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Articles about Vegetable Crops for the Garden

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Organic Gardening:

pH preferences of food crops

by Frann Leach

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Apples	5.8-6.4	Onions	6.7-7.0
Asparagus	6.2-6.6	Parsley	5.0-7.0
Aubergine	6.0-7.0	Parsnips	6.5-6.8
Beans, Broad	6.0-7.0	Peas	6.8-7.2
Beans, French	6.5-7.5	Pears	6.1-6.7
Beans, Runner	6.0-7.0	Plums	6.5-7.2
Beans, Lima	5.5-6.5	Potatoes	5.0-6.0
Beans, Soya	6.5-7.0	Radish	6.0-8.0
Beetroot	6.2-6.6	Raspberries	6.0-6.7
Leaf Beet	5.8-7.2	Rhubarb	5.5-6.4
Broccoli	6.2-7.0	Scallions	6.0-6.5
Cabbage	6.2-6.6	Seakale	6.8-7.2
Carrots	6.5-7.5	Spinach	6.6-7.0
Cauliflowers	6.3-6.6	Squash	5.0-6.0
Celery	6.6-6.8	Sunflower	6.0-8.0
Cherries	6.7-7.5	Strawberries	6.0-6.5
Cucumbers	5.8-6.4	Sweetcorn	6.0-7.0
Endive	6.8-7.2	Swede	6.5-6.8
Gooseberries	6.1-6.7	Sweet potato	5.0-7.0
Leeks	6.5-7.5	Tomatoes	6.0-6.8
Lettuce	6.8-7.0	Turnip	6.0-8.0
Melon	6.0-7.0

Different crops flourish at different levels of acidity, though few enjoy a very acid or very alkaline soil. This table sets out preferred pH for different crops.

The best way to find out the pH level of your soil is by taking samples from different areas and using a soil test kit. You can also get soil testing meters, but many professional gardeners feel that these are unreliable.

Plants as indicators

For a broad indication of the soil conditions, an examination of the weeds growing on a plot will give you quite a lot of information, not just on acidity/alkalinity, but other things as well:

Acid soil: Dock, thistle, daisy, plantain, creeping buttercup, heather, rhododendron, azalea and camellia.

Alkaline soil: Clover, campion, beech. Acid-loving plants may show yellow patches on the leaves.

Badly-drained land: Rushes, sedges, moss or green slime on the surface.

Waterlogged, poorly ventilated: Cocksfoot (Ranunculus), goosegrass (Potentilla anserina), cornmint (Mentha arvensis), knotgrass (Polygonum), coltsfoot (Tussilago) and horsetail (Equisetum arvense).

Fertile soil: Nettles, fat hen, sow thistle, chickweed (Stellaria media), groundsel, harebell, pheasant's eye (Adonis vernalis) and larkspur (Delphinium).

Deep fertile soil: Charlock (Sanapis arvensis), field poppy (Papaver rhoeas), deadnettle (Lamiastrum), lesser bindweed (Convolvulus) and speedwell (Veronica).

Heavy soil, not dry: Orach (Atriplex patula), foxtail (Amaranthus retroflexus) and cocksfoot (Ranunculus).

Nitrogenous, plenty of iron: Stinging nettles, black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and fumitory.

Very nitrogenous, possibly over-fertilised: Annual stinging nettle.

Deficient, usually as a result of fire: Rose bay willow herb.

Poor soil: Weeds tend to flower and seed as quickly as they can, groundsel in particular, which will germinate, flower and seed in a metter of weeks in the poorest soil conditions. In good soil, it will grow several inches tall and produce plenty of green leaf before it flowers.

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