Commercial soil test kits are widely available and very accurate. But if you want to know right now whether your soil is acid or alkaline, try these tests recommended by Almanac.com:
1 Place 2 tablespoons of soil in a bowl and add a half cup vinegar. If the mixture fizzes, you have alkaline soil.
2 Place 2 tablespoons of soil in a bowl and moisten it with distilled water. Add a half cup baking soda. If the mixture fizzes, you have acidic soil.
If you get no soil reaction to either test, your soil has a neutral pH.
Counter acidic soil with ground limestone. Treat alkaline soil with ground sulfur.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
