pH Primer for Preppers, Part 2—Gardening and Medicine

Yesterday’s post focused on how useful pH testing is with canning.  Today we’ll look at the benefits of being able to test pH as we raise vegetables or monitor medical conditions.

Garden

Those who have been gardening for a while are perhaps familiar with how the pH of the soil affects plants.  Many are aware that hydrangeas will bloom blue in acidic soil and pink in neutral to alkaline soil.  (There’s actually a bit more to it than that, but that’s not really pertinent to our discussion here.)  We know that evergreens, berries—especially blueberries, and azaleas are acid-loving plants, and that the Miracle-Gro people have a product just for them—MirAcid. 

What is less commonly known (or remembered from all those biology classes) is that maintaining an optimal pH is critical to maximizing nutrient availability, which equals healthy plant growth.  Nutrients and elements have a preferred range at which they are most easily dissolved in water and therefore most accessible, or bioavailable—to the plant roots for uptake.  That range is usually 5.8-6.5 with hydroponic plants and 6.5-7.0 for plants grown in soil.  In other words, this bioavailability of nutrients is governed in part by the pH of the growing medium.  (Temperature also affects the bioavailability of some nutrients, most notably phosphorus.)

Last year we ran an article on how to use red cabbage juice to create your own soil pH test kit.  It’s very easy and only takes a little time.  But you’ve got to have the red cabbage on hand.  And it won’t work if you’re testing hydroponic solutions for growing vegetables.  The hydroponic solutions need to be tested rather frequently, and if you’ve got a lot of containers, well, that’s quite a lot of cabbage juice.  It’s just not feasible.

Medicine

Being able to test urinary pH can also help diagnose some medical conditions. 

·       Persistent alkaline urine (pH 7-8) can suggest a urinary tract infection.  Though most people will exhibit other symptoms that prompt them to seek relief, elderly individuals sometimes do not.  A simple pH test can help determine the possibility of a UTI in the elderly.  Alkaline urine also occurs as a result of certain drugs (to prevent the formation of kidney stones), a vegetarian diet, pyloric stenosis, and vomiting. 

·       Persistent acidic urine (pH 5-7) occurs in individuals with gout and in people who are predisposed to develop kidney stones.  Acidic urine will also be found in individuals with a fever (though general discomfort and a thermometer will already have identified the fever).   Gout and kidney stone patients are already advised to modify their diet to prevent further episodes of both.  Monitoring the pH of their urine will give them an idea of how well their diet is working for them and whether further modifications need to be made.

·       Very acidic saliva (pH 4.0-5.5) as consistently measured first thing in the morning is found in most terminal cancer patients. 

In all cases, the pH of urine and saliva is tested first thing in the morning, before eating anything.  Both saliva and urine are collected in a cup and then the pH strip or meter is placed in the fluid and measured as indicated in the instructions.

Do you want to acquire some pH strips for your medical kit?  Though the strips are very inexpensive, for medical purposes they are probably not necessary for young families and even middle-aged individuals.  But for the elderly and anyone with a personal or family history of kidney stones or gout, pH strips should be considered essential.

The final part of this series will cover pH strips and meters and will appear tomorrow.