Quickly, easily and accurately test your soil pH at home with Garden Tutor Soil pH Test Strips that are calibrated exclusively for measuring soil pH. Standard or “Universal” pH test strips do not provide accurate results when used to test the soil. Garden Tutor Soil pH Test Strips are specially designed and calibrated to ensure accurate soil pH readings. Knowing your soil pH allows you to adjust and amend your soil to match the needs of your plants. Maintaining proper soil pH promotes growth and vigor by making essential nutrients available to plants.

• Calibrated for Soil: Engineered for soil pH testing, delivering fast, accurate results in just 60 seconds so you can pinpoint deficiencies and nurture the garden you’ve always wanted.
• NEW FOR 2025 -- Enhanced Accuracy with AI: Now featuring a free, web-based AI tool—no sign-up required—that lets you snap a photo of your soil pH test strip. This advanced analysis improves your reading accuracy, reducing the need for costly lab tests.
• Simple and Reliable: With a 3rd Generation, 3-pad design, our test kit streamlines pH testing for consistent, repeatable results, further enhanced by our proprietary web-based AI machine vision reader.
• Cost Effective: Includes 100 test strips, making it affordable to test multiple areas across your garden and lawn.
• Optimize Your Soil: Achieve the ideal pH balance to unlock essential nutrients and ensure your plants thrive.
• Complete Kit: Comes with a full-color pH testing handbook, AI test strip reader template, access to our web-based AI reader application, and an online lime and sulfur application estimator—everything you need to adjust your garden’s soil pH with ease.

Products built by gardeners for gardeners

At Garden Tutor, we create simple, effective, and practical tools that provide answers to important gardening questions. Our products come with detailed informational booklets that offer much more than basic instructions. We stand behind and support all of our products. Feel free to send us a message, and we will promptly respond with helpful answers, advice, guidance, and troubleshooting. 

Why does soil pH matter?

Most plants prefer a pH of 6.5 Soil pH determines its acidity (sourness) or alkalinity (sweetness). For gardening, most plants prefer a soil pH between 6 and 7 with 6.5 being your target soil pH.	Maintaining proper soil pH prevents "nutrient lockout" If soil pH is too extreme for plants, it creates an unhealthy environment by limiting the nourishment that is available to the plants.	Maintaining proper soil pH helps promote growth and vigor Plants under stress are much more prone to poor health. Keeping pH at the proper level for the plants in your garden is one way to help.

Step 1: Collect a representative soil sample Using a garden trowel or spade, dig a small hole (about 6 inches deep) and slice a sample from the edge of the hole as if you were cutting a thin slice of cake. Put this sample in a bucket or large container. Repeat this process a few times around your garden site. Mix soil samples thoroughly and remove any stones, grass, etc.	Step 2: Add soil to a cup or testing jar Using a tablespoon put 8 level tablespoons (4 ounces) of the mixed soil into a clean plastic cup or testing jar and thoroughly mix with 8 level tablespoons (4 ounces) of water for 30 seconds.	Step 3: Dip strip into solution For best results, let the soil/water solution sit for 20 minutes before testing. Briefly mix solution one more time and wait 10 seconds for the soil to settle a bit and then dip one pH test strip into the solution. Hold the strip in the solution for 3 seconds.	Step 4: Match color pads to color chart Remove the pH test strip and shake it vigorously to remove any dirt on the pads. Depending on soil pH, some or all the color pads will change color. Match the resulting color(s) with the color chart that accompanied the pH test strips to determine your soil pH. If you are having difficulty choosing a pH, use our simplified chart to zero in on your soil pH.

If you are having trouble interpreting you soil pH results we are always glad to review a picture and give you a reading. Just contact us and send us an email and pictures of a recently used pH test strip.

For further details and resources go to our dedicated pH test support page.