Soil pH

Cuttings reader, Murray Flitcroft (B.Sc.Hons) of Ballarat-based Top Hedge, provides the following
advice regarding soil pH. Soil pH refers to how acid or alkaline the soil conditions are, which can
have a very big impact on how plants grow.
Recently we have visited a few gardens where people have asked us what is wrong with their citrus
or rhododendron. The roses have looked poorly in some others. Some plants had died suddenly
without explanation. Signfiicantly, most, if not all of these problems, could be traced back to the soil.
(The image here shows Athen Williams from Top Hedge examining soil in a garden).
The first thing we did after having a good look at the plants was to test the soil. A pH test is simple
to perform but can reveal a lot about conditions the plants are enduring. Soil pH testing kits are
available from most garden centres.
Acid Soil
A recent test we did showed the soil was strongly acid with a pH around 4 to 5. The problem with
this low pH is that it renders most of the nutrients available in the soil inaccessible to the plants
roots.
Most plants will grow happily in soil with a pH of 6 to 7.
Camellias and rhododendrons will prefer medium acid soils of 5.5 to 6 but the soil in question was
really testing them.
When pH gets outside the normal range, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, calcium,
magnesium and many other elements plants need just cant be utilised.
Many fungi that attack plants prefer these acid conditions.
Plants in this situation dont grow strongly because they cant get nutrients from the soil so they
become stressed. When they are stressed they are more susceptible to fungal attack and the fungus
are more prevalent also; not a healthy situation if youre a plant!
There are several factors which can lead to acidification of soils, however, over-watering and over-
use of mineral fertiliser are two of the main culprits.
So what can we do to remedy the situation? The best thing we can do is add organic matter in the
form of compost and well rotted manures. In this case poultry manure is the best choice because it is
higher in lime.
Of course you can simply add lime or dolomite. They will take a while to work and you will need
moist conditions to wash the lime through the soil. Lime can be overdone so, you can end up
increasing the pH too much. Lime can also effect the soil micro-organisms which are essential for
healthy soil.
Alkaline Soil
To improve the pH of alkaline soil, once again, organic matter is a good solution, that is, animal
manures and composted kitchen and green waste (avoid poultry manure though).
We would always recommend adding organic materials and manures because you get the added
benefit of increasing your soils water holding capacity, which increases the sustainability of your
garden, and increases beneficial microbe and fungal activity.
A useful resource for understanding soil pH is Gardening Down Under, by Kevin Handreck,
published by LandLinks.