?

scientific methods

Here are the garden soils:

The ideal pH for most home grown crops is between 6.0 and 7.0. You need to deoxidize garden or garden soil, the pH of which drops below 5.5.

The most advanced way to define is litmus test. A set of such "testers" can be found not only on the Internet - they are even sold in an agricultural shop in the market of our district center. They are made in our country or in China (the last option is in the photo). If there are no instructions, it's still easy to figure it out.

You need to work with paper like this:

Make a small hole in your yard or garden. At a depth, take about 100 g of earth.
Put the earth in a bowl, put a piece of paper on it.
Fill them with clean water, press something so that the paper and the soil are in close contact.
After a couple of minutes, the paper will begin to change color. When this "transformation" is over, take it out and evaluate it.

Roughly speaking, blue or green is the norm for most crops, pink is a reason to think, and red is a direct indication of soil deoxidation.

Alternative way - 9% table vinegar. Take a dark plate, or just put a piece of glass on something dark. Throw earth on it. Pour the vinegar on the ground, and look right there. If there is no reaction, the soil is very acidic, if a little foam appears, it is neutral, and if it foams very much, it is alkaline.

Determination by weeds and cultivated plants

weeds. If you have a lot of wild nettles growing in your yard (garden, flower garden, garden), the soil has low acidity. If "ugly" chamomile - medium. A large amount of moss indicates a high acidity of the site.
Vegetables. In acidic soil, pumpkin and sorrel do not mind growing. If these crops in your garden consistently produce good yields, and the rest do not work out year after year, buy a litmus test.

Beet. If its leaves are green and the petioles are red, beets grow in neutral soil. Slightly acidic soil shows red veins on the leaves, and sour soil shows redness of all leaf plates.
Ornamental crops. Hydrangea, heather, rhododendron, lupine, juniper, mountain ash, as well as cinquefoil or fern grow very well in acidic soil.
garden plants. Honeysuckle, lingonberries, blueberries, currants, rhubarb like to grow in "acid".

From this table you will find out which garden crops do not interfere with slight acidification of the soil, and for which the garden should definitely be deacidified, even if the pH of the site is above 5.5.

Top 5 ways to deoxidize

If it is worth fertilizing the soil annually (and ideally several times per season), then you can deoxidize the site every three years. Although, of course, a lot depends on the initial qualities of the site and the method you choose.

It is worth checking the quality of your soil twice a year: in the first months of spring and autumn.

Liming

The most popular, old-fashioned way.

Finely ground lime should be added to the soil (you can even sprinkle it through a sieve beforehand). Lime must be extinguished(i.e., meaning fluff). You need to deepen the lime by about 20 cm.

Application rates:

slightly acidic area - about 20 kg per hundred square meters;
medium acid - 40 kg;
high acidity - from 50 to 70 kg.

By the way! Liming is a method that will improve the structure of your soil in one go for several years to come. That is, it is not necessary to apply lime every autumn or spring, otherwise the soil will become oversaturated with limestone, and, again, the yield of most crops will suffer (plants will grow root mass worse in calcium-rich soil).

If you observe crop rotation, you need to process the entire garden at once. If the site is small and it is all divided into beds, select only those plants on which they like neutral soil, and lime only them.

Liming the garden (for fruit trees) should be done in advance - a few years before they are planted.

Dolomite flour (also known as limestone)

This material is more expensive than lime, but is considered more useful for the garden: it improves the mineral structure of the soil, saturating it with magnesium and calcium - important "participants" in the photosynthesis process. It is also believed that vegetables grown on such land suffer less from harmful insects and are better stored in winter.

The substance is not toxic to animals or humans, but protective gloves must be worn during operation, and if the flour gets on the skin, rinse it off thoroughly.

You need to make flour every 3-5 years.

It is very important that the flour be the smallest fraction.

Application rates:

slightly acidic soil - about 35 kg per hundred square meters;
medium acid - 45 kg;
high acidity - 55 kg.

This substance is especially useful for nightshades.

wood ash

This deoxidation enriches the soil nitrogen, which is especially important for plants valued for their foliage or shoots. But there is no calcium here, so it is better to use ash not as the main, but as an additional deoxidizer, or by mixing with other substances (chalk, lime).

