How To Add Acid To Soil

For soil, a lesser pH range means an acidic soil, and a high pH range means an alkaline soil. Some plants only survive on acidic soil. They just won’t thrive with too high pH. Therefore, your concern might be how to add acid to your soil.

Knowing how to add acid to soil is essential for acid-loving plants like blueberries and azaleas. This guide shows you exactly how to add acid to soil safely, how to test your pH, and how to add acid to soil without harming your plants.

We will be enlightening you on why you need acidic soil and how to add acid to the soil. So read on to find out.

Plants That Needs to Grow in Acidic Soil

Here are some examples of plants that need to grow in acidic soil:

• Flowering plants: hydrangea, camellias, wood anemone, azaleas, rhododendrons, etc.
• Vegetables: examples of vegetables with acid-loving plants are cucumbers, sweet corn, broccoli, and onions.
• Trees: examples are beech, dogwood, oak, and evergreen trees.
• Fruits: blueberries, cranberries, and huckleberries are all acid-loving plants fruits.

Even though most of the popular plants are acid-loving soil, however, let’s take a look at the reasons why you need acidic soil.

Reasons Why You Need an Acidic Soil

It is clear that some soil needs to be acidic for some plants to flourish. The major reasons why you might want an acidic soil are basically for two reasons:

1. Plants that thrive in acidic soil: one reason why you need an acidic soil is that some plants only thrive in acidic soil.
2. Too much alkaline in soil: the other reason is that there might be too much alkalinity in the soil and you might need to correct and balance the soil pH by adding acid to the soil.

Procedure on How to Add Acid to Soil

Preferably, the appropriate soil pH for most plants should be about 6.5 (slightly acidic). However, some plants will require you to add more acid to their soil for them to flourish.

Soil Testing

You should keep in mind that there are some things you need to do first before adding acid to your soil.

The first thing you should do before adding acid to your soil is to test your soil. This way, you have an idea of the status of your soil pH level.

Adding Acid to Soil

Below are some ways you can add acid to acid-loving plants:

• Sulfur: sulfur is a good soil amendment for acid-loving plants. However, you should always follow instructions on how to use sulfur.

• Adding sphagnum peat moss: adding sphagnum peat moss is one way you can increase soil acidity. Peat moss will not only increase the soil acidity, it will also add organic content to your soil. All you need do is add about 2 to 3 inches of peat moss to the uppermost soil and mix well into the soil.

• Ammonium sulfate: an ammonium sulfate is also a good option for increasing plant acid. However, ammonium sulfate will require some care because it is quite strong and can burn plants. Therefore always read and follow instructions while applying.

• Acid fertilizer: one other easy way to add acid to your plant is with an acid fertilizer.

• Iron sulfate: adding some iron sulfate can as well increase soil acidity.

Hoffman Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss

Read about What is Sphagnum Peat Moss

Additional Information

Adding acid to the soil is one thing. But after successfully increasing soil acidity you need to sustain this pH level. Therefore, adding organic matter is important to sustaining the soil pH.[wp-faq-schema title=”FAQs” accordion=1]