I'm thinking about planting something in my gardening and my friends tell me that pH is important factor to consider when I'm trying to decide what to plant. What's so important about pH?
Buy a cheap ph tester and see what the natural ph is in your soil. Depending on what you'd like to grow, you can adjust your ph to suit your need by adding fertilizer. Most garden soil is fairly alkaline, so you shouldn't have to make any adjustments to grow things like Broccoli, cabbage, okra (easy to grow!) cucumber, and squash. On the other hand, you will probably need to make careful adjustments to grow acid loving foods and plants. Radishes, Swede, roses, rhubarb, and berries will fall into this category. Good luck, and enjoy!
PH determines if the plant can absorb the nutrients well, it has to to with ions. Plants should be at 5.5ph i guess and by screwing up PH levels the plant might decide to not use any nutrients available and die.
In the simplest terms possible, pH is important in gardening because: There are many different nutrients and micronutrients in soil that plants use for many different internal functions. Many of these nutrients which your plant needs can be in the soil, but can't be sucked up by the plant unless the ph is correct. If the pH is too high or low the nutrients can be essentially locked in the soil. However, for the most part, a neutral or 6.5 to 7 pH will do fine for the plants most people typically grow. Store bought potting soil will almost always be around that number. Some plants however prefer a slightly acidic soil, like african violets. pH really shouldn't be much of a problem for you, but if you find your plants are growing extremely slow and look tiny or frail, you might want to test the pH with a kit which can be found at most homegarden centers and adjust as neccessary. Your friends are over exaggerating, however, unless they are referring to the sometimes sensitive cannabis sativa. In that case, test the soil before planting, but you should be more interested in its drainage properties.
Different plants do best in different environments. There are plants that need acidic soil to do well, such as rhododendrons, azaleas, blueberries. Others prefer alkaline soil, such as lavendar, irises. So it depends on what you want to grow. You can get a general idea about the soil in your area by observing the weeds that grow there, but you will have to check a reference guide for this. It is easier to choose plants that will naturally do well in your area than to try to modify the soil drastically. A lot of plants will do well anywhere. Observe the gardens around you and talk with experienced people at your garden center.
PH is not very important for most gardening needs unless you plant plants that demand particular soils and they might be alkaline or acid. I wouldn't bother myself just plant away use no more than the recommended amount of fertilizer. If you should choose to plant something that requires special conditions the seed packet or the plant container or the nurseryman will advise you. You can buy a simple ph test kit at most any hardware or nursery supply place and test your garden spot if you still desire its easy and kinda fun just to know so you can talk the talk