For 1 square of land, take a liter of water and 200 g of ash. If the ash is peat, add 350 g of such ash to the same liter of water.

Adding chalk

Another calcium-rich substance.

As in the case of dolomite flour, care must be taken that the chalk grains do not exceed 1 mm in diameter.

Application rate:

weak acidity - 10 kg per hundred square meters;
medium - 20 kg;
high - 30 kg.

This substance can be replaced by: cement, used plaster, alabaster, as well as eggshells grated into powder.

siderates

These plants have a lot of advantages: they enrich the soil with useful trace elements (copper, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and others), protect the garden from the dominance of weeds, and are environmentally friendly.

Of course, they will not radically change the condition on the site, but if the acidity of the soil is slightly higher than necessary, they can correct the situation. True - for a couple of years.

When should you deacidify?

Autumn. At this time, it is better to give wood ash to the soil. This substance has a very long performance, so the ashes should be allowed to “lie down” in the ground until spring.

Spring. At this time of the year it is good to use dolomite flour, chalk or lime. This is especially true for chalk: before winter, do not throw this substance into the ground, otherwise by spring all the chalk will be washed away by rain, melted snow and groundwater.

Dosage

Sandy or sandy(light) soils. Give from 3 to 6 kg of deoxidizer per hundred square meters of land.

Loamy and clayey(heavy) soils. From 6 to 10 kg per hundred square meters.

You need to “dance” from specific acidity numbers - the higher they are, the more deoxidizer you use.

If the soil is light, deoxidizers need to be applied more often: they do not linger in it for as long as in heavy soil. Say, they can be added to peat soil once every 3 years, to sandy soil - once every 5 years, to loam - even once every 7 years (and the higher the humus in the ground, the more lime or other material is needed).

Let's summarize

It is very important to determine the acidity of the soil in the garden, in the garden or flower garden - in soil with too high acidity, yields are lower, and flowers are worse.
You can check the acidity in a rustic way (noticing which weeds take root on the site - moss loves acidic soil most of all), or by buying a set of litmus papers.
You can deoxidize the earth by adding fine lime, wood ash, dolomite flour, and chalk when digging or plowing. Also, not cardinally, but still, timely sown and dug green manure will help to improve the acidity of the site.

Sometimes people confuse acidic and alkaline soil, clay and sandy. This video will help you finally understand the types of soils.

To get a good harvest, it is not enough to sow the grain and provide it with decent care. The earth is the womb in which the seed will develop, nourish and grow. And the yields will depend on how fertile and well-groomed it is. Often, many gardeners believe that it is enough to only periodically apply fertilizer to the soil, and then it will be quite nutritious and will certainly give an excellent harvest. But this is not always enough. Experienced gardeners and summer residents use another method of refining - soil deoxidation. In spring or autumn, they add some additives to the soil, which make the soil pH more neutral and at the same time saturate it with the necessary natural trace elements. Why, when and how to do it correctly, we will tell today. Let's dwell on five simple ways that will be affordable and easy to use.

What is it for?

First you need to know that not all plants like acidic and alkaline soil. So, for example, they love sorrel and acidic soil, but tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage will grow poorly on it. One suburban area can have both the same acidity over the entire area, or completely different. Therefore, before deciding to deacidify the soil in the spring, you should determine what the pH level is in each part of your garden or garden, and what you plan to grow there.

Acidic earth is a paradise for fungi and pathogenic bacteria, plants simply do not have enough vitality to overcome such an attack, and therefore they often get sick, but there are few beneficial microorganisms in it. A lot of weeds grow on the ground, and cultivars do not take root well, they develop poorly and often die for a reason incomprehensible to the owner. A high pH indicates that the earth contains a lot of hydrogen ions. When the owner of the site tries to fertilize the soil and makes additional mineral (or any other) fertilizers, hydrogen reacts with them, due to which they are converted, and the plant simply cannot use them for its own purposes. Soil deoxidation in spring or autumn will help reduce the level of aluminum and manganese, but other elements: magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, molybdenum and nitrogen - will be present in the required amount and will be perfectly absorbed.

How to determine the acidity of the earth?

