I’m always looking for quick tips to make my gardening chores easier. I ran across a couple of gardening hacks about testing your soil pH without a kit and I thought I would try them out and see what I need to do with my garden. Let’s do a little kitchen chemistry!
You can measure your pH level by pouring white vinegar over a couple of teaspoons of soil. If it does not fizz, then you can turn a couple of teaspoons of soil into a mud mixture and pour baking soda over it. You can also use red cabbage by simmering it with water, straining the blue/purple juice, and pouring a couple of teaspoons of soil into the juice. The color will give you a good idea of your soil’s pH level.
Read on for a more in-depth explanation of how to use household items to determine your soil’s needs.
But first…
Why Should You Care if Your Soil Is Alkaline or Acidic?
Knowing your soil pH is the key to understanding if essential minerals will be available to the roots of your plants. You will also know which soil “amendments” are best for your garden (Here are the whys and the hows of improving soil structure, in short: 4 Reasons to Improve Garden Soil.)
What’s more, you will be able to determine if all the hard work you put in your yard or garden pays off. For instance, if the soil is too acidic or too alkaline, nutrients will have a hard time dissolving in water and reaching plants’ root systems.
As a result, plants outside the range for a particular crop will struggle and stress out, leading to poor harvest from one year to another. Most beginner gardeners will try to fix the issue by applying store-bought chemical fertilizers in a desperate bid to address what they believe is just a nutrient deficiency.
However, improper soil pH affects not just nutrient availability in soil but also vegetable crops to absorb the nutrients already present in the soil. So, instead of recklessly applying fertilizers to fix the issue and potentially causing fertilizer burn and other problems while you’re at it, measure the soil’s pH first to see whether that is the real issue.
So, a quick amendment to achieve the best soil pH for your plants and seeds to thrive can be added just in time.
Plus, fungi are less likely to affects your plants if the soil is alkaline and dry enough (below pH 4.5, expect plenty of fungal issues). Soil is too acidic under pH 7 and too alkaline above pH 7. Most plants thrive in slightly acidic soil (pH 5.5 to 7) so reaching a balance is of the essence in gardening matters too.
So, testing your garden’s soil pH is critical for the well-being of your plants in the long run. You’ll need to consider not only soil pH but soil texture as well (a no-fuss DIY method to determining the soil’s texture is the “mason jar test.“) But soil pH is the critical indicator of the health status of a garden.
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The pH of your soil will determine which plants grow better in your garden and which ones will struggle (without amendments).
According to The San Francisco Chronicle,
If you live in an area with alkaline soil — which has a pH above 7.0 — you have two options. You can either take measures to lower the pH, or you can choose plants well-suited to growing in alkaline conditions. If you take the latter path, you have a wide variety of plants to choose from.”
You can lower the alkalinity of your soil by adding organic materials like pine needles, peat moss, and composted leaves. You should always make small changes, over time -so make your soil amendments and wait for it to work before making any more.
According to the article, Your Garden’s Soil, in Mother Earth News, “Raising the organic matter content of the soil will usually move the pH of both acidic and alkaline soils toward the neutral range. This is because organic matter plays a buffering role, protecting soil from becoming overly acidic or alkaline.
Finished compost usually has a near-neutral pH, so regular infusions of compost should be the primary method you use to improve the soil with extreme pH issues. If your pH readings are only slightly acidic or slightly alkaline, compost and organic mulches may be the only amendments you need to keep your crops happy and your garden growing well.”
Learn two homemade soil pH testing methods
#1 – You Can Test Your Garden Soil pH with Vinegar and Baking Soda
Fortunately, you can test your garden soil pH without a soil test kit for a fraction of the price. Collect 1 cup of soil from different parts of your garden and put 2 spoonfuls into separate containers. Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the soil. If it fizzes, you have alkaline soil, with a pH between 7 and 8.
If it doesn’t fizz after doing the vinegar test, then add distilled water to the other container until 2 teaspoons of soil are muddy. Add 1/2 cup baking soda. If it fizzes you have acidic soil, most likely with a pH between 5 and 6.
If your soil doesn’t react at all it is neutral with a pH of 7 and you are very lucky!
This test was fun to do. After I added the vinegar there was no reaction in my bowl and I thought my kitchen science experiment didn’t work.
Then I added distilled water to another bowl of soil and poured on just a sprinkling of baking soda. Instant fizz! So much fizz that I could see it immediately and hear it working. There’s no doubt – I have acidic soil in my new garden.
