The pH value of your kitchen garden
Many hobby gardeners are in the habit of fertilising and liming their lawns and vegetable gardens every year. But does your garden really need it?
Too little or too much lime can lead to insufficient or excessive absorption of certain fertilisers, and this can be harmful for your lawn and (vegetable) plants. With a pH meter you can immediately measure the acidity of your soil and determine whether it needs to be limed or fertilised.
Measure your soil!
The pH value determines how the nutrients contained in the soil will behave. The more acidic the soil, the lower the pH value and vice versa.
- If the pH is too low, iron and magnesium are absorbed too strongly. This can lead to poisoning of your plants.
- Does your soil have a very high pH? Then nutrients such as iron and zinc will be absorbed less well. After a while you will notice symptoms of deficiency in your plant.
So it is very important to find the right balance for your soil & plant and not to act rashly. Have you discovered after measuring that your soil has a too high pH value? Then you can mix the soil with peat to acidify it. Is your soil too acidic? Then you can bring it back into balance with lime. Seaweed lime is the best way to do this.
Growing vegetables: an acid, neutral or alkaline soil?
The pH scale runs from 0-14. Most (vegetable) plants feel at their best in a soil with a value of between 6 and 7.5. In these soils, the nutrients, minerals and lime are well balanced. How we should adjust the soil depends on the preference of the plants on it.
We can distinguish three types of plants:
- Acid-loving plants: 0-5.5These plants grow optimally in an acidic environment.
Below, we have made an overview of the most common vegetable plants and their preferred soil:
| Strongly acid soil: 0-5.5 | Moderately acid soil: 5.5-7 | Alkaline soil (basic): 7-14 |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | Eggplant | Asparagus |
| Sweet potatoes | Cauliflower | Parsley |
| Radish | Cale | |
| Zucchini | ||
| Cucumber | ||
| Pumpkin | ||
| Leek | ||
| Tomatoes | ||
| Carrots | ||
| Peppers | ||
| Spinach |
The lime value is very important for the plants to be able to absorb the nutrients in the soil.
However, it says nothing about which nutrients are present in your soil. For fruit crops, it is therefore best to apply a potassium-rich fertiliser.
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