How to Distinguish Soil Acidity and Alkalinity

One, look at the soil source

The soil in the mountain forest, gully humus, usually black or brown soil, is relatively loose, fertile, permeable, and very good acidic humus. Such as: pine needle humus, grass charcoal humus, etc.

Two, look at the soil color

Acid soil is generally darker in color, mostly black-brown, while alkaline soil color is mostly white, yellow and other light colors. Some saline areas, the soil surface often has a layer of white saline.

Three, look at the texture

Alkaline soil texture loose, breathable and permeable; acidic soil texture hard, the soil is easy to plate.

Four, look at the surface plants

When collecting soil samples, you can observe the plants growing on the surface. Generally, the soil growing pine trees, fir plants and azaleas is mostly acidic; while the soil growing grain, sorghum, halophyllum and other lots is mostly alkaline.

Five, look at the situation after watering

Acid soil after watering faster infiltration, no white bubbles, water surface more muddy; alkaline soil after watering, infiltration slower, water surface white bubbles, white foam, and sometimes the surface of a layer of white alkaline material.

Feel in your hand

Acid soil is generally soft in the hand, and it is easy to spread out after loosening, not easy to clump; alkaline soil feels quite hard in the hand, and it is easy to clump after loosening without spreading.

When cultivating crops, first of all, we must find out the pH range of the crops we cultivate, whether we like acidic soil or neutral soil or can be suitable for alkaline soil. If the soil pH is not suitable, it needs to be adjusted and improved.