Soil pH advice!

[selfraising]

I bought a soil tester this weekend and tried it out in both my raised bed and the rest of the garden. It came out as 7.0. Is that good or bad? Are there any veg that don't like this sort of soil?
Finally how accurate are they?
Sorry about all the questions

[piskieinboots]

these two posts will help you for starters:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...nts_14854.html


http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...p-k_14880.html

[selfraising]

Oh thankyou, will have a look now!

[plantsbypost.com]

If its the chemical based testers they are very accurate.


Regards

Neil

[piskieinboots]

the ones you stick in the garden are really not to be recommended - as PBP says use the chemical ones for accuracy

[selfraising]

The ones I had, had some sort of sandy looking stuff in it and then I had to add soil and then water and mix. Are these the chemical based ones?

[vegmandan]

If you have a kit that you mix soil and water with then add a powder and compare the colour to a chart then it's a chemical kit.

If it's one of those probes that you shove in the ground then forget it .

They are hopeless and will give you a different reading every time.

[bazzaboy]

SR, 7.00 is spot-on neutral and pretty good for most veg, for a blow by blow account see
Soil pH Requirements for Growing Fruits and Vegetables
b.

[Snadger]

At least with a ph of 7.00 you won't need to add lime to the brassica bed. I think 6.5 is deemed a good all round ph so as long as you don't inatvertantly add lime by by using alkalinic fertilisers (sulphate of ammonia is good at acidifying) and jusy add acidifying compost like peat, coir,FYM or home made compost everything will grow fine..........including most weeds which like alkaline/neutral soil!

[zazen999]

As long as it is reading 7.0 and it's not a dud...test it on some lemon juice or vinegar just to make sure it is working.

[selfraising]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have decided to do a re-test with a new kit in a few days to see if I get the same results. Just a bit puzzled as I have clay soil and thought it would give a higher reading than 7.

[selfraising]

Bazzaboy
Thanks for your link. That's really useful and I'm going to print it off for reference!

[zazen999]

Selfraising - I have never tested my home soil for pH and never will...why are you doing this?

[plantsbypost.com]

Selfraising - I have never tested my home soil for pH and never will...why are you doing this?

Too be honest, I have to agree with above. For most home gardeners and allotment growers, it wouldn't matter too much about the pH unless you are growing blueberries. I'd make sure your plot is manured each year with well composted horse manure - the organic matter in the soil is important, you only get out of it what you put in and it improves structure. Start liquid feeding from July onwards and you shouldn't really be going wrong.


Neil

[selfraising]

Hi, I guess you're right. I was just interested to know cos several magazines I've read keep going on about pH and soil testing and I wondered if it had any impact on any of the veg I want to grow. I do manure every year with organic stable manure. Thanks for all the advice. My veg growing experiences are still trial and error and mainly experimentation and thought perhaps I was missing out on something by not testing the soil, I guess.