TL;DR
A soil pH test is the measurement of soil acidity or alkalinity on the 0-14 scale, where most turf and garden plants perform best between 6.0 and 7.0. Outside that window, nutrients chemically lock up, so fertilizer is wasted no matter how much goes down; acidic readings call for lime, alkaline ones for elemental sulfur.
What it means
A soil pH test is the measurement of soil acidity or alkalinity on the 0-14 scale, where most turf and garden plants perform best between 6.0 and 7.0. Outside that window, nutrients chemically lock up, so fertilizer is wasted no matter how much goes down; acidic readings call for lime, alkaline ones for elemental sulfur. Lab versions are accurate enough to dose by, while probe and strip kits are best treated as screening tools.
Where it sits in the glossary
Soil pH test is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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