How to Correct pH With Soil and Soilless Mixes.

This post deals with soil mediums but i would be a good idea to read related posts for background material.  I have written about checking the pH with hydropoincs as well as  correcting the pH in hydroponics.

Once you test the pH, if it is below 5.9 or above 7.0 you may want to adjust the pH. One way to adjust for minor pH changes is to change the pH of the water you use to water your plants. You can buy pH up or down from HTGSupply.com and use it like in a hydroponics system to water your plants.

If you have a severe problem I recommend you transplant or pot up the plants using new soil. This often is all that is needed. However, if you can’t put your plants into a new bigger container you can remove the first inch or so of soil,( try to minimize root damage while doing this) and sprinkle lime into the pot, at a rate of 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of lime per gallon of soil. Give your plants a good watering to work the lime throughout the soil. You can replace the soil you removed earlier, but I have found adding new soil on top is better. Put the old soil in the compost pile.

Check the soil pH next time your plants need watering to check that everything is fine. You should only need minor adjustments to the water if any.
Good Growing,
Dr. E.R. Myers