Something is wrong with my plants lately. The bottom leaves are yellowing, turning brown and falling off. I think it may be a Ph problem causing a lock out of other nutes, but im not sure how to test it, i have little test strips but i dont know how to do that, since my plants are rooted in the ground, do i dig up soil around it and test that? Even so how do i test it without the Ph of my water compromising the results of the soil. I can post pics of my plant tomorrow if that will help with the diagnosis. Thanks, later
how to test soil is; in ur general growing area, dig down about 4-6 inches. remove any roots, rocks or other, put in a good handfull of soil into a ziplock. then depending on what county, state, country, etc. take the sample to the soil lab. here in my state and most states surrounding me, all the counties have a 'soil conservation department'. that is where i take my soil sample and in about 10 days, for 20$, they let me know what the pH, organic matter, N,P,K,Ca,iron, and a few other things i have. plus they ask what im going to grow (veggie garden ofcourse) and they tell u how much Lime, N,P,K, etc to add to get ur soil to get it to be in the range of ur desired garden (again, its veggies ofcourse). i do it all the time where i live because i have an area where i need to lower the pH quite a bit and i have areas where i need to raise the pH quite a bit.