How to identify acid soil and alkaline soil
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by soil source
Forest soil and gully humus soil, generally black or brown soil, relatively loose, fertile, good permeability, is very good acid humus soil. Such as: pine needle humus soil, peat humus soil and so on.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by ground plants
When collecting soil samples, the plants growing on the surface can be observed. Generally, the soil of rhododendron, a pine tree, is mostly acid soil. The soil of growing millet, sorghum is mostly alkaline soil.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by soil color
The general color acid soil is dark, mostly dark brown, and alkaline soil color is mostly white, yellow and other light colors. In some saline areas, the surface of the soil often has a layer of white saline.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by hand feeling
Acid soil is generally soft in the hand, it is breaks up easily after loosening hand and not easy to agglomerate. Alkaline soil feels firm in the hand and it is easy to agglomerate and not disperse after loosening hand.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by the state after watering
After the acid soil is watered, the infiltration is fast without white bubble and the water surface is muddy. After the alkaline soil is watered, the infiltration is slow. The surface of the water bubbles, froth and sometimes it is coated with a white alkaline substance.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by soil texture
Acid soil has loose texture and strong permeability. Alkaline soil has hard texture and is easy to harden into blocks.
- Identify acid soil and alkaline soil by PH test paper
Put a little of the soil sample into distilled water, dissolve it for a while, put the pH test paper into it and stand for 2 seconds, and then take it out for comparison with the colorimetric card. If pH > 7, it is alkaline soil; if pH < 7, it is acid soil.