Ways to determine the acidity of the soil and means to increase it.
Content
- How to determine the acidity of the soil at home?
- How to acidify the soil for plants with an electrolyte?
- Natural methods of increasing soil acidity
- How to acidify the soil with citric acid?
- Desx to soil gray
- How to acidify the soil for hydrangea?
- What indoor flowers love acidified soil?
- How to acidify the soil for indoor plants vinegar?
- How to make the soil for roses acidified?
- Video: How to increase soil acidity at home?
The requirements for soil acidity differ, depending on growing plants, their requirements for the mineral components that make up the soil. In most untouched areas, acidic soil predominates, which is suitable for the growth of some garden and vegetable crops. In this article welet's tell than to acidify the soil at home.
How to determine the acidity of the soil at home?
Before performing manipulations to increase or decrease the acidity of the soil, it is necessary to determine its pH.
How to determine the acidity of the soil at home:
- Litmus paper. The technique is inaccurate, but allows you to approximately determinep soil. It is necessary to take a tablespoon of soil from a depth of 10 cm, mix it with the same amount of water. As a result, a dark -colored slurry should be obtained. Leave it for a few minutes so that the soil is completely settled, and a transparent liquid formed on top. Lower the litmus paper into the transparent top layer so that it does not touch the dark fraction. Remove and evaluate its color. On the packaging with litmus paper there is a special marking of indicators, each color of which corresponds to a certain acidity. If the acidity is neutral, the soil can be acidified.
- Using special tests for gardeners. Their price is average, but for people constantly engaged in the cultivation of garden crops and vegetables, this is an indispensable tool. It is enough to lower the indicator tip into the soil, wait for the results on the screen.
- To measure acidity without the use of special devices and litmus paper, you can use improvised means. These methods are based on chemical reactions occurring between alkalis and acids. As a result of the neutralization reaction, water and white foam containing carbon dioxide are released. When conducting an experiment, it is necessary to take a tablespoon of the soil, put it in a container and pour it with a 9% solution of vinegar. Pour the acid into a tablespoon and pour on top of the ground. If white foam appears on top, then the soil is alkaline and for plants that prefer acidic soil, it must be additionally acidified. If the foam does not appear, you can use the baking soda and confirm the acidity of the soil. A solution of baking soda must be poured on top of the hill with the soil. To do this, a tablespoon is diluted in a glass of water, poured to the mountain with soil. When foam appears, we can conclude that the soil has an acidic environment. If neither soda nor vinegar give foam, aciditysoil Neutral.
How to acidify the soil for plants with an electrolyte?
To acidify the soil, you can use sulfur and hydrochloric acid. To do this, dissolve the drop of the product in a liter of water, mix. This amount of liquid is enough to acidify one square meter of soil. Acids are aggressive substances that are difficult to purchase in a garden store. Working with concentrated solutions is quite difficult and dangerous.
How to acidify the soil for plants with an electrolyte:
- Instead of concentrated acids, you can use solutions of electrolytes that are used by motorists.
- It is necessary to dissolve 30 ml of the solution for the battery in a liter of water. This volume is enough for processing 1 m2 of soil.
- The electrolyte is also made of acid, it is dangerous to work with it, certain rules and precautions must be observed.
- Therefore, summer residents, gardeners, prefer to use folk methods to increase soil acidity.
Naturalmethods increasing soil acidity
It is proved that mulch made of coniferous trees increases the acidity of soil.
Naturalmethods increasing soil acidity:
- A good tool for acidification of the soil - coffee grounds. It is necessary to collect the thick after drinking coffee, dry it, evenly distribute it on paper. In spring or autumn, during digging the garden, it is necessary to sprinkle the upper layers of the soil with a dry mixture, evenly filling the powder. This method will slightly increase acidity, and has a cumulative effect. In the process of decomposition of coffee grounds, the acidity will gradually increase.
- Summer residents, gardeners to acidify the soil use biogumus of coniferous trees. It can be purchased in specialized stores. The method will increase acidity with the long -term effect. In the process of decomposition of organic components, the acidity of the soil will increase.
- Using forest soil under coniferous trees. A constant cycle of renewal of needles contributes to its falling and the formation of a sour layer of needles on the ground, rotten small branches of coniferous trees. The soil must be applied during digging.
How to acidify the soil with citric acid?
One of the easiest ways to increase acidity is the use of citric acid. It is inexpensive, and allows you to increase acidity in a short time.
How to acidify the soil with citric acid:
- Dissolve 30 g of crystals in a liter of water. This solution is enough to process one square meter of soil.
- The method is good, but the result does not last long due to leafing of citric acid from the upper layers of the soil.
Desx to soil gray
The method of acidification of the soil is significantly different depending on the characteristics of the soil. On sandy, light soils, you can slightly increase the acidity with organic fertilizers, including mullein, humus, compost. This method will not work on clay soils and will lead to alkalization of the soil.
