Mosser Lee’s Soil Master™ Brand of soil testing equipment is the first name in soil testing. All Soil Master™ products meet exact testing standards to assure you that you can rely on the results of your soil testing.

Your plants need the correct soil conditions and the right amount of light and water. Every plant has different needs, so testing and comparing the results to standards will help your plants flourish. When you notice stress in your plants (leaves turn yellow or turn brown), it is often too late to take corrective action. This is why you need to test the growing conditions of your plants often.

Changes in your soil pH can affect how your plants grow, flower and fruit. Use your pH meter on your houseplants and your garden.

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 considered neutral. Below 7 means acidity increases; above 7 means that alkalinity increases. Remember that each pH point is a factor of 10, so a pH of 6 is 10 times as acidic as a pH of 7. A pH of 5 is 100 times as acidic as a 7. Most plants do well in a range of 6.0 to 6.6.

All around your garden are catalysts for pH change, some that you can control and some that you cannot. Keep your eyes open to all of them and use the Soil Master™ pH Meter to determine those changes and properly manage your soil.

1. Using vinegar or acetic acid as a natural weed killer will change your soil's pH.
2. Polluting chemicals and debris can float to your garden and harm your soil's pH from miles away.
3. Using volcanic or lava rock as a mulch can change the pH of your soil.
4. Using pine bark, oak chips or other woody mulch can make your soil more acidic.
5. Spread ashes from your firepit or fireplace carefully. While ashes can be a good compost, if used too frequently or thickly, they can change your soil's pH.
6. Dust and airborne debris from new home construction or your own home's addition or rehab can alter soil pH.
7. Runoff from and across asphalt driveways into lawns and flowerbeds can adversely affect soil pH.
8. Road and sidewalk salt are significant culprits in pH change.
9. Love that green lawn and those lush flowers? Runoff caused by excessive sprinkling and watering also changes the pH of your soil.
10. Using seashells as mulch can be lovely, but it can also alter soil pH.
11. Planting peas, beans and other legumes will alter soil pH.
12. A mulch of pine needles will make your soil acidic.
13. Chopped leaves are also a great compost, but some types of leaves will add acid your soil.

Using a Soil Master™ pH Meter will determine whether environmental elements or gardening practices have affected the pH of your soil. It requires no batteries.