Testing Your Soil pH Without a Kit

Testing Soil pH Using Red Cabbage

1. 

   - Watch a 10 second video
   1
   Take a head of red cabbage and finely chop it using a knife or food processor. The solution created from the cabbage juice will change color depending on the pH of what it comes in contact with.
2. 

   - Watch a 10 second video
   2
   Heat distilled water until boiling. Using pure distilled water will give an accurate pH test result.
3. 

   - Watch a 10 second video
   3
   Add the chopped red cabbage to the boiling distilled water. Allow it to soak for about about ten minutes and then drain the solid pieces out, leaving a violet hued juice. This juice should have a neutral pH of about 7.
4. 

   - Watch a 10 second video
   4
   Test the cabbage juice. Pour a small amount into two separate cups, and add vinegar to one cup and baking soda to the other. Vinegar is acidic, and should turn the solution hot pink. The baking soda solution is alkaline and will turn blue or green.
5. 

   - Watch a 10 second video
   5
   Test your soil. Pour a few inches of the cabbage juice into a clean cup and add one to two spoonfuls of soil. Wait thirty minutes, and check the color of the solution.

   • Purple or violet is a pH near 7, neutral.
   • Pink means the soil is acidic with a pH between 1 and 7. The more acidic the soil is, the brighter the pink will be.
   • Blue or green is a pH between 8 and 14, alkaline. The brighter green the juice is, the more alkaline it is. ^[1]