It Affects Your Crop Yields, Crop Suitability, and Plant Nutrient Availability.

Article written by Chuck Grantham
Soil pH influences many of the chemical and biological properties of soils that are important to the growth of plants and is an important indicator of soil health. The letters “pH” means “potential hydrogen.” Soil pH also refers to how acid or alkaline the soil is. 

The acidity – alkalinity scale ranges from 0 to 14.  Soils are referred to as being acid, neutral, or alkaline, depending on their pH levels.  A pH of 7 is neutral, while a pH lower than 7 is acid, and a pH higher than 7 is alkaline (basic). A basic soil analysis will measure for the “plant available” content within the soil sample of elements such as P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S, Mn, Cu and Zn, as well as measure the soil's pH. 
Soils become acid when basic elements such as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium (cations) are replaced by hydrogen ions.  Soils formed under conditions of high annual rainfall are more acidic than are soils formed under more arid conditions. Thus, most southeastern soils are inherently more acidic than soils of the Midwest and West.
To make soils less acidic, the common practice is to apply a material that contains some form of lime. Ground limestone is the most common and most widely used of all liming materials as it is relatively inexpensive compared to the other types of lime. The two important minerals found in ground limestones are calcite and dolomite. When little or no dolomite is present it is referred to as calcitic limestone; as the magnesium content increases, it grades into dolomitic limestone.

A soil’s pH is measured as a logarithmic scale. That is, a change of one unit in the pH scale represents a 10-fold change in acidity or alkalinity. A soil with a pH of 5.0 is 10 times more acidic than a soil with a pH of 6.0 and 100 times more acidic than a soil with a pH of 7.0.

SumaGrow's beneficial microbes help balance the soil’s pH by repopulating the bacteria and fungi that have been damaged and/or destroyed by fertilizers, tilling,and even harvesting. 
Our blend of microorganisms are selected for their abilities to maximize the use of residual plant nutrients, reduce fertilizer use by increasing its efficiency, and support the release of those plant nutrients presently bound in minerals and salts. 
For more information about SumaGrow, please email us at
info@sumagrow.com or call us at 601-582-4000. Of course, our website is available 24/7 at www.sumagrow.com.