Ph soil testers...Are they necessary and would you recommend one that works well

[Capt Ram]

Ph soil testers...Are they necessary and why?-- Would you recommend one that works well for under $100

[markinnaples]

Soil pH affects the availability of soil nutrients to plants. It is the first step in knowing if you need to provide additional nutrients and how much to apply. If you want to improve your plant's growth or understand many problems that may be harming your plant it is necessary to know the pH of the soil in which the plant grows. If you are going to apply any fertilizer it is important to know how that fertilizer will be available to the plant. A good digital pH meter will probably be more than $100. Many cheap soil pH meters are almost worthless and might give misleading results that could cause you to harm your plant by misapplication of fertilizer. Your county extension will almost certainly be able to test your pH for free and test for different nutrients at a minimal cost. Be sure to take several samples from different areas and depths.  http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/hot_topics/agriculture/soil_testing.shtml

[greenman62]

i havent had good luck with the cheap ones.
what i do is mix some soil and water in 2 glass jars
add vinegar to one
and baking soda to the other.

if the one with vinegar reacts and creates lots of bubbles
and the other doe doesnt, then your soil
(is at least somewhat) alkaline /basic.
If it reacts strongly with the baking soda, but not the vinegar
then its acidic.

If neither react, then its very close to 7.0

soil PH test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcIUo_cE8yM

after doing this many times, ive gotten an idea of how much baking soda to use
and how strong a reaction it is, to tell me if it is very far off of 7.0 or not.
if you need an exact number get a good meter.

[Capt Ram]

Thanks, Guys I appreciate the info !