Of course, absolutely accurate results can only be obtained in the laboratory. This is a good way, but not practical. Therefore, experienced gardeners have found for themselves several simple options for recognizing acidity.

One of the easiest

Take two transparent containers and pour a teaspoon of earth into each. Add some 9% vinegar and stir. If the solution foams - the soil is alkaline, it foams quite a bit - neutral, air bubbles do not appear at all - acidic.

Reading on plants

The acidity of the beds with beets can be recognized very simply. The plant will have green leaves, red petioles, and a poorly developed root system if the earth is alkaline. On green leaves, red streaks are slightly acidic. But if the leaves have a rich beet shade, the beets grow large, well developed - the soil is acidic.

Weeds will finally be useful. Where wheatgrass grows - the scourge of many summer residents, the earth is slightly acidic. Woodlouse loves sour, but bindweed and most vegetable crops love alkaline earth.

Soil deoxidation in the spring should be carried out, starting from the acidity of the earth: the higher it is, the more deoxidizers will need to be introduced. It is important not to overdo it and observe the dosage, because an excess of alkali will harm the earth even more than excessive acidity.

Lime or "fluff"?

Most often, soil deoxidation is carried out in spring with lime. This is one of the easiest and cheapest options. They use it for this, add a little water to the usual one and stir. It should become loose, having reacted with water. She is often referred to as "fluff". Lime has the most pronounced neutralizing effect and is ideal for very acidic soils.

If you plan to deoxidize the soil in the spring, the rate of introduction of the finished "fluff" will be in the range of 50-150 grams per square meter of area. The degree of acidification of the earth should be taken into account. After the lime has been introduced into the soil, it should be mixed with the top layer of the earth (depth 15-20 cm).

Dolomite flour

Soil deoxidation is also carried out in the spring with dolomite flour. Such material will be more expensive than ordinary lime, but if possible, why not? also called calcareous (CaCO 3). It, like the "fluff", is undesirable to be introduced into the soil at the same time as saltpeter, superphosphate, urea or manure. So try to stick to one thing. It is useful to introduce dolomite flour immediately before planting crops, unlike "fluff", it does not burn the plant. It can be added to the ground at any time of the year, but usually it is autumn or spring.

It is entered at the following rate (per square meter):

slightly acidic - 300-400 g;
medium acid - 400-500 g;
sour - 500-600 g.

Dolomite flour is not used for soils on which gooseberries, sorrel, blueberries and cranberries grow. Treatment with such a deoxidizer should be carried out every three years.

Chalk

It will be useful to deoxidize the soil in spring with chalk. This additive is more neutral and is well suited for soil with low acidity. Chalk grains should be small, no more than 1-2 mm.

Deoxidize the earth from such calculations (per square meter):

The earth is sprinkled with chalk, and then the top layer of soil is mixed.

Ash

Ash is an excellent fertilizer, loosens well, and even deoxidizes the soil. The only thing that can cause inconvenience is that it will need three times more than, for example, lime flour. It has minor properties. So, per square meter of alkalized land, 1-1.5 kg of ash will be needed. It is applied during spring digging in a dry, crushed form. If you have a large plot, and the land is highly acidic, a rational solution would be to use lime.

Phacelia

Another easy way, and most importantly - completely natural, and even beautiful! This plant is planted throughout the site, then mowed and distributed on the ground. This can be repeated several times, phacelia grows very quickly - in 20 days.

Every experienced gardener knows what not to throw away. It is collected, dried, crushed and added to the soil. So the earth receives a lot of useful trace elements, and at the same time its acidity decreases.

Here are some simple and useful tips for those who love and practice growing tasty and healthy products on their site. All these examples are quite simple and will not take much time. It is enough to carry out such ennoblement once every 3-4 years. The earth will certainly thank you for your work - it will give you an excellent and rich harvest.

In chemistry, pH is an index that indicates how acidic or alkaline a particular substrate is. pH values range from 0 to 14: if the pH value is approximately 0, this indicates a very acidic environment, if it approaches 14, it is alkaline. A pH value of 7 indicates a neutral medium. In horticulture and horticulture, the pH of the soil in which plants are grown can have a major impact on plant growth and health. While most plants grow well in a pH of 6.5-7, there are varieties that grow much better in a certain soil acidity, so serious gardeners need to learn the basics of soil acidity management. Start with the first step and you will learn how to lower the pH of the soil in your garden.

