The Secret Life Of Roots: What Your Plants Wish You Knew About Soil pH

by Lisa Mays August 21, 2025

Most of us notice leaves and flowers first, but healthy roots underground are the real secret to thriving plants. Getting the right balance below the surface, especially with soil pH, can solve many plant problems before they even start.

If we learn how soil pH works, we can help our plants grow stronger, greener, and even more colorful. Healthy roots lead to a happy plant, and it all begins underground where you can’t even see it.

Let’s dig into what your plants wish you knew about soil pH. By the end of this guide, you’ll see your garden differently, and your plants will be happier for it. With a little effort, you can give your roots exactly what they want and watch your plants grow their best all year long.

What Is Soil pH And Why Should You Care?

Soil pH is measured on a scale from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral. Numbers lower than 7 mean the soil is acidic. Numbers higher than 7 mean the soil is alkaline, or basic.

Even though it’s just a number, soil pH controls how your plants get water and food from the soil. It can even change over time, depending on how you care for your garden, the kind of water you use, and what you feed your plants.

Acidic soil (below 7): This happens more in places where it rains a lot or where certain plants break down on the ground. Acidic soil is where you’ll find plants like azaleas and blueberries growing their best. Sometimes fallen pine needles or oak leaves can make soil more acidic too.
Neutral soil (pH 7): Most plants grow best here and get all the nutrients they need. Neutral soil is the “safe zone” for a lot of vegetables and flowers, and it’s often what you get if you use balanced compost or potting soil from the store.
Alkaline soil (above 7): This soil is common in dry places or where there’s a lot of rock or minerals. Alkaline soil can make it hard for some plants to get certain nutrients, but others, like lavender and asparagus, do just fine.

Most garden plants grow best in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5, but some, like blueberries and azaleas, need more acidic conditions while others, like lavender, prefer alkaline soil. Knowing your soil’s pH helps you pick the right plants and products.

Why Does Soil pH Matter For Your Plants?

Every time you water, add plant food, or use compost, you’re changing the soil pH. Roots can only take up nutrients if the pH is just right. If the pH goes too high or too low, important nutrients get stuck in the soil and your plants can’t reach them.

Soil pH even affects how water moves through the ground, and can change how your garden smells or how fast compost breaks down.

What Happens When Soil pH Is Wrong?

Nutrient Lockout: Even if you use the best plant food, your plants might still look sick—yellow leaves, slow growth, or weak flowers—if the soil pH is off. Some nutrients, like iron or magnesium, get stuck in the soil if the pH isn’t right, and your plants can’t use them.
Soil Life Suffers: Good microbes and worms also need the right pH to help plants, so if pH is wrong, your soil doesn’t work as well. Healthy soil life makes it easier for roots to get water and nutrients, and even helps protect against disease.
More Bugs And Disease: Plants with the wrong soil pH can get stressed out and may get attacked by bugs or diseases more easily. Stressed plants have a harder time healing or fighting off pests, so keeping the pH balanced helps them stay strong.
Plants Might Grow In Funny Ways: Sometimes, the wrong pH makes plants look strange, with twisted leaves, weak stems, or roots that don’t grow right. Flowers might be smaller, or fruits could taste weird.

If you wonder why your friend’s tomatoes look great and yours don’t, soil pH might be the reason. Learning to manage soil pH helps you unlock your garden’s full potential.

How To Tell If Your Soil pH Is A Problem

Sometimes, even people who garden a lot have trouble with soil pH. It’s not always easy to spot until your plants start looking unhappy. Watch for these signs:

Leaves turn yellow or purple, especially between the veins
Flowers fall off early or buds don’t open
Plants grow very slowly, even with water and fertilizer
Roots look brown or break easily when you check them
Leaves might look dull or dry, even if you water often
New growth is weak or doesn’t show up at all

When you see these signs, it might mean your soil pH is not right. Sometimes, just one plant struggles, or sometimes your whole garden seems off. If you’ve tried everything else, checking soil pH is a smart next step.

How To Check Soil pH At Home

Checking soil pH is actually pretty easy. You don’t need a lab or expensive equipment. Here are some simple ways to test:

1. Soil pH Test Kits

You can find these kits at garden stores or online. You mix some soil with water and a special solution, then check the color on a chart. You get results in just a few minutes. Some kits let you test for more than just pH, so you can check for other nutrients too.

