How to measure soil acidity?

Hey, don't stress too much about getting exact scientific laboratory results! Just grab a budget-friendly digital pH meter from Amazon, stick the metal probe into damp soil, and it will give you the reading instantly. Super easy!

I just tested my backyard soil last week using the baking soda and vinegar method. Take some soil in a cup, add vinegar, and if it fizzes, it's alkaline; if you mix soil with water and baking soda and it fizzes, it's acidic. It is a quick and cheap home test!

I personally use red cabbage juice as a natural indicator to check my kitchen garden soil. You boil cabbage, mix the purple water with your soil sample, and watch the color change to pink for acidic or green for alkaline. It worked perfectly for me.

If you want real accuracy, don't trust home kitchen tests completely. Take samples from 3-4 different spots in your garden, mix them, and send it to your local government agricultural department lab. They do full testing for a very nominal charge.

I felt so defeated when my beautiful flowering plants kept dying despite all my hard work. Finding out the soil was too acidic was a relief because I finally understood what was wrong. It is okay to struggle with gardening, testing the soil is the first step to healing it.