What is pH?

How is it related to gardening?

pH

• ^{"Potential/Power of Hydrogen"}

• pH: a scale used to express the acidity or alkalinity (base) of a solution. The scale is based on the concentration of Hydrogen ions present.

pH Scale

The scale ranges from 0.0 to 14.0

- Neutral is 7.0

- Acidic is anything less than 7.0

- Basic/Alkaline is anything greater than 7.0

pH

How does it relate to Gardening?

pH levels affect plant growth

• pH can greatly affect nutrient availability to plants.

• When the pH is too high or too low, plants may get too much of some nutrients while it may not get enough of others.

How does pH affect plant growth?

• The availabilty of nutrients goes up or down depending upon pH levels.

• Plant nutrients leach from soil at a faster rate if pH is below 5.5

• The 'happy medium' for most nutrients to be readily available to plants is a pH between 6.0 and 7.5

Primary Nutrients

• Nitrogen: promote leaf growth and green color, important for (it is an esential part of chlorophyll)

• Phosphorus: form roots, make seeds, fruit & flowers

• Potassium: promotes plant growth and regulates the rate of photosynthesis

Secondary Nutrients

• Calcium: needed to form cell walls and membranes

• Magnesium: core of the chlorophyll molecule, needed to absorb sun light (energy)

• Sulfur: Helps form amino acids chlorophyll and enzymes

^{What happens when a plant is deficient in...}

• Sulfur

• Magnesium

• Phosphorus