#2 – You Can Do a Red Cabbage Water pH Test at Home
Measure 2 cups of distilled water into a saucepan. Cut up and add 4-6 red cabbage leaves. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow it to sit for up to 30 minutes.
Strain off the liquid – which will be purple/blue. This will have a neutral pH of 7.
To test: Add 2 teaspoons of garden soil to a jar and a few inches of cabbage water. Stir and wait for 20-30 minutes. Check the color. If it turns reddish/pink, your soil is acidic. If it is sea blue/ yellow-green, your soil is alkaline. Neutral soil is usually purplish/blue.
Don’t add too much soil to each jar as the cabbage juice may turn grayish-black and you’ll need to redo the test. Here’s a chart with what colors you should expect for each pH reading.
Important Notes Before You Start Off
- Why is it important to use red cabbage in this test? Unlike white cabbage, red cabbage contains a coloring compound, anthocyanin, which turns yellowish green when in a basic (alkaline) environment (pH > 7.0) and reddish pink when in an acidic environment (pH < 7).
- You can use the red cabbage pH test to test your tap water hardness. Hard water is usually alkaline (pH 8 or more) due to the minerals in it. That’s why it is critical to perform the cabbage soil test with distilled water, which has a neutral pH.
- Tap water or well water may be too alkaline while rain water may be too acidic (it usually stands at 5.6 pH) for this DIY soil pH test.
- Before you start testing the soil, you can test the pH of various ingredients around the house and garden in small cups to see which color is associated with which pH number: Egg white has pH 8, baking soda (1 tsp) has pH 8.4, black tea – pH 4.9, cow’s milk 6.5 – 6.7 pH (depending on how it’s treated), potatoes – pH 6.1, vinegar pH 2.5, coffee grounds are very close to pH neutral (6.8) so they are often used as a natural buffer in the cabbage soil test (after 30 minutes they should turn the cabbage juice clear).
Is Red Cabbage Better than Litmus Paper or a Digital Meter?
Surprisingly, the answer is yes. Litmus paper is paper treated with a mix of dyes derived from lichens, which change colors depending on the pH.
While litmus paper has little color variety (red for acidic conditions, purple for neutral, and blue for alkaline conditions), red cabbage has a much wider range of colors, which can help better estimate the pH in the soil.
Also, the red cabbage soil test is believed to be even more accurate than digital meters as it has some clear advantages:
- Unlike a meter, the cabbage test allows the soil to soak in the juice and release elements that after interacting with the anthocyanin in the cabbage juice will lead to a more accurate result;
- Cabbage doesn’t require calibration after each soil sample; even some of the most expensive digital meters need to be calibrated before each test, as a result, you can test as many soil samples as you wish at the same time;
- It is cheaper (around $1 versus $15-$200).
Acidic Soil-Loving Plants
There are quite a few fruit and vegetable plants that thrive in acidic soil. These include (I’ve added the optimal soil pH for each plant):
- Blueberries (soil pH 4.5 to 5.5)
- Beans (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Broccoli (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Beets (soil pH 6.5 to 8.0)
- Bok choy (soil pH 6.5–7.0)
- Garlic (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
- Kale (soil pH 5.5 to 6.5)
- Lettuce and other leafy greens (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Parsley (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Peas (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
- Potatoes (soil pH 4.8 to 6.0)
- Onions (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Spinach (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
However, you should do some research before adding these plants to your garden as some may love acidic conditions while others may only tolerate them.
You could also consider crop rotation as acidic soils tend to become depleted of critical nutrients such as phosphorus and packed with elements that may prove poisonous to plants, such as aluminum. (Here’s a critical post by Preparedness Mama on properly feeding your soil – SMART Composting: Turn Your Spoil into Soil)
You can also read more on crop rotation and why it is a must for any organic vegetable garden in our “Vegetable Families and Crop Rotation” post.
If you want to know more about soil conditions and prep for houseplants you can read more at “Optimum Ph for Houseplants”.
Alkaline Friendly Plants
If your soil tests slightly alkaline (pH between 7 and 8) you’ll be able to easily grow these vegetables without making amendments:
- Artichoke (soil pH 6.5 to 7.5)
- Asparagus (soil pH 6.0 to 8.0)
- Brussels sprouts (soil pH 6.0 to 6.8)
- Cabbage and Chinese cabbage (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
- Cantaloupe (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
- Grape vines (soil pH 5.5 to 8)
- Leeks (soil pH 6.0 to 6.8)
- Lima beans (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Mustard and other leafy greens (soil pH 5.5 to 6.8)
- Orange (soil pH 6.0 to 7.5)
- Peach tree (soil pH 6.0 to 7.0)
- Spinach (soil pH 6.5 to 7.5)
- Sugar beets (soil pH 6.0 to 8.0)
- Swiss chard (soil pH 6.0 and 7.0)
- Turnips (soil pH 5.5 to 6.8)
Here’s a handy list of delicious but insanely low-maintenance perennials every gardener should not miss: 5 Delicious Fruits and Vegetables You Can Plant Once And They Will Keep Coming Back Every Year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you correct pH in soil?