Steps

Part 1

pH determination

Check the pH level of the soil. Before adding anything to the soil to change its acidity, be sure to check how different its pH is from what you need. You can purchase a self-testing pH kit from a gardening supply store or see if you can get a soil test done by a professional.

Dig 5 small holes in the area. The easiest way to determine the pH of your soil is with a pH kit. These kits are usually inexpensive and are available at many hardware and garden supply stores. Start by taking soil samples from the area where you want to test the pH. Dig five small holes, 15-20 cm deep. The location of the holes should be random within the plot - this will give you an "average" pH value of your soil. The soil that you got from the holes, you do not need now.

Please note that in this section we provide only the most general instructions - you will need to follow the instructions that came with your pH kit.

Take a soil sample from each hole. So, take a spade or shovel and cut a narrow "slice" of soil from the side of each hole. This "slice" should be crescent shaped, 1.3 cm thick. Place the samples in a clean, dry basket.
- Try to take enough soil from each hole so that the total volume of the sample is approximately 0.94 liters or even more. For most methods, this is sufficient.
Mix the soil in the basket and spread it in a thin layer on the newspaper to dry it. Let the soil dry until it feels dry when you touch it.

Use the kit to determine the exact pH level of your soil. The determination method will depend on your specific test kit. For most kits, it is necessary to place a small amount of soil in a special test tube, add a few drops of a special solution to it, shake it thoroughly and leave the resulting suspension to settle for several hours. After some time, the color of the solution should change, and by comparing the resulting solution with the color chart that came with the test, you can determine the pH of your soil.
- There are other soil pH kits available, so follow the instructions that come with your kit. For example, some modern electronic pH meters measure almost instantaneously with a metal sample.
Lower the pH for flowers like petunias or begonias. Many brightly flowering plants, such as petunias and begonias, grow best in acidic soils. For some of these colors, acidity changes from subacid before very acid can lead to a visible change in the color of the flowers. For example, if you grow a hydrangea in an area where the soil pH is 6.0-6.2, then pink flowers will bloom on the plant. If you lower the pH to 5.0-5.2, then you will grow flowers with blue or purple petals.

Lower the pH for evergreen trees. Many evergreen conifers grow in slightly acidic soils. For example, spruce, pine and fir thrive if the soil pH is 5.5-6.0. Some ferns can even tolerate acidic soils where the pH is 4.0.

Find specific sources of information for gardeners and horticulturists for a detailed list of plants that prefer acidic soil. The list of plants that can or prefer to grow in acidic soils is too extensive to include in this article. For more information, we can refer to special botanical reference books. They can usually be found in gardening stores or bought in a special section of any bookstore. In addition, you can find information on the Internet. For example, the official website of the Old Farmer's Almanac contains a table that shows the soil acidity preference for many plants (you can find it here).

Some additives that change the acidity of the soil are sold in the form of sprays.
It is very important not to overdo it with the amount of soil additives used. They have a long-term effect on the soil and on the environment in general.
Plants grown in soil with an unsuitable pH cannot grow well because some of the nutrients may be bound in the soil and thus not available to the plants.
The effect after the introduction of natural sulfur will persist for several seasons.
It is best to apply sulfur in early spring, when the plants are already planted, it is very difficult to introduce sulfur into the soil.
Soil pH is affected by many factors, from how well a site drains to how quickly the erosion process occurs.
If possible, use natural compost. It is very beneficial for plants because it provides them with many nutrients. You can even make compost from kitchen waste and grass cuts from your lawn.
Sulfur and compost create conditions for biochemical reactions in the soil, while aluminum and iron sulfates undergo chemical interaction.

Warnings

Too much aluminum sulfate can poison the soil.
If you have sprayed urea, aluminum sulfate or sulfur on plant leaves, wash them with plenty of cool water. If you leave these chemicals on the leaves, they will "burn" the leaves, causing unsightly stains.

