Talked to a greenhouse worker and got schooled on soil pH

I was at a local nursery last Saturday picking up some ferns and this guy who works in their greenhouse started chatting with me. He asked what I was growing and when I said tomatoes he just laughed and said your pH is probably off. I tested it and he was right, it was way too alkaline. Now I'm actually testing my soil before planting anything and it's wild how much difference it makes. Anybody else get humbled by a random employee at a garden center?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_coleman3d ago

Gotta jump in here and say hold up a sec on that "way too alkaline" thing. Tomatoes actually like a slightly acidic soil, like 6.0 to 6.8. If yours was way alkaline, like 7.5 or higher, then yeah that's a problem. But "alkaline" can mean different things to different people. I've been growing tomatoes for years and I only test my soil maybe once every two years. Overthinking pH can drive you nuts. Just toss some compost in there and call it good most of the time.

angelar573d ago

My last batch of tomatoes did fine at 6.5 pH and I never checked again lmao.