This alkaline soil plants planner helps gardeners who tested alkaline soil and want plants that cope with it plant what suits the soil they already have. You enter a few numbers, and the tool lists plants that cope with your soil and works out how many fit your bed. That matters because fighting soil chemistry wastes a season. Plants that suit your pH grow strong with little help, while plants that fight it stay weak no matter how much you feed them.
Soil pH decides which nutrients roots can reach. In acid soil, some nutrients lock away and others become too strong, so only plants built for acid ground thrive. In alkaline soil, iron and other trace nutrients hide from roots, so leaves yellow even in rich soil. Testing first, then planting to match, is far cheaper than trying to change the whole bed with powders and guesswork.
To use the tool, enter each value in order: Your soil pH range, Bed area in square metres. Then press Calculate to see the result. Each line shows one part of the plan, so you can spot a number that looks wrong before you buy seeds. If you change any value, press Calculate again. The example button fills in a worked case so you can see how the tool behaves before you enter your own numbers.
Here is a worked example. Take a 10 square metre bed with mildly alkaline soil at pH 7.1 to 7.5 fits 30 plants, in 6 rows, which needs 3 seed packs. That result is the point of the tool: one clear planting list, with each part visible. If a neighbour asks what grows in soil like yours, you can walk through the same lines. If your bed is bigger or smaller, you change one number and the plan updates. That makes seed shopping fast and honest.
Planting to suit soil also means feeding the soil, not just the plant. Mulch the bed to keep moisture steady, add compost each year to build living soil, and rotate crops so one family does not drain the same nutrients year after year. Healthy soil buffers pH swings and lets a wider range of plants cope, so each season the bed gets a little more forgiving.
Three mistakes show up again and again. The first is planting without testing, and blaming the seed when the plant fails. The second is chasing a perfect pH number with heavy doses of lime or sulphur, which shocks the soil. The third is planting one crop in the same bed every year until pests and hunger build up. Test, plant to match, and rotate, and the bed will reward you.
Tips
- Test pH every year. Rain, compost and fertiliser slowly shift soil pH over time.
- Group plants by pH need. One bed for acid lovers and one for alkaline lovers beats a mixed bed that suits nobody.
- Add compost, not just chemicals. Compost feeds soil life, which helps plants use nutrients at any pH.
Can I change my soil pH instead?
You can nudge it, but large changes are slow and need repeat doses over years. Planting to match your soil is faster and cheaper, and you can still nudge the pH a little each season with compost.
Do I need a lab test?
A home test kit is enough to pick the right plant list. A lab test helps later, when you want exact nutrient numbers, but the pH range alone is enough to start planting well.
What if my soil is in between?
Plant the tougher plants from both lists and watch them for one season. The plants that grow best tell you which side of the line your soil really sits on.
Versión en español: Planificador de Plantas para Suelo Alcalino