what does ph mean in lawn care?

Question

and what is the difference between acid and alkaline

Answer 1

pH- the acidity in your soil (According to the encyclopedia) quantitative measure of the acidity or basicity of aqueous or other liquid solutions. The term, widely used in chemistry, biology, and agronomy, translates the values of the concentration of the hydrogen ion—which ordinarily ranges between about 1 and 10-14 gram-equivalents per litre—into numbers between 0 and 14. In pure water, which is neutral (neither acidic nor alkaline), … In chemistry, an alkali (from Arabic: Al-Qalyالقلي, القالي ) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal element. Alkalis are best known for being bases (compounds with pH greater than 7) that dissolve in water.

Answer 2

pH is the scale of acidity vs. alkalinity. acid v. base.

pH literally stands for per hydrogen.. how many hydrogen ions in a compound. The higher the number, the more basic... lower, more acid. a low pH is acid and High is alkaline.. am I talking in circles?

think of the old chemistry demonstration using vinegar and baking soda.. vinegar is acid, soda is a base (alkaline)

In lawn care, pH can dictate how well nutrients can be absorbed with the plants.. most good lawn soils are 6.0 to 6.5 pH value.. on the acid side of neutral. Many fertilizers are formulated to add acid to the soil, buffering it's pH lower.. more acidic.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

the ph tells you if the soil in your lawn or garden is acidic or alkaline. certain plants grow better in soils with the proper ph. it dosent mean the wont grow in soils with the wrong ph but they will grow better in the soils with the right ph. you can adjust your ph in the soil by adding lime or sulfur. in your soil depending on what it is. soil ph is measured on a scale with 7.0 being what is called base. anythig over 7.0 is acidic and anything under 7.0 is alkaline. soil samples should be taken every year because soil ph can change and it will also help tell you what the proper fertilizer you should apply. remember that soil will either be acidic ar alkaline ,you can adjust it but you will never completely change the closer to basic you can put it the better your plants will grow

Answer 4

Acidity or alkalinity of the soil is determined by the mineral content of the soil. As the others said it is a measure of the free hydrogen ions (H+) but your lawn is not in a lab so there is a lot more going on than H2O dissociating.
Water molecules (H2O), from rain or irrigation, dissociate to positive H+ and negative OH ¯ ions and these are in equal amounts at pH 7, however the presence of other ions from the soil's minerals effect this balance creating more or less free hydrogen ions and consequently the pH value rises or falls.
The presence of calcium & magnesium (Ca++, Mg++) ions is usually what determines the pH of soil. They displace hydrogen ions in solution binding the basic, negative OH ¯ ions. The calcium and magnesium come from the minerals as they erode naturally.
Rainfall affects soil pH as Calcium is leached away so soils have a tendency to become acid and this occurs faster in sandy soils. Also the application of fertilizers containing ammonium or urea speeds up the rate at which acidity develops.
Clay soil or loamy humus rich soil loose their calcium slower that wet sandy soil. The humus coating on soil particles and the stickiness of clay particles both hang on to calcium & magnesium and reduce the leaching keeping the soil neutral or basic (sweet) just from the natural breakdown of the mineral content in the soil.

Dolomitic lime, added to sweeten soil, is 15% MgO + 35% CaO so it replaces the lost calcium and magnesium ions.
So pH is a measure of the hydrogen the calcium and magnesium replaced in water leaving the H+ loose in the soil.
Plants need small amounts of several minerals. These minerals are most available to plants at near neutral pH.

Acid soils can lead to plant deficiencies of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and potassium because they are insoluble below pH5.5.
Alkaline soils may lead to deficiencies in iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc as these minerals become less available in basic conditions.

http://web.missouri.edu/~umcsnrsoilwww/webpubsummer05/acid1.htm

Answer 5

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Answer 6

there are different plants that thrive in different ph . acid. normal for lawn though should be between 6.5 and 7 which is slighly acidic. if its to acidic lime should be sprinkled over it if it isnt acidic enough (below 6.5) then sulfur should be sprinkled over the lawn