Squeezing of the soil is gray:
- The powder when interacting with water forms sulfuric acid, which slightly increases the acidity. The cheapest way is the use of colloidal sulfur. It is necessary to distribute 100 g of the product per 1 m2 of soil.
- This amount of colloidal sulfur can reduce pH by about 2 units. This method is not fast, depends on the fractions of the grinding sulfur grinding. The smaller the powder fraction, the faster it will work.
- To increase the acidity of gray, it takes 6-12 months. It is advisable to introduce a substance during digging in September in order to plant culture in mid -spring.
- If the soil acidification is necessary for the planting of shrubs and trees, then the seal should be carried out to a depth of 30 cm, but not in the upper layers of the soil, as is done for garden crops and flowers.
How to acidify the soil for hydrangea?
To increase acidity and reducep per unit aluminum sulfate, it is necessary to introduce 70-100 g of agents per 1 m2 of the soil. The seal is carried out shallow. This is an ideal option for obtaining beautiful hydrangea flowers.
How to acidify the soil for hydrangea:
- It is on the beds, where the gardener is going to grow beautiful flowers, a point acidicity of the soil is carried out. This method works quickly enough, since aluminum is an active metal that interacts with metals in the soil.
- Due to chemical reactions, the acidity of the soil increases. This method of increasing acidity has a drawback - a decrease in phosphorus. Therefore, along with the use of aluminum sulfate, it is recommended to add phosphorus fertilizers to the soil.
What indoor flowers love acidified soil?
Most garden crops love alkaline soil. However, there are many species among indoor plants that prefer sour soils. These are acidophilic plants, the natural habitat of which is a swamp, peat, coniferous forests. Over the millennia, the root system of these crops has developed to suck out useful substances from aggressive soil. The peculiarity of such plants is the absence of absorbent root hairs.
Instead, there are small mushrooms that are introduced into the roots of the roots, and play the role of the water transporter, trace elements. In Botany, symbiosis is called mycorrhism. White plaque on the roots of some plants is not a disease at all, but mushrooms through which the plant receives useful substances. If you remove the white plaque from the root surface, the plant will die. It will lose the supplier of water and useful components.
What indoor flowers love acidified soil:
- Among indoor plants there are many acidic soils. Their habitat is tropical regions. Under ordinary conditions of growth, high temperature and humidity.
- Thanks to this, organic components decompose at an accelerated pace, with the formation of acidic soil. Among lovers of acidic soils, fuchsia, cyclamen, camellia, violets can be distinguished.
Besides:
- Shrubs: azalea, trunk
- Coniferous: ate, pine trees, junipers
- Berries: blueberries, lingonberry
- Perennial plants: ferns, primrose
How to acidify the soil for indoor plants vinegar?
One of the ways to regulate acidity when planting indoor plants is the right choice of the substrate. Be sure to purchase soil specially created for specific plants. Typically, the packaging indicates what the soil consists of and for which plants it is intended. For violets, ferns and other crops preferring acidic soils, peat mixtures with a high content of humus and coniferous sawdust have been created. If ordinary garden soil was used for landing, it can be acidified with vinegar.
How to acidify the soil for indoor plants vinegar:
- To do this, it is necessary to dilute 100 ml of vinegar in 10 liters of water. The concentration of vinegar for the preparation of the solution is 9%. Before planting, it is necessary to pour the soil with the resulting solution.
- The main drawback is detrimental to the soil microflora, is quickly washed out of the soil. This is due to the organic origin of acid, which is quickly destroyed in the soil.
- Supporting acidity is best using funds that decompose in the soil for a long time, maintaining high acidity. Among them are needles, peat and leaf soils.
- To increase soil acidity for small plants, fast methods are used, but regularly. It is very difficult to once increase the pH at home for indoor plants due to frequent watering and plant growth.
- Succinic acid. It is necessary to dissolve 2 g in a small amount of hot water, enter into a container with one liter of water. With this tool, once a week, watering of indoor plants is carried out.
- It is possible to water watering using oxalic acid. For indoor plants, it is appropriate to use home chemistry, for example, citric and acetic acids. They use them by analogy with a solution prepared for use on open ground.
How to make the soil for roses acidified?
For an ideal rose, the soil withp 5.5-6.5. This is slightly acidic soil, which is great for growing culture.
How to make the soil for roses acidified:
- To increase the acidity of the soil, you need to make peat. It is introduced in the amount of two to one with ordinary land. In no case should you make a rotted peat, only fresh is used. This component improves soil structure, making itair And moisture permeable.
- Enter acids, or additional chemical components when planting a rose are not worth it, because only slightly acidic soil is required. With increased acidity, the culture grows poorly. Before introducing any components, it is necessary to conduct tests by finding out the pH of the Earth on your site.
We advise you to read the following articles from which you will learn how to grow:
In most cases, during the landing of some garden and vegetable crops, it is recommended to introduce ash, backed lime. These products are excellent fertilizers, but they are suitable in cases where garden crops prefer alkaline soil. When growing crops that prefer sour soil, it is necessary to completely abandon these fertilizers.