FAVORITE COTTAGE How to properly increase and decrease the acidity of the soil Almost any soil gradually oxidizes from the use of mineral fertilizers on them, the use of coniferous needles and sawdust of coniferous species as mulch. Even excessive moisture from frequent rains slowly oxidizes the soil. An increase in acidity occurs during a chemical reaction in the soil when hydrogen ions H + displace cations, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, replacing them with aluminum and manganese cations. But it's very dry scientifically. In general, the soil is oxidized and its quality is noticeably reduced, and at the same time the yield is reduced. In order for the soil to be suitable for growing the main garden crops and they grow healthy and please us with a good harvest, the soil needs to return to a neutral balance. This is approximately 7 pH, which is the norm for growing most plants. To do this, it is deoxidized by mixing with calcium, more precisely with substances containing calcium. If you use a calcium-magnesium mixture, then this is a more beneficial procedure for the soil. There are ready-made fertilizers consisting of a calcium-magnesium mixture for deoxidation (liming) of soils that can be found on sale. This is a good solution to the problem, since not only calcium is introduced, but also other substances necessary for good plant growth. You can use limestone (dolomite) flour, in addition to calcium, dolomite limestone contains at least 10-20% magnesium carbonate, it is one of the best compounds for deoxidizing the soil. But you need to know that the process will not happen instantly, but will take several years. Hydrated lime is fluff, it is the fastest acting and one of the highest efficiency in solving our problem. Reduces acidity almost 100 times faster. But she also has her own but, it cannot be applied along with manure, because lime reacts with nitrogen in the manure and neutralizes it, releasing ammonia. Well, at the end, one of the substances most beloved by gardeners is wood ash. It is wonderful to bring it in the fall along with manure, for digging. Yes, and in the spring, the ashes can be brought into the furrows, into the holes or into the pits, during the planting of seedlings. If, when using lime or ready-made fertilizers, the consumption is indicated on the label, then up to 7 kilograms per 10 square meters of ash may be needed. The ash contains more than 30 plant nutrients, I will not list them all. The use of ash as the main fertilizer (for some crops) and plant nutrition during the season is welcomed by all gardeners. But using it without measure is not worth it. Read more about using wood ash as a fertilizer here. I want to say a few more words about the fact that in nature, as in life in general, there is no pure black or pure white, everything consists of halftones. According to this, and with acidity, not everything is so simple. A neutral soil reaction is not very suitable for everyone. Let's say the same cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, garlic, eggplant and horseradish can be grown wonderfully on slightly acidic soils. Using the same ash a little bit every year. Since plants with each cycle of growth, due to decomposition and absorption of all kinds of nutrients, oxidize the soil more and more every year, requiring liming treatment. Which is carried out with a sufficiently large amount of lime material 1 time in 5-8 years, or a little annually. Well, now about those who live on acidic soils are not just good, they are even necessary. Rhododendrons (azaleas) need such soil for a normal life. Even the color of the hydrangea can be made more blue or with all sorts of its shades by increasing the acidity, pouring with a solution of potassium alum or aluminum sulfate. Many ornamental plants such as heather and various mosses, various varieties of fan maple, beautiful and useful viburnum. For them, we can acidify the soil with: With the help of mulch from softwood sawdust, bark, fallen needles, peat (preferably horse). Fertilizing with sulfur up to 70 grams per square meter. Potassium alum or aluminum sulfate. Irrigation with acidic solution. Oxalic or citric acid is diluted with 2 grams of acid per 10 liters of water. You can use ordinary saline vinegar by diluting 100 grams of 9% vinegar in 10 liters of water. There are still enough plants for which acidity is not critical. Therefore, it is up to you to decide what and where will grow and what soil is more suitable for this. And one more piece of advice or a wish to all summer gardeners: you plant green manure on your plots, these are the best friends for the soil and wonderful fertilizers for plants in our plots. Good luck at the cottage!

It is almost impossible to get a good harvest on acidic soil: plants shrink in size, change color due to a lack of nutrients, and as a result, the fruits are unsuitable for human consumption. For example, if you cook a potato grown in acidic soil, then dark spots will be visible on its pulp.

