I've noticed some plants do better than others at our place & some do amazing. Now I have a better understanding of why. It's such a joy to see a plant thrive.🌻

I bought your soil science book. I need a fairly quick way to lower pH for my blueberry plants. I’m also hoping your book will help me understand how to raise pH and how long it will take. Thanks for the video!

I agree that soil-probes, test tubes, and colour charts are hard to get an accurate reading from. I think that Laboratory test is sensible at least once, when you move to a new property, but expensive to use regularly ... so my solution has been to use the type of "pH probe" intended for brewing, aquarium / pond or swimming pool - specifically the ones that measure liquid and require calibrating. It seems to me that the "push it in the soil" probes, which have no calibration, provide no means of knowing if they have become inaccurate, and at that point they are useless. The soil-pH-probes I have seen have all said that they don't work with liquids, so impossible to check them against a known-pH buffer solution. I make a soil/distilled-water mix, then test that with the liquid-type pH probe - having first calibrated it with buffer solution. Very informative video Robert, many thanks.

I’ve been thinking recently that my water is the culprit for my plants not growing very well. For the last several years we’ve been in a drought situation during the summer months and I have to water my gardens. I have very alkaline water, calcium, lime and rust. I don’t know the scientific break down of the water but I do know that it has wreaked havoc on my appliances and anything else it comes into contact with. If by chance we do get rain the garden grows beautifully. To boot I have clay soil so I’m assuming the plants aren’t able to take up the nutrients they require. Thanks you for all of your very informative videos, they help me understand what’s most likely going on in my gardens . 🎄💚🙃

Excellent information.

Thank you for sharing.

I add a little Garden Lime every season to my raised beds, as much for calcium and magnesium as for ph. I live in a naturally acidic, subtropical area with lots of rain (we just had about 20 inches over the last two weeks - my 5 inch rain gauge was overflowing after one night). Getting a ph test is cost prohibitive since I have about 10 raised beds that I’ve built over time, and they each have a somewhat different soil composition. I also add a layer of compost to the beds and other soil amendments and fertilizer. I realize I’m shooting in the dark, but so far, everything seems to grow well.

Show off! Wow! That's some Phal.

Beautiful orchids. Never had luck with them.😔

Omg another variable we can't messure directly and convient, lol. What does one do for 160 seedlings if one thinks the ph is off? Also, are these bluelabs soil pens any good?

Should we measure the runoff of the soil or take 100 grams of the soil mix from the top, middle, and base of a pot and measure them separately using 100 mililetres of distilled water? Which method is right and why?

If you add sulphur to your soil, to acidify it later on, would the sulphur kill the good fungi in your soil?

Your garden is a 7.4? Doesn't that seem high? I got my soil tested by a lab, using both Mehlich 3 and saturated paste. The pH varied between 7.8 and 7.2, depending on the location of the sample. Since I want to plant landscaping plants that want lower pH soil, I'm a little worried. I will put down elemental sulfur, but there is a problem. I just tested my soil with the Rapidtest analogue test probe, and it gives me values in the high 5's to high 6's. When I tested the soil 6 weeks ago, it gave values of low 7's. I should add that the top 4 inches of soil is mostly topsoil I got from a nursery. I tried to till it in with the native soil, but I don't think it mixed in too much. When I tested the new topsoil that was delivered with the Rapitest analogue probe, it tested in 7's, (sorry to repeat myself). So now the same instrument is giving me very different readings over the last 6 weeks. I should add that on top of testing the new topsoil alone with the probe, I also tested it with the Rapitest probe after tilling. At that time, it measured in the low 7's. The only thing I can think of is that the rain has since washed away some of the alkalinity. I have no idea if this is possible in such a short time. Another thing I'll add is that after the nursery delivered the new topsoil, it rained. The next day it had a thin layer of white powder all over it. That is why I started testing and eventually did lab testing. Anyone have any thoughts? Should I send samples into the lab one more time? Could the white powder be significant? Could the pH change so dramatically after a few heavy rains?

Would adding granite rock dust to the soil lower the pH and keep it there over time?

I have noticed that when its raining all the plants and trees in the garden revive.I have alcaline soil and water.I know that the ph of rain water is 5-5.5 . What if i make acidic water 💦 with vinegar to this level of ph and feed my plants?

Is it possible to mitigate nutrient uptake problems in a slightly alkaline inground vegetable bed by using a ton of compost to buffer?