Salts are natural components of soil, surface, and groundwater. They are ionic mineral compounds, which means they bonded by electrostatic attractions between cations (+ charge) and anions (- charge).

Before a nutrient can be used by plants it must be dissolved in the soil solution. Most minerals and nutrients are more soluble or available in acid soils than in neutral or slightly alkaline soils.

Most soil nutrients are more soluble in slightly acidic soils than in neutral or alkaline soils. The sweet spot for most plants is a pH between six and seven. For a diversified vegetable garden ...