The easiest way to correct your soil’s pH level is to get some acidic fertilizer and apply it according to the written instructions. Regardless of which product you choose, it is important to follow the instructions to a pulp, even if it means buying extra equipment like a special spreader or applicator to get it right. The reason is that one brand of fertilizer might be more concentrated than others, so over-applying would cause a massive spike in the pH levels.
What happens when soil pH is too high?
When a plant’s soil pH increases, which is what would happen when its food’s pH is too high, the plant’s ability to absorb certain nutrients is disrupted. As a result, some nutrients cannot be absorbed properly. The soil’s high pH prevents the iron present in the soil from changing into a form the plant can absorb. In short, it basically deprives plants of important nutrients. Do yourself a favor and fertilize the soil so that the pH will always be as close to neutral as possible.
Does water pH affect soil pH?
Soil can be affected by water depending on its texture. Soil particles that are smaller, like clays and clay loams, are more influenced than coarse, sandy soils. Fine-textured soils have a higher number of very small particles called colloids. These colloids are sites where positively charged ions are retained. The ability of soil to retain these ions is called its cation exchange capacity. Ions in the soil solution are exchanged with ions on the colloidal particles. Negative ions in the soil solution have less influence on soil pH. In short, yes, soil can be affected by water pH but it depends on the type and even on how deep the water has managed to penetrate.
To Wrap It Up
Knowing the pH of your soil will help your plants grow by absorbing nutrients better from the soil. Their ability to do it depends on the nature of the soil and its combination of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter.
The makeup of soil (soil texture) and its acidity (pH) determine the extent to which nutrients are available to plants. Use these 2 ways to test soil pH and have a great garden this year.
Hi, I’m Gabriela and I’m a prepping freak with a knack for frugal living – as if you could have one without the other. I’m also interested in all things DIY, green living, and homesteading. I’ve been dreaming of a self-sufficient, one-acre organic farm ever since I realized how fragile urban life really is. It takes one push of a button for millions to be left without running water. It takes no more than a four- to seven-day disruption in a city’s food supply for complete mayhem to break out. So, I’m now dutifully working toward keeping my loved ones safe when the brown matter (inevitably) hits the oscillating ceiling device, but I also like to share what I’m learning with fellow likeminded folks as I go.
Or, spend $8 and find out what the actual pH and lime rec are. The fizz test will only make you more curious.
http://soiltesting.agron.iastate.edu/Horticulture%20Soil%20%20Form-Standard%20fertility.pdf
Thank you so much!
My red cabbage has been in my fridge for over a month, starting to go bad- can I still
Use it for the test or does bacteria growth make it unusable for this test?
Hi, my garden PH is 5.5. I grow tomatoes & flowers , What do I add to the soil ?? Thanks Jerry
This is awesome!! Thank you for sharing and linking up!
Problem with this technique is that alkaline soil will not “fizz” without the presence of a carbonate, like limestone. The acid soil only fizzes because you’ve added bicarbonate of soda.
Not actually a workable technique.
Question i tried the experiment and one of them started bubling like crazy in vinegar, have any idea what it might be?
You have alkaline soil.
neither techniques fizzed for mine 🙁
I think that means it is ph neutral around 7ph
Mine too; so I went ahead and did the red cabbage test and it came back neutral. These were very fun and informative experiments. Thanks!
The distilled water and bicarbonate soda will fill naturally, but is neutralised by the acidic soil . Because bicarbonate of soda is already acidic. It’s the opposite effect so if it didn’t fizz it’s either brilliantly neutral of acidic.
I did this years ago with vinegar and bicarbonate with the world survey of earth worms with the WI science group of West Sussex.
If it doesn’t fizz in either vinegar or bicarbonate it’s neutral. Congratulations.
We have a 4-H Junior Master Gardeners group. It’s getting close to Spring planting time here, so this would be a fun project for each of them to try, especially as they happen to all be homeschooled. I’ll share with their instructor.
Have a blessed day and thank you so much for sharing these ideas.
