Q&A for How to Adjust Soil pH

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Is it better to plant in raised beds, or on the ground?

Steve Masley
Home & Garden Specialist
Steve Masley has been designing and maintaining organic vegetable gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. He is an Organic Gardening Consultant and Founder of Grow-It-Organically, a website that teaches clients and students the ins and outs of organic vegetable gardening. In 2007 and 2008, Steve taught the Local Sustainable Agriculture Field Practicum at Stanford University.

Steve Masley

Home & Garden Specialist

Expert Answer

It depends on your budget and how much effort you want to put in. It's a lot harder to plant in-ground, but raised beds require a budget to buy the materials and construct the beds.

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Once the pH is within the acceptable range, how long will it stay that way? Is retesting the soil necessary? If yes, how often should I do it?

Katie Gohmann
Professional Gardener
Katherine Gohmann is a Professional Gardener in Texas. She has been a home gardener and professional gardener since 2008.

Katie Gohmann

Professional Gardener

Expert Answer

The soil will not stay that way forever. You'll want to retest your soil once a month until you discover a pattern. Soils will keep shifting pH according to what's happening beneath them, and you will need to continue to add soil amendments for whichever plants need them.

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What is the best way to decrease soil pH organically?

Katie Gohmann
Professional Gardener
Katherine Gohmann is a Professional Gardener in Texas. She has been a home gardener and professional gardener since 2008.

Katie Gohmann

Professional Gardener

Expert Answer

Lowering pH is hard because the limestone in the soil continually dissolves. If you don't want to use sulfur, try compost or composted manure with an acidic mulch, such as pine needles.

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Question

Can I apply sulfur to soil in order to lower alkalinity and grow vegetables?

Community Answer

As long as you do it months before planting (the reaction in the soil will take some time to occur) and check the soil pH again before planting.

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Question

Why it is important to control the pH of soil?

Community Answer

If the soil is too acidic (or not acidic enough), the plant will not grow and flower properly.

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Question

How do I raise the pH level in my soil?

Community Answer

Rake wood ashes from your fire into the soil -- it's a really cheap and easy way to increase the pH. But make sure to keep the ash out of direct contact with any plant roots.

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Question

Spraying chemicals on my pomegranate plant is not helping. What could be the problem?

Community Answer

Stop using chemicals. Get some compost or manure that has composted. Pomegranates are easy to grow without all the chemicals. Once they get a start, they usually take off. They are drought tolerant. They do need some water to get established and normal feeding, compost or rotted manure, but other than that, mine are on their own.

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Question

What is the best way to naturally increase soil pH?

Community Answer

Lime is a natural alkaline that will raise your soil's pH.

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Question

Can I raise pH with household products?

Community Answer

Ideally, you will want to a liming material from your home and garden store. Household materials not decided for gardening may contain or compounds that can hurt the soil and your plants.

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What is the quickest way to raise the pH level in soil?

Community Answer

Use hydrated lime or quicklime. These are very alkaline materials and ordinary limestone generally serves.

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Question

What is the mechanism that controls soil pH?

Community Answer

A soil's pH is determined by number of factors, including the type of plants grown in it, its molecular compound and how much moisture it receives.

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Question

Can I mix soil with different pH and predict the resulting pH?

Community Answer

Actually, no. How they mix and the resulting pH will depend upon the microbial life in each soil sample.

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