2. Digital Soil pH Meters

These are small gadgets you stick into wet soil. The screen tells you the pH number. They’re good if you have lots of pots or garden beds. Some meters even show you how much moisture or light your soil is getting.

3. Send Soil To A Lab

For the most exact answer, send a soil sample to a lab or your local plant experts. They’ll tell you the pH and what nutrients your soil has. It costs a bit more, but you get a full report that can help you plan what to plant and how to care for your soil.

Testing tips to remember:

Check your soil pH at the start of each planting season
Test again after you add anything new, like fertilizer or compost
If you change what you grow or use new soil, test once more
Test several spots in your garden, not just one, since pH can vary

A little testing can save you a lot of trouble later!

How To Change Your Soil pH

What if you test your soil and it’s too acidic or too alkaline? You can fix most soil pH problems at home with a few easy tricks. Just remember, it might take a few weeks or even months for changes to happen, so don’t worry if you don’t see results right away.

To Make Soil More Acidic (Lower The pH)

Mix in composted pine needles, oak leaves, or our Professional Peat Moss for container and garden plants. This all-natural, lightweight soil additive is a great way to help lower soil pH and improve your soil structure.
Use a soil acidifier product, but always read the instructions
Try watering with rainwater instead of tap water if your water is alkaline
Add sulfur or iron sulfate if your soil needs a big change (these products are at garden stores)

To Make Soil More Alkaline (Raise The pH)

Add garden lime (finely crushed rock) to your soil
Sprinkle a little wood ash for a natural pH boost
Use fertilizers that are made for alkaline-loving plants
Use dolomite lime if your soil needs magnesium too

Be Patient And Test Again

Changing soil pH takes time. Test your soil again every few weeks to see how things are going. Always follow the instructions on any product you use, so you don’t make the pH swing too far. If you add too much, you might need to fix it again, so go slowly and keep checking your progress.

What Products Can Help With Soil pH?

It helps to have the right products for soil pH. You can use products like specialized soils, soil conditioners, liquid fertilizers, and fertilizer sprays to help balance your soil’s pH. These options, all available in our store, give you flexible ways to get the right mix for your plants. For example:

Soils: Choose blends made for acid-loving or alkaline-loving plants to set the right foundation.
Soil Conditioners: Add organic matter or mineral mixes to shift your soil’s pH gently over time.
Liquid Fertilizers: Many are formulated to work best within certain pH ranges, helping keep your plants healthy and balanced.
Fertilizer Sprays: Provide quick, targeted nutrients and can support pH stability when used as directed.

When you feed your plants, look for plant food labeled for your type of soil or the plants you’re growing. For pH management, choose fertilizers marked as pH-balanced or formulated for acid- or alkaline-loving plants. Feeding every few weeks during the growing season can help keep your soil healthy and balanced.

Year-Round Tips For Balanced Soil pH

Here are some things we do to keep soil pH just right:

Mulch with leaves or pine bark to slowly add nutrients and help pH stay steady
Plant different things in your beds each year so the soil doesn’t get tired
Don’t use too much fertilizer, especially ones with lots of nitrogen, because they can change the pH
Use water wisely. Hard tap water can make soil more alkaline over time, while rainwater is a little more acidic
Watch your plants for trouble and check soil pH if they look sick
Add compost each season to feed the soil and help balance pH
Remove weeds and dead plants so they don’t change the soil too much

A little attention to soil pH each season goes a long way for healthy plants. The more you learn about your soil, the better your plants will do. Taking notes or keeping a garden journal can help you remember what worked year after year.

What Your Roots Want You To Know

If plants could talk, they’d tell us that soil is just as important as sunshine and water. Roots are always working to pull up food and water. By checking and fixing soil pH, we give roots the best place to grow. The better the soil, the easier it is for roots to spread out, drink water, and grab all the nutrients they need to grow big and strong.

Plants with the right pH are stronger, greener, and less likely to get sick or be bothered by bugs. You’ll notice they bloom better, taste sweeter, or last longer, all because their roots are happy.

Some plants are picky, while others can grow just about anywhere. But no matter what you grow, it always helps to know what’s going on under the ground. Taking care of your roots is like giving your plants a secret superpower!

Take time to test, learn, and adjust your soil’s pH. With a few simple changes, you’ll help your plants grow their best and enjoy a thriving garden all season.