Tammy
This was fun to try! Not sure how accurate after reading some comments but our soil tested neutral. Yeah! We also tested with some strips that turned out neutral but it would be fun to continue with an actual test kit to compare how accurate the home tests were (especially for educating kids like I am!).
great article I will definately try this & see what results I get with our garden soil
thanks
Sunny
I’m going to try this just to see. But what is a “garden hack”? Not sure what that means. 🙂 Thanks for the info.
Hi Dawn, a garden hack refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency in the garden. Some of my favorites are on this pinterest board – https://www.pinterest.com/preparednessmam/gardening-hacks/
Great without using of any kits this is the best method to find out the solid pH.
You made some good points .I did a little research on the topic and found that most people agree with your blog. great data. Much thanks to you for offering.
it is extremely helpful to us. I will visit this online journal regularly.
thx so cool!
I am a student in a secondary school and I am doing a crest Award project with soil to see if we can test Martian soil and this helps brilliantly!
Good luck, Rahimah!
I am rereading the soda/vinegar test info and find it odd that to 2 tsp of a muddy soil I would add 1/2 cup of baking soda after the vinegar did not react. I am doing a project and need this info correctly represented. If you could please reply quickly, it would be much appreciated. Thank you. Susan
Two different containers of mud. Not the same one.
We used to have hydrangeas in 2 parts of our lawn. One was pink (because the soil was alkaline there), and the other was blue (because of acidic soil).
So… I am wanting mine to turn blue. Without having to read through ALL the posts….and replies. .what should be the pH for them? And..how can I get there the fastest? I have a pink one…and a white one. (Mother used to call them Snowball Bushes ). Thanks, Garryc3667@gmail.com.
Garry, you can buy soil additive specifically for hydrangeas to change their color. https://www.google.com/#q=hydrangea+color+additive&tbm=shop
You can also pit a couple of rusty nails in the ground close to the hydrangeas and they will change colors too
Garry,
One of the hydrangeas you mentioned, the old fashioned white “Snowball” variety cannot be changed with soil supplements. You will have to acquire a newer variety to play your coloring magic on!
A snowbll bush is a VIburnum bush, not a hydrnabea. You can tell because it blooms in the early Summer and does not last into the fall like hydrangeas do, and it will not turn pink or blue.
aluminum sulfate will turn hydrangeas blue. Garden stores have it–but I believe only certain types of hydrangea can be affected this way.
Hi there
I have a bell pepper plant that has only produced 1 pepper no flowers an the pepper has a spot on it can you please help I’m a new gardener
we threw nails under the hydrangeas to make them change color, but i can’t for the life of me remember whether it was pink or blue.
i am trying to find how acidic soil can be made slightly alkaline for asparagus. all the articles tell how to go the other way. south louisiana piney woods soil is very acidic. any help would be appreciated. thx
This is fantastic !
So I did this test with my daughter and… They both fizzed!
Both soil samples were taken from the same garden box too!
What does this mean!?! 😉 if anyone has info as to why or any suggestions (hacks that do not cost lots money) let me know.
I would try the red cabbage test. The color indicator is a good one for pH. You can play with it a bit by taking the cabbage liquid and adding a little vinegar or baking soda…the color should be obvious for low pH/vinegar or high pH baking soda (low and high are relative…better to say below neutral or above neutral (pH 7). Once you see the colors to expect…do the soil test with red cabbage water from the same pot that has not been used yet.
Mmh. I think if you got your soil to fizz for both acid and alkaline, then your measurements might have been way off. From what I gathered, unless the soil is completely acidic (ph1), or completely alkaline (ph14), it will contain both alkaline and acid properties to some extent. The exception being when it’s neutral, or balanced (ph7), then the alkaline and the acid will neutralize each other and your experiments will never fizz regardless of how much you throw the measurements off (I think, haha). So you should be careful with your measurements in this experiment. And rather than looking at whether it fizzed or not, try focusing on how much it fizzed. It’s not the simplest of experiments to get precise results.
I think if your soil did the fizz under both lights then your measurements might be off the scale… 😉
From what I gathered, unless the soil is entirely acidic (pH1), or entirely alkaline (pH14), it will contain both alkali and acid to some extent. Meaning that even an acid might fizz in acidic soil if the acid you used was much too strong, because it will react to whatever little base there is left in that soil.
Neutral or balanced soil (pH7) being the exception, because it is neutralized. Both the base and acid have neutralized and balanced each other, and will not react to either lemon juice or baking soda (I think, haha).
So you should take care with your measurements in this experiment. And rather than looking at whether it fizzed at all or not, focus on how much it fizzled, and compare your results with other tests and stuff.