In appearance, such soil is similar to a plasticine waterproof mass, the lumps of which are difficult to break. In summer, it cracks from the heat, because the water does not penetrate inside, but flows down the top. Not only the chemical component of the soil suffers, but also the microbiological one - the beneficial flora is oppressed and cannot process organic matter.

Effect of acidity on yields

Acidity affects the yield of vegetable crops in different ways. Most of them prefer a slightly acidic or neutral soil reaction. Many wild berries, such as blueberries, are the biggest acid lovers - they will not grow on slightly acidic, much less neutral soil.

Slightly less acidic soil is needed for tomatoes, pumpkin, sorrel and parsley. For example, potatoes respond well to slightly acidic soil, melons and gourds - zucchini, cucumbers, legumes, as well as radishes and radishes. A neutral environment is necessary for beets, garlic, onions and cabbage.

Beautiful ornamental plants - rhododendrons - also record holders for acidity. For them, it is necessary to specially prepare the soil at the place where it is planned to grow them and acidify the bed every year.

Why is acidity so dangerous? The fact is that the main nutrients - the NPK complex are not available to the root system, therefore, dwarfism of the aerial parts and fruits appears. At the same time, high concentrations of aluminum and manganese further reduce the ability of crops to absorb nutrients.

The intake of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus is reduced, and with it the immunity of plants. On acidic soil, they are more likely to get sick and are subject to epidemics of fungal infection.

Soil pH levels - norms for plants

The acidity scale is expressed in units from 1 to 14:

the most acidic soils pH 3.5 - 4- only marsh plants can withstand such a value;

extremely sour from 4 to 4.5;

very acidic from 4.6 to 5.3;

weak acidity is the range from 5.4 to 6.3;

neutral ground - 6,4 – 7,3;

up to 8 units- weak alkaline indicator;

over 8- alkaline soils.

Both strongly acidic and strongly alkaline soils are an unfavorable environment for growing vegetable crops. In both cases, the absorption of nutrients is disrupted and the plants die.

What to do if the soil is acidic in the garden? If the pH is not always low, then periodic addition of alkaline substances is sufficient in accordance with the initial level of acidity.

Video: How to deoxidize the soil and fertilize at the same time

It is worse when the site is located in a lowland and there is always high humidity in the garden. Here, a slightly acidic environment will have to be created and maintained independently, which, of course, takes a lot of time: alkalization takes several years before it gives positive results. It could be two or three years.

The composition also affects pH - peat soils are more often acidic, loams are alkaline, chernozems are neutral, that is, the amount of humus directly affects the acid-base balance.

How to determine the acid content in the soil at home - methods

Before starting to carry out measures to reduce soil acidity, it is necessary to accurately determine its amount, that is, measure the pH. To begin with, they inspect the garden and nearby areas for the presence of plants such as:

plantain;

moss;

wheatgrass;

woodlice;

Ivan da Marya;

horsetail.

If these grow in large numbers, therefore, the soil is highly acidic and the cultivated plants will be uncomfortable. In addition, at such a pH, a wireworm, a nematode settles in the soil, and the click beetle, pests of garden plants, actively reproduces.

The most effective and accurate way is to take soil samples from various parts of the garden to the laboratory. You can do it yourself, folk methods, but the results will be approximate. In this case, you can overdo it with deoxidizers, or vice versa - make a little.

How to test the soil:

Take 10 young blackcurrant leaves, place in a half liter jar and pour boiling water. Wait until it cools down completely, then throw in a couple of tablespoons of soil. If the water turns red - the soil is acidic, it turns blue - slightly acidic, green - the soil is neutral.

Take a handful of earth and pour on it teaspoon vinegar. If it starts to hiss, then the soil does not need deoxidation - there are enough carbonates in it. If hissing is not heard, alkalization measures will have to be carried out. With this method, there is no exact indicator, so this test is carried out if some crops grow poorly or do not produce a crop.

Litmus paper helps to roughly determine the degree of acidity, but also does not give an exact number. To do this, mix the same amount of distilled water and earth, dissolve, insist 15 minutes, then filtered and lowered there litmus paper. In 3 minutes can be compared with the test scale.

There are instrumental, more accurate methods, for example, using a pH meter.

pH meter

There are high-precision devices made in Japan. If the soil on the site often changes its acidity, then it makes sense to purchase such a device and use it to control the composition of the soil. To check, you need to do the following:

20 g soil mixed with 20 ml purified water.

