pH & Other pHantastic Measurements You Need to Know

The best measurement of any garden are its crops. But why wait until harvest time to have an idea on how you’ll do this year when you can find out in early spring?

Like any organism, your veggies need water, food and a safe environment to grow vigorously. In this article, we’ll talk about your
garden’s food sources and environment as we discuss N-P-K and pH.

Fertilizers (or food for plants) are typically discussed with three primary elements; nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium or N-P-K.

Nitrogen

Primarily a greening agent for leaves of plants, nitrogen is a key element for healthy plants, especially for the leafy greens you grow  (such as lettuce, cabbage & even corn). But its equally important in the development of healthy leaves for other veggies so that  photosynthesis can be carried out effectively.

Phosphorus

A lack of phosphorus is easy to spot – just look for purple leaves or spots on slow growing plants. By applying sources of phosphorus, the roots of your plants will become invigorated, resulting in a stronger, lusher plant with more flowers and therefore more fruit.

Potassium

Unlike his cousins N & P, potassium (K) deficencies are harder to spot and slower to show results. Perhaps this is because potassium (or potash) is responsible for the internal workings of the plants. Without enough, plants are more succeptable to disease, frost damage and even dehydration.

While there are a multitude of ways to add these nutrients into your soil, I prefer to start with a well balanced, organic fertilizer and then add the others if needed. Two great choices are Dr. Earth and John & Bob’s.

Of course, none of this means anything if your veggies can’t access the nutrients in the soil which could happen if your pH is off balance.

A pH reading will not only help measure how acicid or alkaline your soil is but will indicate how available your nutrients are as well. (See the chart above on nutrient availability and how it relates to pH.)

Here in the Tehachapi area, we tend to have alkaline soil which can lock up many of the nutrients your veggies need. As a result, those primary elements literally cannot dissolve in your soil.

To help fix this, it is important that you both measure and amend based on your findings. Simple additives such as peat moss or pine needles each fall can tremendously help in acidifying your soil.