Cabbage juice makes the job much simpler, though. And, personally, I’d start cutting some up. And leave a little on the side for some salad.
How to get colour to cabbage if only white cabbage is available
I’m confused! Do I add a 1/2 cup or a sprinkle of baking soda? A 1/2 cup seems like
overkill.
It really is 1/2 a cup of baking soda Liana. Of course, you can try it with less and see what kind of reaction you get.
1/2 CUP of baking soda seemed like WAY too much!! No way the little bit of soil is going to fizz with so much soda to drown it out. I read that someone put a little bit of soda in the jar with the 2 spoons of soil that were muddy with Distilled Water. Yes, maybe that is what SHOULD be. 1/2 cup really?????
Every state university extension program will test your soil for a nominal fee, for example in Florida it’s the University of Florida: http://soilslab.ifas.ufl.edu/ESTL%20Tests.asp (they only test samples from Florida);
in the first comment someone posted a link to Iowa State University extension program. This test will be the most accurate, and will as well tell you which vitamins and minerals you need to take care of.
Every sample will cost you anywhere from $3 to $8, a great investment into your health, in my opinion.
It’s a great method of testing ph level of soil without using any kit. Thanks for sharing this awesome article. I will definitely try it.
The steps described in this article follow the same basic science principles that kits apply. Many people forget that they have acids and bases in their household cleaners and cooking ingredients. The vinegar used is an acid and wouldn’t react with the acidic soil. The baking soda is a base and reacted with the soil because the soil is acidic.
I really appreciate your tip that your soil should be at a neutral pH. I never knew that soil has an optimal pH level. It makes sense though since the soils are providing necessary nutrients for them to live.
Its great to try new things and when they are as useful as this one it is even better. Ok as mentioned accuracy may be an issue but it is still a great indicator of the type of soil you may have. I have been getting the children involved and now they want to test our neighbours, soil tried telling them it might be the same but they are young. Anyway thanks for the article.
Neat idea! This sounds like a fun science experiment to try with the kids.
Great info. Thanks for sharing it. I am going to apply this and update the results to all.
Take several samples from different places in the same bed – say a cupful from each and mix them thoroughly before doing the test. This will avoid problem of getting a sample that just happens to be different to the soil around it.
Certain plant diseases such as club root and nutrient deficiencies can be associated with acid or alkaline soil conditions.
can one use white cabbage?
Thanks for your tip to use cabbage when making a DIY water pH test. I like how you said that this test can help you to know the acidic content in your soil. My husband and I would like to have our lawn’s soil tested, but since we lack the time and tools to do it ourselves, we are looking into professionals to help us.
If you are a first-time gardener or an experienced gardener, you will surely need to have at least some knowledge on soil pH. The ultimate growth of plants in your garden area depends on multiple factors and soil pH is one of them
I tried this test but it gave me confusion. The results are: both soil bubbled!
I dig from the same spot of our garden, split into two. One with the vinegar, at first it didn’t do anything. Proceeding to the second one (baking soda), it turned out the soil bubbled softly til it grew bigger. I was about to clean my area when I noticed that cup with vinegar has bubbled (tiny), and the soil has risen up a bit.
Did I do it wrong? is my soil considered acidic or alkaline?
Thanks a bunch!
what kind of vinegar ?
You can use white or apple cider vinegar.
The author of this page is obviously young and has good eyesight. Why?? WHY WOULD YOU WRIYE AN ARTICLE IN LIGHT GRAY, SKINNY, DIFFICULT TO READ FONT??? WHY???
This is so cool. Thanks for sharing it! Going to give them both a try.
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I liked that you explained that some plants really like acidic soil. It is great to know that onions, potatoes, and peas all love that type of soil. It would be great to have a garden with those three vegetables in it this fall. I am not sure what pH level my garden is and if it would be good for acidic loving plants. It seems like Is should get an expert to test my soil for me to see if I can grow those veggies this year or if I need to get some additives for my soil.
Seems to me that One half cup of anything is to much to use
Whilst checking whether deionised water (which I have) could substitute for distilled water I discovered that both loose their neutral (pH=7) condition as soon as they are exposed to air because they absorb carbon dioxide which makes them acid. I am no chemist but this seems to undermine the premise of this test (unless the boiling restores the neutral status again).
I liked that you explained that some plants really like acidic soil. It is great to know that onions, potatoes, and peas all love that type of soil. It would be great to have a garden with those three vegetables in it this fall. I am not sure what pH level my garden is and if it would be good for acidic loving plants. It seems like Is should get an expert to test my soil for me to see if I can grow those veggies this year or if I need to get some additives for my soil.