The ph is a logarithmic scale that goes from 0 to 14 with 0 being most acidic 7 being neutral and 14 being most alkaline.
Is soil ph in hardwoods acidic or alkaline.
The ph scale indicates acidity or alkalinity.
Soil ph is a key factor in farmland as it controls availability of nutrients microbial activity and crop productivity.
In other words your 7 5 soil may be anywhere between 7 0 and 8 0.
The university of california advises that the accuracy of soil ph readings is plus or minus 0 5 ph units.
Hundred times as acidic as a ph of 7.
For plants that are especially sensitive to ph such as red maples an increase in ph from 6 0 to 6 5 can be enough to induce nutrient problems.
While a soil ph around 6 5 is often considered ideal for plants many trees can grow well at soil ph values above 7.
What happens when soil ph is too high.
For us lay people it s enough to know that soil ph is a measure of how acidic or alkaline our soil is.
Because it s a logarithmic scale each jump is a ten fold increase so a soil with a ph of 5 is 10 times more acidic than.
Before delving into what causes soils to become acid or alkaline and the steps to take to treat and correct soil ph we must first establish what is considered an optimal ph for crop production.
Most won t thrive in highly acid or highly alkaline soil though a few have adapted to such extremes.
See illustration at left.