Stir and infuse 1 hour.

Filter the liquid into another bowl.

Measure indicators.

After working with the device, it must be thoroughly rinsed with clean warm water and calibrated with distilled liquid.

What fertilizers deoxidize the soil

If acidic soil prevents garden plants from developing, what should I do first? Firstly, the indicators may differ depending on which crops grew in the garden before, so you need to check each one and add deoxidizers only where the indicators are lower.

Secondly, pay attention to what fertilizers are available for acidic soil - it may be enough just to feed the earth with wood ash or compost, and it will recover.

If there is a lot of acid, then you will have to use solid fertilizers, such as chalk, quicklime, dolomite flour.

Chalk

Chalk is a substance containing calcium. To make it work faster, you need to make sure that the size of the grains does not exceed 1 mm in diameter. For particularly acidic areas, you will need 300g per square meter, with medium acidity - 200 g for weakly acidic 100 g

The chalk is evenly distributed over the site, leveled with a rake, then dug up. It is better to do this in the fall. Next year, the chemical composition of the soil will partially change and it will be possible to plant vegetables in the garden.

Slaked lime

Liming is recommended to be carried out in several stages, annually within three years, contributing 1/3 of the prescribed amount. For example, if you need to enter 5 – 7 kg per square meter with very strong acidification, then in the first year they lay and dig 2 - 3 kg, for the second and third 1.5 kg lime.

For moderately acidic soil - 4 - 5 kg per square meter, for slightly acidic 2 kg. Depth should not be less than 20 cm from the surface. Before use, lime is poured with water and insisted for some time.

To remove weeds, you can pour more substance where plantations of plantain or other acid-loving plants grow.

wood ash

Wood ash is suitable for medium and slightly acidic soils. With a very strong degree, you will have to make a lot of it and wait a long time until the earth is restored. In addition, with this method, there is no accumulation of calcium in the soil, and almost all vegetable crops need it.

The fact is that all calcium goes to reduce acidic compounds. Calcium is necessary for the prevention of various rots, especially top rot in tomatoes and peppers.

Experts recommend using ash together with other substances - chalk or lime, as well as dolomite flour. 200 g of wood ash will be required per square meter, infused with water. If using peat ash, then the amount should be 2 times more.

Compost

Suitable for neutralizing slightly acidic soil and maintaining the optimum level of substances in the soil. By itself, compost has a neutral reaction. It is not suitable for heavily acidic areas.

Compost can be produced independently from vegetation residues, leaf litter, manure, hay or dry straw as a carbon component. Wait for the substance to mature for a long time. It usually takes a year and a half. The advantage of compost is that it restores the soil microflora well and contributes to the accumulation of humus in the soil.

To maintain a slightly acidic soil reaction, it is necessary annually apply 10 kg of compost per square meter.

Dolomite flour

Limestone flour or dolomite is the safest and most environmentally friendly way to restore the soil when compared with the use of lime. In addition, additional nutrients enter the soil - magnesium, calcium in the form of oxides.

In case of severe acidification, it will be necessary 600 g dolomite flour, with an average - 500g per square meter, with a weak 350 g.

If you dig up the soil after fertilizing, the effect will appear faster. If you simply scatter it around the site, then the substance will penetrate the soil only after a year. It is necessary to ensure that the flour is finely ground - so it will work faster.

siderates

Siderata not only contribute to the deoxidation of the soil, but also nourish it with various trace elements and nitrogen. This is a completely eco-friendly way than to fertilize acidic soil. True, you have to spend on it 2 - 3 years. With a very low pH, it is recommended to first add dolomite flour, ate or lime, and then plant green manure in the second or third year.

The advantage of green manure plants is that they contribute to the penetration of air and water into the soil. After the roots rot, tubules remain in the soil, through which moisture and oxygen enter. At the same time, the soil becomes loose, beneficial bacteria begin to multiply in it.

It is most advantageous to sow green manure from acidification before winter, after harvesting. Before frost, they have time to grow, but do not have time to set seeds, so their growth is easy to control. It is not recommended to dig green manure with soil before winter - this washes away nutrients, and it takes a lot of strength. If planted in the spring, then after a while the crops are cut and dug up so that they begin to decompose faster.

