We have acidic soil and want to plant a garden with tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, peppers, and strawberries. What is the best way to improve the soil?

Answer #2 · Jimena Saravia's Answer · Darleen, you should do a raised bed. Mix equal parts of peat moss, organic compost from several sources and vermiculite. BAM! This will cure your soil problems. No need to know pH levels.)

Answer #1 · Gardenality.com's Answer · Most vegetable plants prefer growing in a soil with neutral soil pH, somewhere around 7 on the pH scale. Blueberries prefer growing in very acidic soil with a soil pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Blackbeeries do well from 5.5 to 7...strawberries prefer 5.5 to 6.5 but good crops have been produced at higher levels up to 7.5. I would suggest doing a soil test to determine the pH level of your garden soil You can test it yourself with a soil pH test kit. Many local extension services will test your soil as well, though this may come at a small cost. When you know the pH of your soil you can apply pelletized lime to "sweeten" it (reduce the acidity).

Here's a tip: You can find the desired soil pH for any plant in its Gardenality Plant File. Just type in "blueberry," "tomato" or any other name in the search at the top of this and any other page to find plant files. Then look on the plant file to find the soil pH range.)