Many people who are new to gardening don’t realise the importance of soil pH.

In fact I have spoken to many people who have been gardening for a long time and they are not aware of how important soil pH is either!

The wrong soil pH can affect the ability of a plant to be able to access nutrients, even if they are present in the soil!

I’m always amazed when people go into a hardware store, like Bunnings, with a query about why a plant is struggling or showing signs of nutrient deficiency that the first question isn’t “What’s your soil pH” They just sell you the bottled “magnesium”, “iron chelate” or “calcium” or a range of other trace elements.

By not asking you if you have tested the pH, what they fail to let you know is that you may have plenty of trace elements available! Its just the pH is wrong, so the plant cannot access them!

For example, I had an Azalea in a pot that suddenly started to struggle.

Struggling Azalea plant

I tested the pH using a pH test kit. It showed the pH was neutral around 7..

I know Azaleas love acid soils, around pH 5, so it was slightly high. But I also knew, from the symptoms that the plant wanted a more acidic soil.

So I gave it a couple of treatments with coffee grounds, which naturally and gently lower the pH.

The difference was amazing in just a few weeks.

Same plant after treatment

My Azalea plant went from losing its leaves, and struggling with pests and diseases, to being in full leaf and flower bud! This shows the importance of soil pH!

So, how can you lower the pH of the Soil naturally?

As I outlined above, coffee grounds are a natural and gentle way to lower the pH of the soil.

Another way is by using either powdered or liquid sulphur! I was going to try the sulphur solution if the coffee solution hadn’t worked

What would have happened if I didn’t adjust the pH? Well the plant would have continued to struggle and may even have died!

This is because the soil’s acidity or alkalinity, as measured by the pH, affects the ability of the plant to take up the minerals and food it needs. So the plant effectively starves to death!

So, next time you see a plant really struggling in your garden, do it (and yourself) a favour and test the soil’s pH!

Happy gardening from Rohanne, your Edible Garden Guru

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