Depending on what crop is planned to be grown in the garden, you need to choose a suitable green manure plant. For example, cruciferous mustard is not planted before cabbage, otherwise the latter will start to hurt, and after vetch it is better not to grow beans or peas. The most useful crops in this regard are lupine, clover, vetch, peas, phacelia, sweet clover, white mustard and cereals - oats or rye.

What substances increase the acid content

The use of acidic fertilizers, such as ammonium nitrate, leads to a gradual decrease in alkaline elements in the soil. To avoid this, it is recommended to apply fertilizer in parts or apply alkaline top dressing - calcium and sodium nitrate. Up to a certain point, this will be beneficial, and then the reverse process is possible - salinization, so the soil must be periodically checked.

A large amount of carbon dioxide leads to a decrease in the amount of beneficial soil microflora, which also affects the ability of the soil to decompose plant residues. Especially if there is a lot of precipitation in the region and carbon dioxide dissolves in water and thus is retained in the soil, not being able to leave it.

If there are a lot of sulfur oxides in the soil, then when interacting with precipitation, they will give sulfuric acid. When using chlorine fertilizers, you can get hydrochloric acid in the soil.

In industrial areas where many chemical plants are located, acid rain often occurs, thereby transferring chemicals from the plant to the ground.

Why is it not advisable to use fresh manure on slightly acidic moist soils? Because when it decomposes, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released. If you add water to this factor, then the acidity of the soil will increase dramatically. For plant nutrition, it is better to use humus, from which carbon dioxide has already weathered.

Plants that need acidic soil

Summer residents who plan to grow wild berries on their site - cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries, blueberries, then the soil will have to be additionally acidified up to 4 - 4.5 units. Nothing else will grow with this acidity, so it is recommended to allocate a separate bed for the berries, preferably on the other side of the garden.

Such a high need for acid is explained by the fact that there are no hairs on the roots that absorb nutrients. This function is performed by one of the types of fungi that can only survive in an acidic environment. This neighborhood is very important for both species, so you need to create conditions for the survival of mycorrhiza.

To acidify the soil, sulfur powder, hydrochloric acid diluted with water, vinegar or citric acid are used. To maintain the environment, fertilizers are regularly applied - nitroammophoska, urea, ammonium, ammonia and potassium sulfates.

It is important to know that such activities should be carried out annually, otherwise, if there is food in the soil, forest berry bushes will not be able to eat, and the plantation will die. It will also help to introduce spruce branches into the soil for digging - pine needles, which lower the pH to the desired level and at the same time feed the crops.

How to increase acidity for rhododendrons

Azaleas, hydrangeas, conifers, heathers, and rhododendrons will not survive in slightly acidic or neutral soil. For them, the site is prepared taking into account the low pH level.

Before planting these crops, you need to apply high-moor peat and acidic fertilizers, as for berries growing in the forest. The best choice for rhododendrons is rotted pine needles, which can be prepared in advance and brought into the hole when planting. Usually the soil is prepared like this:

take 2 parts horse peat, 1 part needles, 1 part ordinary soil;

add for 1 cubic meter of such a mixture 10 g sulfur powder and 100 g sawdust.

For clay soil, more sand can be added. To keep the acidity by 3.5 - 4.5 units, can be watered with special top dressing - 10 g of citric acid per 6 liters of water.

How pH Affects Nutrient Absorption

At very low pH values, the absorption of such nutrients and trace elements as molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, magnesium worsens, resulting in leaf chlorosis.

Almost all calcium goes to neutralize the acid, so its amount is not enough to feed plants. Due to the lack of carbonates, cultures are threatened with fungal infection of the aerial part.

Vegetable plants lose microscopic hairs on their roots, which are responsible for absorbing water. Because of this, crops suffer even more, as they do not have the ability to absorb moisture. In this case, the top of the plant is usually damaged, since the liquid does not enter there.

The root system develops poorly due to a lack of phosphorus, which is not absorbed at a low pH value, therefore, dwarfing of shoots, leaves and fruits appears.

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