Cool!
I def like the bucket method. I'll be getting 2 buckets and since we always have bags of MiracleGro I'm gonna try it using both - MiracleGro and perlite. The tire method sounds really cool too but I wanna be able to bring them inside if we have another killer summer this year.
I'll try that with onions too, thanks!
The pH-Scale
0-3.4__3.5-4.4__4.5-5.0__5.1-5.5__5.6-6.0__6.1-6.5__6.6-7.3__7.4-7.8__7.9-8.4__8.5-9.0
Extreme Acid ................. Strong Acid ...................... Neutral ........................... Strong base
9.1-14.0 is extreme base. Here's 2 methods I found for testing pH.
The red (or purple) cabbage method
Notes: The cabbage juice will stain your fingers but you can wear gloves. Distilled water works best.
1. Chop a red (or purple) cabbage into small pieces until you have about 2 cups of chopped cabbage. Put the pieces in a blender with very little water and blend it. The juice needs to be kinda thick.
2. Put it in a microwave-safe bowl and put that in the microwave. Nuke it till it just starts to boil. Take it out and let it cool off for about 10 minutes.
2. Strain the cabbage juice using a coffee filter. The juice will be pH 7 and the color will be a dark red-purple-bluish color.
3. Dip a coffee filter into the juice. Hang it up and let it dry. Then cut the filter into strips. The strips work the same way as litmus paper.
4. Test a few strips using chemicals. Here's a list of some chemicals that the pH has already been measured for:
pH 2.0 = Lemon juice.
pH 2.2 = Vinegar.
pH 3.0 = Apples.
pH 4.0 = Wine and beer.
pH 4.5 = Tomatoes.
pH 6.6 = Milk.
pH 7.0 = Distilled water.
pH 8.3 = Baking soda.
pH 10.5 = Milk of Magnesia.
pH 11.0 = Ammonia.
pH 12.4 = Lime (the chemical, not the fruit).
Ph 13.0 = Lye.
The red (or purple) cabbage color scale for pH.
pH________2_________4_________6_________8______ 10__________12
Color..........Red...........Purple........Violet........Blue.......Blue-Green.....Greenish Yellow
A quick method
This isn't very accurate but it can let you know if your soil is too acid or too base.
1. Get soil samples from random parts of the gardens.
2. Mix them together.
3. Put 2 tablespoons of the soil in a glass. -- Put 2 tablespoons of the soil in another glass.
4. Slightly moisten the soil samples with distilled water.
5. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of distilled water.
6. Pour the baking soda water into glass 1. If it fizzes, the pH is low or acid.
7. Put 2 tablespoons of vinegar in glass 2. If it fizzes, the pH is high or base.
I hope that helps.
