7.1.1. What is soil pH?

The pH of the soil is a measure of its relative acidity or alkalinity.
It is reported using a scale divided into 14 points, each of which is 10 times more or less than its neighbouring point.
A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral, above 7.0 is alkaline and below 7.0 is acidic.
When soil pH is tested, there are two scales, water and CaCl2, which may be used. Each scale gives slightly different numbers so the testing scale used needs to be noted.
A map of NSW showing various levels of soil acidity in the state is shown in Figure 1.

USE THE MAP ON PAGE 5 OF LAYNA BOOKLET.