Soil pH chart helps to find the right acid or basic level for various plants. You measure soil pH on a scale of 0 to 14. Value of 7.0 you call neutral while pH under 7.0 you call acid and above 7.0 you call basic or alkaline.
Soils usually have pH of extremely acid 3 to strongly basic 10
How Soil pH Affects Plants
Soil pH value directly affects nutrition. It is not enough that soil stores mineral elements. The pH rules the chemical reactions of those minerals, so they can be available or not to plants.
On a nutrition chart broad parts show good access, while narrow parts show less access based on pH changes. Under 6.5 calcium and magnesium become hardly avialable. When you neutralize acid soil with lime, nutrients in soil become more available for plants to absorb through roots.
Soil pH acts on a log scale. Difference of 1 is not only double (it is ten times). Like this from 6.5 to 7.5 it is ten times less acid.
That is a huge change.
Most food crops benefit in pH between 6.0 and 6.5. For a healthy food garden however 5.5 to 7.5 works. Every plant has its ideal soil pH level.
Tomatoes like between 6.0 and 6.8. Azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries and conifers grow best in acid soils at pH 5.0 to 5.5. Some crops like acid, for instance potatoes and many berries, while others like asparagus and cabbage prefer almost neutral soil.
Beans like 6.0 to 7.5, radishes 6.0 to 7.0 and basil does well in 5.5 to 6.5.
Commercial potting soils usually fall between mid 5 and upper 6. For blueberry trees, if you want to lower pH, you can buy pre-made soil. In soil or soilless mixes, like peat-based, a range of 6.2 to 6.8 works well.
If soil becomes too basic, you can sour it back to normal range, which restores access to micronutrients for plants to take. You buy acidifiers at big garden stores. Testing soil pH is needed for good plant growth.
Simple pH strips go in a soil water mix some seconds, later you compare the colour with a chart. Crops have different tolerance to grow in soil at high and low pH, so checking a soil pH chart before planting helps create the best conditionsfor the garden.